Last night I went 0ut to Stereo, and the coat check girl was wearing a red and black Chinese silk dress, had a demi-sleeve pulled over her left elbow crook, and her hair — a shaved undercut with side-swept bangs dyed blonde and black — was pulled back into an elegant twist.

Along with this unlikely ensemble, she sported bright red lipstick, black-rimmed cat eyes, ripped black tights and black converse hi-tops.  And damn did she ever look good.  With an eclectic type of flair that can neither be carefully calculated nor manufactured, she transformed a could-be fashion faux-pas into a dose of pure avant-garde panache.  Some people are a slave to style; others make their own.