Fashion and NAMM
By Sally A. Schwartz

Another year has come and gone for fashion at the 2006 NAMM convention. The only thing that I can say for style this year is: Fur, Fur, Fur!

Fashion begins with a maroon fur duster being sported by a gentleman looking like Uncle Fester-- bald head, white foundation and eye shadow to match his jacket. Every time I saw this guy I was disappointed to not see the light bulb in his mouth.

It seems that white fur mini-skirts are in again and are being paired with white fur Go-Go boots. Then there were white, gray, tan and black fur vests, plus a pair of leopard print muck-a-lucks. Also noticed were gray fur classic hip-length jackets, fur hats and, for me, the kicker were pink fur armbands being worn over a black Matrix duster. Fur was definitely the choice attire for many of the attendees-- it's in and it is hot!!!

I’ll make the comment that there was the rocker black attire on the scene, but not as much as in years past. It seems most rockers these days are returning to the good ol' T-shirt and jeans. It was a crack-up to see many tweens and teens wearing AC/DC and Ramones T-shirts re-released from the time when they weren’t even a glimmer in their parents' eyes. I remember how back-in-the-day we had to go to the concerts to obtain the shirts that they now are able to buy in the stores! I must be getting old. As my son once said, " Geez mom, it looks like you and dad grew up in the '70s!" Well son…yeah, yeah we did.

Mr. Blue Eyes Billy Sheenan, sported sunglasses hiding his pretty peepers, along with a black jacket, a blue T-shirt and jeans.

Gene Simmons and his entourage made their appearance as well. Gene’s son sported a red and black team jacket with black jeans, while Gene had selected black jeans, a black shirt and a faded black blazer. You know the outfit… the one he wore on his VH1 hit "School of Rock."

Rick Derringer didn't look too worn for his age in jeans and an embossed silk silver shirt.

I think the biggest surprise for myself was Keifer Sutherland. Joining up with him at Gibson where he was endorsing a new guitar, Keifer made top of the list for best dressed at NAMM this year. He wore a pair of blue jeans, brown cowboy boots - polished but well worn - and a light brown knit V-neck pullover which was unbuttoned to reveal a white T underneath.

I capped my evening at NAMM with an after-hours concert event featuring CC Deville (who is hysterically funny and absolutely out of his mind) wearing a white rhinestone jean jacket over a black T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. The band Endorphin's singer wore a blue French Tickler on top of his head with classic baggy shorts, a red long-sleeved shirt under a black Superman T-shirt, classic red and black striped socks or leggings (it was hard to determine which) and black tennis with red shoe strings.

The night’s event also offered the Coffin Case Fashion Show, a bonus for the guys. If you remember, I said fur was in …well… it should be no surprise that, along with a bevy of beauties, an ape strutted down the runway in his own skin, ummm, fur. --Shame on you if you thought I was going to say something else.

Unfortunately, the ape was the only real model who I saw at any real length-- for, as soon as the girls took the stage, the females in the audience (including myself) were forced to the nether regions of the venue by the men, who pushed and prodded their way to the front to take in the view. By the way the men hooted and hollered I knew that there wasn’t much to the outfits and the girls were obviously more than an eyeful. My only recourse was to rely on my photographer, Dave Schwartz, to jump in to take pictures and, believe me, he didn’t have a problem with that at all. After reviewing the pictures, I have decided that the men should be ashamed of themselves, they didn’t even consider the fact that some women in the audience would have loved to view the eye candy as well. Skirts were almost non-existent, crop tops were at the bear minimum and shoes ranged from high heeled platforms to Frankenstein boots, with torn and fishnet stockings. After reviewing the Coffin Girl Fashion Show photos for this article, my final thought was, "I wonder how the ape would of looked in a few of those costumes?!"

This wraps it up for the 2006 Fashion of NAMM, Enjoyable, fun, outrageous, insanely funny and always the weird and unusual.

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