BLACK and RED with notes of tobacco and spice.

Captured buying wine at Trader Joe's on 14th Street by SWIRLY HENRY. Sent in first thing Wednesday morning. (My Dear Craftlings, I can't make it to Craft Hole tonight because I am going to Heloise's Show at the Bowery Ballroom. I will miss you all dearly while I am screaming my head off in the front row, which, in a way is a craft.) Catch up with you all at next week's 'hole.)

POWDER BLUE and WHITE, hold mom's hand tight ('cause some weirdo might be following you and taking your picture for their blog.)

Whole Foods, Houston Street, at the peek of the post work rush. Tuesday after work. 6/24/08 6:33pm

Over the shoulder BROWN on BROWN

Subject headed Westbound on 14th Street x 1st Ave. 6/23/08 7:45am

BLUE on BLUE...TIMES TWO!!!!!

Subject headed Northbound on Bedford Ave x N 10th. 6/23/08 7:27am.

SECOND SIGHTING: Exactly 12 hours and 35 minutes later, the very same guy wearing the very same shirt was spotted heading West on Manhattan Ave on the other side of McCarren Park from the site of this morning's capture. What are the chances of this kind of coincidence? We have submitted this information to the PVP DSA (Department of Statistical Analysis) to determine the answer.

Subject headed Westbound on Manhattan Ave x Norman. 6/23/08 8:02pm.

MAD MEN, PLAID WOMAN.

Photo illustration by Olaf Blecker for The New York Times
Leading cast members of "Mad Men," from left: Christina Hendricks, January Jones, Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss (in PLAID).

“Mad Men,” the original series portraying the world of advertising on Madison Avenue set in New York in the early 1960s, premiered last summer on AMC, winning instant critical acclaim, a Peabody Award and the Golden Globe Award for best drama after being rejected for years by both HBO and Showtime. (What's up now, big guys?) Its second season begins July 27; the DVD set of the first season goes on sale July 1.

BLACK and WHITE, CATS and [NOT]DOGS.

FW: IMG00099.jpg, originally uploaded by abbyabby.

Sent in late friday night by CALL PAUL with caption: "Gowanus Yacht Club! It's raining!" Identity of subjects pictured remain anonymous.

GOWANUS YACHT CLUB: ****1/2 (Reviewed by Lisa Marie Rovito for Citysearch)
"This kitschy beer garden with a beach-shack feel serves up Jever in styrofoam cups and 10 kinds of dogs, including a sizzling polish sausage (made locally) and the infamous vegan Not Dog. With no fries, no frills and a completely outdoor setting, the owners of Patois and Uncle Pho have created a warm-weather antidote to some of the block's stuffier eateries. Longtime neighbors mingle with edgy newcomers, but everyone uses the same Porta-John."
323 Smith Street @ President Street. Take F or G to Carroll Street.

AT LAST...A PLAID SIGHTING IN MIDTOWN!

Captured by CALL PAUL outside Raido City Music Hall. She suggests, "Perhaps these youths are in town for tonight's concert??"
Friday, June 20th, 2008

ROSEBUD: In the bedroom.

Upon arriving at headquarters this morning, I was met at the door by the PVP, NS-IPR (Night Shift-Incoming Plaid Receiver) who was so excited she could hardly wait to show me the postings which appeared in our inbox in the wee hours of morning. The postings were sent in from ROSEBUD (our PVP, AVC (Acting Vermont Correspondent for the month of June.) who is currently stalking plaid, under-cover on the set of a movie being filmed in various locations in Northern Vermont. We always know we're gonna get something good when Rosebud writes in between the hours of 2-5 in the morning, and this time is no exception. Once again, all of us at PVP Headquarters applaud ROSEBUD for the lengths he is willing to go, sacrificing his body, his health, and occasionally his personal integrity, to capture some of the most obscure and intimate moments in Plaid Voyeurism the world has ever seen. Thank You, Rosebud, we hope you are currently sleeping well. Please call headquarters when you join the land of the living.

