FASHION WEEK PROFILE // Make-Up Artist Roberto Casey Is All About the Pretty

Courtesy of Roberto CaseyRoberto Casey might have the most successful side career of any musician in history. He started working as a make-up artist because it seemed more enjoyable than lugging boxes around at Nine West. "I had gone to performing arts school and learned how to do stage make-up. I hoped I could meet some music industry contacts as a make-up artist"--cut to today and he's got two Emmys to show for it. 

What sets Casey apart from the average make-up artist is his love of keeping things light. "I always tell people use enough to see the effects of the make-up, not the make-up itself," he says. "So if you're doing foundation, the point is to even your skintone. Stop when your skin looks even, not when you look like you're wearing foundation. Of course, that's if you're doing a natural look." And a natural look, Casey says, is his favorite. "I like to make a pretty face prettier."

His advice to aspiring make-up artists is to team up with a pro. "Classes will give you a great foundation that you can keep going back to, but you'll learn so much from someone who's been doing this for a while," he says. "As far as being successful, it's all about networking."

And his music career? "I have a yoga studio that I play at. I'll do a show someday." 

--Layla Schlack

FASHION WEEK PROFILE // Hats Off to Cha Cha's House of Ill Repute

Dina Pisani -- Courtesy: Cha Cha's House of Ill Repute

When asked what her favorite kind of hat is, milliner Cha Cha--AKA Dina Pisani--doesn't hesitate: "Top." The lady likes a top hat. "But I don't make mine the conventional way. I distress it a little, so people don't feel like it stands out quite so much. Of course, it still stands out."

Pisani's DUMBO-based shop Cha Cha's House of Ill Repute is busily churning out top hats, fedoras, porkpies, and cloches for fashion week and the fall season, but Cha Cha--who also teaches a hat making workshop at 3rd Ward--took a few minutes to chat with us about how she got her start.

"I studied design at Marist, and I had a good design sense, but my construction was poor," she tells us. So she went into retail and turned to millinery as a side project; a way to keep her creativity alive. Pisani studied at FIT and made hats to order before actually setting up shop.

"Sewing is so precise and mathematical, but blocking a hat is really more like sculpture," she explains.

So how does one make a hat?

Pisani orders her material and steams it until it can be molded. She then uses a wooden "block," or mold to shape the hat, then she shapes the brim and adds a ribbon insided called a sweatband. But what sets Cha Cha apart is the details she imparts: the distressing, the trims, the finishes. 

While the Cha Cha moniker stemmed from a nickname her grandmother once gave her, we asked where the whole "House Of Ill Repute" thing came in.

"I was in New Orleans when I was getting ready to open my business, just wandering around the Quarter, and we walked through Storeyville, the district when prostitution was legal. New Orleans is a big inspiration to me, so it just kind of fit." According to Pisani, it also inspired her to one day go into the lingerie business. In the meantime though, we think a distressed porkpie is sexy all on its own.

--Layla Schlack

FASHION WEEK PROFILE // Ignacio Quiles, Urban Dandy and Vintage Lifestyle Guru

Photo: Franzi Charen.

With Fashion Week here in full force, we were eager to catch up with Ignacio Quiles, one of 3rd Ward's most stylish members. For a quick taste of his sartorial prowess, check out this photo feature on BackyardBill.com.

Quiles kicked off Fashion Week last Thursday with a Fashion's Night Out event at Artists & Fleas, the indoor market in Williambsurg that hosts QP & Monty, his vintage lifestyle emporium. "The FNO event is a first for A&F and really set the tone for the week," he says "While I would love to attend a ton of shows, this is actually one of the busiest sales weeks for me. Some of our most special pieces sell to designers and buyers for design inspiration, so I have to be available for private appointments throughout the week." 

Even with a busy schedule, Quiles hopes to get out and see what's new. "While QP & Monty is a vintage lifestyle emporium, I especially take pride in my men’s haberdashery section, so I like to keep an eye on what’s trending in the media. However, I must say what I see at 3rd Ward and among our customers at the market is generally way ahead of the curve."

In Williamsburg. Photo: Joel Henderson.Cinema is at the root of Quiles' interest in fashion. "As a kid I tagged along with my mother when she visited flea markets and I was obsessed with old movies," he says. "Through the movies I was exposed to a world of great style that I certainly couldn't afford, but at the flea market I could put together unique looks influenced by that celluloid world. Talk about street fashion—flea markets truly unleashed my sartorial creativity."

His collecting obsessions also extend beyond just sharp outfits. "I love cowboy memorabilia and religious artifacts—this clearly came from my misspent youth sneaking into the cinema," he says. "But I also collect graffiti and stickers of all kinds. On most days you’ll find a sticker I picked off some obscure lamppost stuck to the lining of my jacket for safekeeping. In fact I have so many stickers that I am working on a long-term project where I resurface found furniture with stickers."

His sartorial choices also cover a wide range. "It’s always evolving though I view it more like layering rather than shedding," Quiles says of his style. "While I generally put together an old school look where I pair patterns and stripes, vests and suits, and top it all off with a great old hat; sometimes I can be found in head-to-toe hip hop gear or full on Western. It just depends on my mood and what I’m doing that day. Needless to say I rarely get rid of anything in my wardrobe. I just add more and more each year—I admit it I’m sartorially greedy."

Right now QP & Monty is Quiles' main focus, though he is also at work on "a secret food-related project." Before he began selling and consulting, he was a professional chef for 30 years. He's also putting together a men's accessory line which he hopes to launch next year.

"The bottom line is I am an urban dandy who earned his sartorial and decorating prowess by watching old movies and trolling flea markets," Quiles tells us. "I live in New York City and, when not at the flea or my studio above 3rd Ward, I can be found either walking my two dogs, Monty and Saki or riding around the city on my bike dressed like an English gentleman. However I always, always, always have my eyes open for the next great find!"

-- John Ruscher