Notorious street wear retailer Krudmart is making a few changes for the new year, with the hopes of rising like a phoenix out of the ashes, and back into the spotlight they once dominated.

For more on Krudmart, or to shop their store head over to Krudmart.com

I have been itching to write this post since Saturday night, and all you lovely folks who follow my seemingly boring ass on Twitter would know. Not only was I happy to finally be back to my home (which I haven’t seen in quite some time), but I was able to bring an amazing fashion event with me! Runway 2.0 was Saturday night at the Burchfield Penney Art Center on the Buffao State College campus. The event was a great fundraiser for the blossuming fashion program that BSC has been developing over the past few years. Erin Habes (a professor at the school and buyer for Krudmart) was kind enough to ask little old me to judge the event, and I am glad I was around to do so!

The show featured designs from past alumni, current students, and local Buffalo designers as well. I was lucky enough to see some wonderful pieces from designers like Melitza Rodriguez, Tanisha Harris, David Brinson, Barbara Poletowski, Fausto Abreu, Meaghan Rea, Tetsuma Ueda, Crystal Robbins, Ti Zhou, Chelsea Bennett, Julia Oakes, Angela Brown, Tiffany Landon, New Era Caps, Girls In Skirts, Aella, Kezia Pearson, Kate Palame, Morgen Love, Mara Hoffman, and Mr. Buffalo Fashion himself Adam Lippes. It’s not hard to see that this was not a small little show. I have to give all the participants and designers a huge congrats, everything looked great. I was also lucky enough to work with my good friend and photographer Max Collins on getting some awesome backstage shots of all the models hanging out and getting ready as well. All for all you indies reading this I can assure you that there are some designers featured in this post that you will hearing a lot more about, an not just from me!

Gallery: RUNWAY RUNDOW: Runway 2.0 (runway shots)

Gallery: RUNWAY RUNDOWN: Runway 2.0 (backstage)

Thanks to Stephen Soroka and Max Collins for the images!

It’s a little bit of hometown love from me again, but I must give credit where credit is due! Buffalo, NY is having a runway show, and damn it it’s going to be a good one! Runway 2.0 is a show that benefits Buffalo State Colleges blossoming fashion program, as well as up and coming local designers. The event has two separate shows, a student show and a late show which features some already established Buffalo designers. This years late show is featuring none other that ADAM LIPPES! That’s right the Bryant Park Tent veteran is going to be showing at Runway 2.0. When it comes to the student show, I am both honored and proud to be one of the invited judges for the show, alongside Mindy Shine from Adam Lippes, Joan Fedyszyn a local fashion guru and Danae Dade of IS-MENTAL (one of my personal favorite blogs). Check out the flyer above, as well as the Runway 2.0 website for more information. If there ever was a time to come to Buffalo, NY now would be the time! Thanks again to Erin aka Mama Dirty for the chance to be a part of this event, I’m looking forward to it! But the real question is, What am I going to wear?!?!

Now I will say I haven’t been the poster child for fashion blogging, and I have said some pretty brainless things in my day, but I don’t expect someone to be on my ass about every single word that comes out of my mouth. Things come out wrong, words get flipped, and sarcasm isn’t always picked up on, but that’s what personal e-mail situations are for, it’s not the time to get on your blog and draw attention to a petty situation, and that’s where my concern with Missbehave comes into play.

Krudmart, my home town boutique and friends (certain employees named Erin),  recently took a seemingly unecessary, blind sided slap in the face from the menacing mag due to some things said in the Krudmart newsletter. Now they were in no way intended to be serious, nor were they even that offensive, but I’ll let you be the judge. Here’s what the big man Steve K. at Krudmart had to say:

“One of the biggest complaints we get here at the Krud is “You guys need to get more women’s stuff.” Usually this comes from whiny little girls who I pay no attention to (sorry girls) but they do have a point.. women spend money on clothes. With that said, we are proud to present one of our biggest collections of women’s clothes yet. Don’t worry though dudes, aside from getting to check out some chicks, there’s plenty of new stuff for you too.”

Now lets be real here, who is really offended by this? Offended enough to go and distribute it mindlessly to thousands of very easily influenced people. If there was really an issue here a polite e-mail would have suficed. I feel like if the genders were flipped it wouldn’t have even been mentioned at all, but if you were upset by it that’s fine. Krudmart is a small boutique that does amazingly well for where they are from (I would know, as I am from Buffalo, and spend good money at Krudmart). Why would you want to throw them under the bus with potential customers before getting the complete story? They are enlightening an entire city to the world of fashion, and you are going to drag them through the mud like this? I guess I’m just a bit bummed out about the way Missbehave went about this whole ordeal, turning another mole hill into a mountain. I was hoping that what happened between the two of us in the past was just a rare situation, but my doubts have certainly grown stronger with this second disregard for their actions.

Krudmart is full of very good, hard working people who have had a tremendously positive impact on the entire city of Buffalo. I’ll be the first to support and stick my neck out for a hometown business, but when it’s full of good people like Krudmart is, it makes it that much easier. Much love to everyone at Krudmart, and I look forward to coming in and saying what’s up next time I’m in town, and to check out all the new chicks who will be hanging out there now of course (I’m sorry I had to say something). Best of luck to both Krudmart and Missbehave.

For both sides of the story, be sure to check out the Krudmart blog and the Missbehave blog.

I recently came across Rare Eyewear in the boutique Krudmart in my snowy home town of Buffalo, NY. The brand specializes in vintage glasses from the 1960′s-80′s. They have some amazing frames that are high fashion, and no the traditional styles that you see out there today. The prices aren’t too bad either. Be sure to check out their website to find the closest Rare Eyewear dealer near you!