Original caption: Slumber Party. Essex Vermont.
Received: Friday JUne 20, 3:11am

Additional texted correspondance:

3:28am: "It's all for PVP! I wish I was in bed sleeping but here I am again in the trenches drinking shitty beer, hitting on underage chicks, laughing at their dumb jokes, smoking clove cigarettes, talking about the Sex and the City movie, pretending I care about shoes and feelings and letting them paint my toe nails and shit just for the pix..."

4:28am: "That's the life of a PVP undercover agent."

Tommy Tune by J. Peterman. Circa Fall 1997

All I said was, "nice shirt."
Show people. You know how intuitive they can be.
Somehow it wound up in my hands. (Don't now how it got there.)
He still had on a white T-shirt. I gave him something from page 56 (an earlier catalogue) in XXL.
And I had Tommy Tune's shirt. He's a friend. (Do you tell me everything?) A party.
But back to more inportant things. The shirt.
That conversation took place some time ago. Finding this particular plaid in a substantial fabric that feels like cashmere was proving elusive, even for my spies.
But it's here, finally. Tommy Tune's Shirt. Wonderful looking. Worth all the trouble. 100% heavily brushed cotton which feels like cashmere. 7-button front. Very cool over a T, or nothing. Women should have their own because if they borrow it from a man he'll never get it back. I know.
Colors: Rust, Green, or Navy.
Sizes: S, M, L, XL, XXL (Long tails, as you might imagine.)
All Tommy said was, "when you duplicate it for $89 son't tell me."
Tommy Tune Shirt (No. 525727).
Price: $79. Imported.

BLACK and WHITE, the register's not working quite right.

Tops on N6th, The line started to back up as the register was experiencing a technical hickup as we were buying the provisions for an impromptu PVP company picnic yesterday evening. The plaid girl was getting antsy. 6/17/08 7:39pm

KARGOLOGY: This is so amazing, we must be dreaming, but we're not, we're awake and this is FOR REAL!!!

Since 2003, Bella Angora, Christian Falsnaes and So:ren Berner have been carrying out a number of different projects under the common name KARGO next to their individual artistic practices, primarily in the fields of performance, installation and graffiti/public space interventions.

KARGO is an ongoing investigation of the possibilities of performance in contemporary art contexts within the frame ofcollaboration experiments. Through an open exchange of ideas and experiences, KARGO aims at an unpretentious and entertaining, but still diverse and complex, approach to different themes. Most of their projects have dealt with social/cognitive norms, patterns and structures as well as the conscious decision to question these. In the process of such investigations, KARGO is sampling music, video, public happenings, graffiti and musical-style-shows with references to philosophy, art history and contemporary culture.

The experiments and the investigative nature of the process is an important part of the KARGO performance projects.
Not to be afraid to fail, to look stupid or to reveal mistakes.

For more info, please visit: http://www.kargology.com

GREEN and BLACK and SNOW WHITE

Continuing with our summer series of vintage plaid:

One of the most popular groups of Adirondack hunters is the Horn Hunters who continue to trek miles into the wilderness and set up a remote hunting camp each deer season. They were featured in the Dec. 1983 issue of Outdoor Life magazine and continue to do seminars throughout the region... and... kill plenty of bucks!

Ron Nadler of West Fort Ann killed this buck in Speculator in the late 1980's

BLACK and BLUE and PIGLET HOOVES

0610081140.jpg, originally uploaded by abbyabby.

In addition to working mad hours on the set of Dumping Lisa, ROSEBUD, the PVP AVC (Acting Vermont Correspondant) for the month of June manages to get out to the farm from time to time. Shelburne Farms. Not far from the baby pig farm. 6/15/08

PURPLE GLOW... as seen from the FRONT ROW

This photograph, taken by Yola Monakhov, was nabbed without permission from the facebook profile of our dear friend: PISS OR PEPSI. The context of the moment captured remains unclear, though he seems to be connecting somewhat with the audience, at least those in the front row.

YOU and your DAD in similar PLAID

Summertime at PVP headquarters means trying our best to find new and exciting ways to come to terms with the the scarcity of traditional wool wool buffalo plaid sightings during the hot weather. Our latest is a preoccupation with vintage photographs featuring a plaid subject, even better when there is a little story attached.

