RICHARD HAINES TAKES FASHION OFF THE STREET & RUNWAY & INTO THE GALLERY

Everyone in fashion knows Richard Haines and the art world is getting another good look at him tonight. New York Fashion Week officially started today and tonight is the unofficial opening of the fall art season in Chelsea, as well. Haines bridges the gap, as NYC to him is just an endless runway. He started out as a designer and developed an eye for the details, which laid a nice foundation for his illustration and he’s often seated in the front row at the best shows sketching away. In 2009, Haines had his first solo show at Envoy Enterprisesand tonight his show A Room of One’s Own opens at Daniel Cooney Fine Art, 526 West 26th Street. See you there? Wear something cute.

SQUIRRELFRIENDS! HOW ABOUT SOME VINTAGE SQUIRREL-DRAG PICS?

Tommy Tucker was an orphaned squirrel in Washington, DC, when Zaidee Bullis adopted him and for some unknown reason, Bullis sewed custom-made doll dresses for him to model. In 1944, photographer Nina Leen was working on photo assignments for LIFE and as she had prior experience with animals, the magazine asked her to photograph little Tommy Tucker. Leen styled Tommy the squirrel in drag for a LIFE magazine feature and although Tommy occasionally bit his her, he otherwise went along and wore the outfits, quite well, as you can see. Leen’s keen knack for shooting animals is the real hidden talent in this work and as you might imagine, it’s pretty tough to get animals to cooperate, let wear costumes. There’s an exhibit of her work that is now on view at Daniel Cooney Fine Art in New York City through May 16.