Lights, camera, fashion and passion—this month’s style issue has been a long time coming. As a former stylist and designer, fashion has played an important role in my life. My first thought was… What is LGBT style? Once upon a time, most would say, “boys would be girls and girls would be boys”, but is that the truth in this new decade? How does one define LGBT style? Well… you don’t.

    Its time to mix it up. Autumn offers us yet another chance to express ourselves through our wardrobe.  St. Louis has a lot of style to offer; you just have to know where to look.  Local designers, brands and boutiques are the best way to ensure you don't look like a carbon copy. Whether your night on the town is in The Grove or elsewhere, its key to be yourself!  Brett and Rachel show us how to flaunt our inner-sexy all while keeping it cool...

BY: SARAH FENTEM

    It is often noted that fashion functions like a pendulum, regularly swinging back and forth between two sartorial extremes. For what seems like a very long time, the pendulum has been hovering around a louche, rock aesthetic, with fashion being dominated by a mix of eighties pop and nineties grunge. At clubs, on the street, or flipping through magazines, one is confronted by a parade of hipsters wearing slashed tees, leggings, fluorescent leotards, and messy hair.

BY: COLIN MURPHY – SENIOR WRITER

    Whether it constitutes a lifestyle or is your weekend wear at the bars, leather has played an important role in the LGBT community since Marlon Brando and James Dean transfixed their generation in the 1950s. Still it wasn’t until the early 1970s that an organized leather community would take shape with the appearance of Levi/Leather and Motorcycle Clubs in cities across the country.

BY: COLIN MURPHY - SENIOR WRITER

Miss Gay America pageantry season is in full swing. Three preliminaries for female impersonation’s oldest national contest were held throughout the bi-state:

    Get ready for a party in the streets! The fifth annual Grovefest is gearing up to show St. Louis what The Manchester Strip has to offer. The all-day street festival will take place between 4 p.m. and midnight, featuring two dance stages and appearances by the St. Louis Zombie Squad, the Arch Rivals and many more.

    “We want to show St. Louis that The Grove can contend with any other neighborhood here.” said Alexis Tucci, event coordinator for MAC Meetings and Events.

BY: MATT JAMIESON

    Brighton, United Kingdom. April 6, 1974. The masses cheer as four young Swedes—Agnetha Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid (Frida) Fältskog, better known as ABBA, win the Eurovision Song Contest with their delightfully catchy song “Waterloo.”

With the hope of making an impact on children whose lives are disrupted by drugs, alcohol, violence and a lack of resources, Discovering Options was started seven years ago to create a safe and engaging after-school program where children could learn real problem solving skills while having a blast.  Each year, Discovering Options has the good fortune to serve about 100 children through its award-winning after school programming.  Each 10-week after school session includes weekly yoga and international cooking lessons for kids, conflict resolution, weekly individual support by Master’s

    Being that September is our style issue, VV set out to ask some of our favorite retailers what are their “HOT PICKS” for the upcoming season. Mind, body and soul seem to be this year’s fall frenzy. These retailers have always been a big supporter of our LGBT community—VV asks that you return the favor by visiting one these hot spots for fashion!

BAKED T’s

BY: COLIN MURPHY – SENIOR WRITER

    The curtain rises on the 2010-2011 U.S. Bank Broadway Series at The Fabulous Fox with a big-green-ogre of a hit in Shrek The Musical, Sept. 11-26.

BY: COLIN MURPHY – SENIOR WRITER

    St. Louis is replete with history when it comes to its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Still it might surprise some that in the months prior to the June 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City’s Greenwich Village—widely hailed as one of the catalysts for the modern-day LGBT rights movement—that plans for The Gateway City’s first LGBT rights organization were well underway.

BY: COLIN MURPHY - SENIOR WRITER

ST. LOUIS - Despite a last-minute venue change from Kiener Plaza due to permit issues with the city, St. Louis Black Gay & Lesbian Pride ended its weekend slate of events with a picnic at Benton Park from 3-8 p.m., Aug. 22.

BY: COLIN MURPHY – SENIOR WRITER

    Currently there are no resources that exist for emergency shelter especially equipped for youth, let alone lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) or questioning youth, in the city of St. Louis.

    The statistics are staggering.  26-percent of youth that come out to their parents or guardians are asked to leave their home and 42-percent of youth that are homeless identify as LGBT or questioning.