Today's post comes to us from a very enthusiastic new PVP member: OLD MAN, who sends us a picture of his dad, OLD MAN SR., looking sharp in summer weight plaid poplin, circa 1965, with a notable resemblance to Matt Damon. We can probably assume he is in India, due to the architecture in the background. To fully appreciate this photograph beyond a superficial plaid level, one would need but to glance at a current picture of OLD MAN SR, to note the amazing transformation from dashing young man, to distinguished gentleman. We are hoping to receive such a photo some day, as well a bit of the back story surrounding the snapping of this shot.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Below is a horribly dark, but current capture of OLD MAN wearing a very similar shirt to that of his dad's, sitting outside at the Bangkok Bistro on Saturday because the dumb old Half Bar didn't half enough chairs. 6/13/08 10:53pm

RED, WHITE, and [JET] BLUE

The early flight. Carousel 4. JFK. 6/16/08 7:25am

PLAID RAGS and PEACOCKS

A swiftly swabbed solution to an abrupt gin and tonic disruption. Saturday evening Gin and Peacocks, Plaid and Tonics at 53 Hoover Street with OLD MAN and his herd of elephants, sharks, dogs and cat. 6/14/08

BLUE and WHITE

Say hello to our youngest and cutest plaid voyeur, PVP Alias: MINI LEA, as she enjoys the food, folks and fun while stylishly strapped strapped to her Mama in striking buffalo plaid at the Burlington Farmers and Artists Market, which happens every summer Saturday in City Hall Park in beautiful downtown Burlington, Vermont, aka, The Greatest Place On Earth. 6/14/08 12:13pm

GREY AND BLACK, students fight back. Columbia University, March-April 1968

061208_0106a.jpg, originally uploaded by abbyabby.

On March 27th, 1968, three weeks after the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, more than 100 members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at Columbia University, in attempt to deliver a petition calling for the University ot sever ties with the Institute for Defense Analysis, violated the University's ban on indoor demonstration by entering Low Library en masse attempting to hand deliver the petition to President Grayston Kirk. Only six SDS members were put on probation, but students by the hundreds rallied by the sundial on their behalf, escalating the cause campus wide. The revolt lasted six days resulting in more than 700 arrests and scores of bloody injuries. This photograph was taken April 30th, 1968, as a buffalo plaid clad student demonstrator is hauled off by one of 1000 police officers who were sent in to put an end the seizure and occupation of Low Library and the three other buildings on campus as well as the capture and containment of Dean Henry Coleman in his office in Hamilton Hall. Surprisingly little has changed cosmetically to Morningside Campus in the 40 years since the events of that week, even the students look about the same then and now decked out in buffalo plaid... What one wonders, though, is why this type of anti war demonstration isn't happening again.

BLACK and RED, bald head, fast tread.

0529081820.jpg, originally uploaded by abbyabby.

This just in from WOODGRAIN: 16th and 7th Ave. Such a fast walker... I was sprinting to snap him.

BLACK and WHITE, Is she alright?

061008_1853b.jpg, originally uploaded by abbyabby.

14th and Irving Place. Quarter to seven and still hot as blazes. This woman clearly has a super human interior cooling mechanism given her choice of clothing in this Hades-like heat. 6/10/08

Where the Buffalo Roam...

It's so hot in New York City the buffalos in Union Square are wearing plaid leg warmers! Then again, it could it be just a mirage... Union Square 6/10/08 12:38pm An unbelievable 105 degrees F!

WHITE and BLACK: Off the Rack

0604081820.jpg, originally uploaded by abbyabby.

Greenwich and Horatio. (All the ladies here at headquarters are simply drooling over that dress...) Sent in by WOODGRAIN 6/9/08 10:36pm

BLUE and WHITE: Out of sight... Out of mind?

060908_1914a.jpg, originally uploaded by abbyabby.

Out with the trash on N5th x Berry. 6/9/08 7:15pm

BLACK and WHITE, ORANGE or PINK?

