editor: BYRON BECK contributors: MARK BAUMGARTEN, KIM COLTON, ELIZABETH DYE, KATRINA RAMSER art direction: ANNE REESER, JASON LANDIS style direction: ELIZABETH DYE photography: MARK KOHLMAN production assistant: ALEX VALDIVIESO stylist: GALEN AMUSSEN production: AMY RYAN, THOMAS COBB, FRANK ZURBANO, SAMANTHA GARDNER, TOM HUMPHREY, KENDON GRAY, SARAH BODEN copy editors: IAN GILLINGHAM, MARGARET SEILER special thanks to: RANDY CAPRON, BIRTHDAY BOY FRANK, ADAM AND ALL THE GOOD FOLKS AT DANTE'S

the FROCK SHOW

Music + Fashion = Train Wreck.

The Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake debacle--now known as the "Tit Offensive"--displayed in a split second how quickly the seams between these two art forms can fray.

It's a no-win situation for most musicians. Push your look too far and you'll end up making a fool of yourself (note to Janet, Courtney, every metal band since time began). Don't go far enough and you'll end up in the fashion skufs bin long before you finish your first tour (paging Norah Jones). Looking good can be a tricky urban dance, and more often than not, all of us, musicians and the fans who love them, can wind up on our frumpy-looking asses.

Thank the rock gods for the creative collaborators fueling Portland's indie scene.

First, we saw the mix of ideas spreading through the world of visual arts--consider Red 76 and Modern Zoo, plus the performance artists PICA brought to town. Then there's the boiling hot pot of creativity inspired by the Fashion Incubator group. Next consider Doom Town, a recent Crystal Ballroom show that married indie fashion to indie music.

While fashion in Portland will always be of the Left Coast variety, more reinvention than invention, here new looks are about the mix. And it's in honor of this spirit of creative collaboration that WW has devoted our Spring Fashion issue to the intersection of music and fashion. We offer this section as a backstage pass for the local music scene, as well as a chance to see spring's new looks.

Check out the Roulettes, a new post-punk girl band, as they storm the stage of Dante's, surrounded by the scenesters who make (and break) your nights out. In our annual trend report, you'll see how to look bling-bling without adding up the ka-ching. Get advice from rock stars about how to keep your armpits dry (nursing pads, anyone?) when you're under the stage lights. See what the kids are wearing to the clubs. And in a WW exclusive, check out the accessories on the ladies who were once considered the ultimate accessories to the world's biggest rock stars.

After all, now that we've all grown up with the music, sometimes it seems like everyone in Portland plays in a band--or used to. Or maybe all of us are ready to add a little more rock-star
glamour to our lives.

Frock on.

Byron Beck