Some pieces are easier to explain than others.

I had “dressed” myself before driving drunk to my mother’s home. I had taken a shower thinking that water would take away the smell; that putting on leggings instead of leggings-that-I-slept-and-drank-in, would make me look like I was wearing clothes; that if I put on mascara I’d look like I had slept through the night and not spent the whole day drinking.

Submissions are now open for our next quarterly theme issue: But Make It Fashion.

“If Rachel Maddow ever hits Dinah Shore karaoke party in a three-quarter-length leather coat and leather pants, it will look like every performance on this live album.”

I wanted to wear my own history again, this time supported not only by my Jewish ancestors, but by my queer ancestors.

“The boots fit. They fit in every way I had never known that other clothing didn’t. They fit in the way that frilly, muddy dresses fit my sister; the way that a black cocktail dress fit Audrey Hepburn; the way that pillbox hats fit Jackie Onassis.”