Plaid Memories in Black and White
by Deborah Fries

We cannot rely on memory to reconstruct lost places. Memories become spare and skeletal or diffuse and impressionistic, even monochromatic. Decades after my childhood ended, my father would often remind me of a favorite but flawed memory. "I can still see that day down at Buxton," he'd recall, "and you in your little pink bathing suit, walking away from me on the beach until you disappeared."
The bathing suit was orange plaid, I’d remind him, not pink. But because our earliest summer trips to North Carolina’s Outer Banks were documented in black and white, photographic evidence remained open to interpretation. We had stacks of black and white, spiral-bound photo books that captured us in the surf or mugging for the camera in sea oats, taking a ferry ride, and holding up fish in a colorless world.

The author in her orange plaid bathing suit at the Cavalier Motel, 1957. Photo by Harold Fries.

RED and BLACK

As most of you know, we are experiencing record breaking high temperatures here in New York City. At PVP Headquarters, due to our lack of air conditioning, we feel at liberty to use a little poetic license and make some broad sweeping assumptions about the state of plaid in the summer in the city... LETS CUT TO THE CHASE. We are experiencing a full on drought. It's not pretty. Just thinking about plaid makes New Yorkers feel hot and bothered. Let's face it, the whole cozy cabin thing just doesn't fly when it's 101 in the shade and your eyeballs are still sweating.

SO. We have sent all PVP team members from cubicles 1R-6R to Vermont to see what they can rustle up. So far, they have done very well. This just in from ROSEBUD (cubicle 2R, x 227):

0608080025.jpg, originally uploaded by abbyabby.

CAPTION: College kid. Church St. Burlington. 6/9/08

RED and BLACK: BED in the BACK

This most interesting and mysterious capture was sent in by ROSEBUD who admittedly has absolutely no idea what is going in the frame. South Burlington, VT 6/9/08

0607080910.jpg, originally uploaded by abbyabby.

GREEN and WHITE, FIRESIDE.

SMOKEY JACK pauses for a cigarette, fireside. The Stockton Inn, Stockton, PA 6/5/08

Say AQUA!

Aqua Teen Hipster Force pauses for a smoke in front of American Apparel (of course), Houston St.
Sent in by SWIRLY HENRY 6/6/08

RED and BLACK and SEEING DOUBLE.

Alexander Wang buffalo plaid stylish cardigan last seen on Carrie Bradshaw in SATC movie.
L. Lohan also spotted in same cardigan when coming back to LA.

Today's PVP Style Watch was brought to you by CALL PAUL. 6/5/08

RED and BLACK: Almost rented it, but then I put it back.

DISCLAIMER: The following review was written by P. Scott Cummins of Seattle, who is in no way affilliated with PVP (At least not that we know of.) No one at PVP has seen this movie yet, and so we must refrain from comment. Any opinions expressed below are the sole responsibility of the forementioned author and do not necessarily reflect that of the Plaid Voyeurism Project.

3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful:

Undiscovered Cult Classic, "Joyride" captures the malaise of the 70's so much better than many films of the era. Think of it as a perfect antidote to "Saturday Night Fever" on many levels. Watch for the Pacific Northwest cinematic quirkiness that comes through later in everything from "Twin Peaks" to "Napoleon Dynamite" and many more. There are many northwest talents that went on to other endeavors in this movie as well - surprising it has not been celebrated a bit more for that. I recommend it highly to college sociology students and Melanie Griffith groupies (get a life!). Truth be told, I've always held a candle for Anne Lockhart. We could have been very happy together, the restraining order was so uncool. Psyche! She's great.

RED and BLUR

At the counter at Millennium Health. Bedford Ave. 4/3/08 10:10pm

RED and BLACK, we suggest you take it back. (What's the return policy on hemp jewelry?)

Captured. Church Street Marketplace. Subject reportedly bought a hemp necklace from pictured street vendor and quickly flee the scene. Sent in by ROSEBUD, on location in BTV. 6/4/08

RED and BLACK

Plaid Bag spotted at the Whitney Biennial. 5/31/08 4:55pm

MEANWHILE...BACK IN THE STATES....

