Photos: M. Riser

For: Newgrave Magazine

Models: Me (duh) & John Koviak

Article By: Adriana Ruelas

ARTICLE READS:

The Many Faces Of Molly Brenner

No matter what genre of music, every club scene has always been a place for people to show off their sense of style, with unofficial fashion shows nightly. Of course, the ones that push the envelope to the extremes of fashion the most with their elaborate get-ups are the club kids and drag queens, which brings us to Molly Brenner.

Though a certified female (and a truely stunning one at that) she'd rather consider herself a "female impersonating a female impersonator." Her sense of humor doesn't end there. Molly emerged onto the LA goth scene in the early nineties and has become a night club personality known for her original and outrageous outfits. The pictures photographed for this article are the latest sampling of what you can see her in, trolling around town with her pack of drag queen friends. "I had a lot of money from my childhood acting days, and I blew it on a bunch of queens!" Molly says laughing. "My friends and I would spend our days getting our looks together and our nights showing them off." Eventually the money ran out, but the need for new costumes didn't.

Still earning her money as an actress and a model, she found time to make her mark co-hosting one of Hollywood's hotspots, choreographing and directing fashion shows, as the infamous Retail SLUT's first catalog cover model, and her latest project, keyboardist to visual goth band, Fear Cult.

So after all these years of dolling herself up, why now begin to make clothes for others? "I am surprised by the attention my clothes get by people that don't put the same effort into their own look. I found that most people don't have the time, skills, or creativity to make their own clothes, but their desire for dressing up is there." Molly started helping costume others with sleep-over sewing parties. Everyone that attends comes with a project in mind. "I'll help, but I'll never just do it for them, no matter how frustrated I get," she says, rolling her eyes and smiling. "That's how my grandma taught me!" "I think it's important for everyone to have confidence with fashion. It's not about making the best outfit in the world. It's about having fun and being anyone you want, even if it's just for one night."

Though visually Molly's costumes are very elaborate, they are constructed technically simplistic. "My grandma gave me her 1928 Singer sewing machine from back in her days as a home ec teacher. It was the first lightweight portable model made and still works like a charm." It just goes forward and backward, so no bells and whistles there. "Overlock? What's that?!" Everything else is hand sewn and not everything starts from scratch. "Sometimes I'll hack up or add onto a thrift store disaster to make it more wearable. I never throw clothes away either. You never know when gold lame will make a comeback!" She collects everything from antique kimono to fake mustaches, "and I wear it ALL!" Anything Molly's closest is missing? "Jeans. I never touch the stuff. "

Molly is currently working on her first website to show off and sell her custom costumes. You can see much more of her at: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/fearcultmolly and contact her at: MollyBrenner@aol.com. Good luck to you, Molly!