With the speed of a jack rabbit, SWIRLY HENRY captured not ONE, but TWO printed plaid products at the Omblingo Computer Warehouse in Wburg in under 4 minutes flat! May 23, 2008 between 5:45 and 5:48pm

OBSERVE: Green and Black Buffalo Plaid of the common Williamsburg variety attempting to lace up bowling shoe. Sent in by SWIRLY HENRY, May 24th, 2008, 4:07pm

Construction Site, Lake Placid, NY. Sent in by ROBBIE, 5/29/08 4:45pm

THE SAME BAG?

A sort of funny anecdote to the picture of the hanging blue and white plaid bag hanging in the shop in Mexico City. We catch up with our friend, the blue and white bag, not even a week later, sittin' out on the curb in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Have bag, will travel, apparently. May 31, 2008, 7:42am

CATCHING YOU UP ON WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO...

Our inbox jolly jammed of both your wonderful submissions (Thanks, everyone!) and the Plaid Photo Journal that our IPR (International Plaid Rovers) collected while on assignment in Mexico City two weeks ago. All of this has been on hold of course, due to the mass illness that swept headquarters last week. Rest assured, dear readers, we have a 95% recovery rate of all PVP employees, 99% of which are functioning with both kidneys. As of this morning (Tuesday) at 8:30am when we opened, the office is opperating at about 97% of its normal 98% efficency. That said...

Here's the best of the best of the Plaid of Mexico City, brought to you by the PVP, IPR: (International Plaid Rovers) (Not shown, the first plaid sighting of the trip: Woman in LIGHT BLUE and WHITE plaid jacket eating popcorn from a bag, Sunday, May 18, 2008 around 3:30pm in the Alemeda Park, taken point blank range by Sayuri with her camera. Perhaps someday that photo will surface on billboards in the Dominican Republic, but until we get in touch with her, I suspect that image is one that will survive exclusively in our imaginations.)

May 21, 2008, 4:42pm, Cinco De Mayo, Mexico City.

Hanging plastic woven bag in shop close to the Academia San Carlos, our home base while in Mexico City. May 22, 5:13pm

(This photo has been drastically lightened, due to the twilight hour of its capture. Pictured is the PINK and RED plaid towel belonging to the the woman making the most delicious tacquitos we've ever had in our lives. Down the street from where we photographed that hanging bag earlier the same day. Please note, we did not get sick. May 22, 2008, 11:19pm

The back of a buffalo check flannel shirt, watching some Aztec dancers outside the church next to the Zocalo. MAy 23, 2008 7:04pm

PVP celebrates Rock 'n' Roll Pioneer, Bo Diddley, (who wore Plaid, though NOT the Buffalo Check.)

In the mid 1950's, Bo Diddley, along with a number of other artists, helped reshape the sound of pop music worldwide, building it on the templates of blues, southern gospel and rhythm and blues. His "Bo Diddley" syncopated beat — three strokes/rest/two strokes — became a stock rhythm of rock ’n’ roll, paving the way for generations of musicians to continue reinventing the new sound. Mr. Diddley died today at his home in Archer, Florida. He was 79.

PVP celebrates the career of YVES SAINT LAURENT: "the Pied Piper of fashion."

Yves Saint Laurent, the boy-wonder successor to Christian Dior who exploded onto the fashion scene in 1958 and endured as one of the best-known and most influential couturiers of the second half of the 20th century, died today at his apartment in Paris. He was 71.

In the 1960's YSL can be credited with introducing the Pants Suit to the modern women's wardrobe, revolutionizing the silhouette of womens wear from morning to night. He often sought inspiration on the streets, bringing the Parisian beatnik style to couture runways and adapting, peacoats, and patterns such as plaid found in American surplus stores into jackets that found their way into fashionable women’s wardrobes around the world.

Here is an awful photograph of a fabulous Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche mohair cape/coat. The blue and black plaid has actual arm holes and a discreet leather closure. This cocoon-ish style cape wrap, very typical of YSL in the late 1970s, was often seen floating down the Rue Faubourg Saint Honore on many a chic set of shoulders.