The Best of Binky's Johnny Weir Blog: when you look at how casually we throw these labels around and then use them to justify bullying it's worth a tiny rant

Johnny shopping in NYC last Thursday, July 28.

Note Birkin on left arm, shopping bag from

Louboutin World on right shoulder ... :)

Or: Just note the arms. Whatever works for you.

Cuz it's all good. So, so good.

I'm a little bitchy today. Just so you know.

[tiny rant]

So this fabulous photo above popped up on Radar Online last Friday as part of their weekly "Best and Worst Dressed Stars of the Day" feature.

OK, first of all, I hate "Best and Worst" lists. HATE them. Especially "Best and Worst" in terms of how people look or what they're wearing. Yes, people who write (and read) these things: Judging you. (See what I did there?)

But anyway. There was this fabulous photo of Johnny (and also: "Stars"! He's one of the "Stars of the Day"!), so ...

This week's title was "Vampy Vixens And Skater Slip-Ups ..." so my first thought was, "Argh." (Well, actually my very first thought was, " 'And' should not be capitalized in a headline." Followed closely by, "Why do 'journalists' always feel compelled to include stupid puns whenever an article is even remotely related to skating?") But bonus points that he was right there next to Anna Paquin on the home page of the article, accompanied by this writeup with no "Best" or "Worst" label attached:

Oh, Johnny Weir! The out-there Olympian hit the streets of NYC, dressed up in fashionable female duds. The skater sported cutoff shorts with a white tank, snaky loafers and a Birkin bag, while getting his shoe fix at Christian Louboutin.

So then I went to the accompanying gallery in search of a larger version of this photo. And there he was, photo #10 (yes! bigger! yay!), with this caption:

WORST: Dude looks like a lady! Johnny Weir dressed up like a girl in NYC, from his snaky loafers to his Birkin bag, while shopping at Christian Louboutin.

(So then of course Steven Tyler started wailing "Dude looks like a lady!" in my head and I involuntarily began humming along because how can you not? He's so hypnotically ... appalling ... and mesmerizing, and insane, and a helluva singer and performer all at the same time. And also, sometimes he looks like a lady. I guess. If that's a thing.)

But: Dear Radar Online, why is there such a sneer wrapped around "dressed up like a girl"? As if "girl" is automatically an insult?

I beg your pardon.

Yeah, I know Johnny doesn't care whether he ends up on these stupid lists or not. So whatever.

But how does he look like a girl here? (Let's review those arms again. Also the legs. The chest. The everything. HELLO. Are you people blind?) How do cut-offs and a tank top in the middle of summer make an athletic-looking guy ... a girl? (again, like that's a bad thing?). And only girls can wear "snaky loafers"? Really?

And more to the point: Why would it be wrong if he was "dressed up like a girl?" WTF does that even mean? Like this girl, maybe?

KD Lang. Love her.

Soooooo then here he's ... dressed up like a man?

And also here? Cuz he's wearing a very masculine Yankees cap. With his dress.

Seriously. How ridiculously arcane are these labels? And then if KD Lang is "dressed like a guy," is that ... good? Cuz we've already established that "girl" is bad. (Ah, misogyny. So glad to see you're still alive and well and churlishly spreading your poison in today's society to help perpetuate bullying everywhere. But more importantly: What are you wearing?)

Who cares anyway? If KD and Johnny and whoever are happy and comfortable with how they're dressed, why does anyone need to gender-label their fashion choices?

IDK. Let's look at him again. Mostly because it makes me happy.

OK, three things:

(1) "If this is how to dress like a girl, then I've been doing it wrong ..." (so wrong that this dear friend--who made me laugh out loud when she said this--is the proud owner of one of Johnny's fabulous dresses from eDressMe!)

(2) He's in good company, because guess who else is labeled "Worst Dressed" on this same list?

Yeah, that's right: Lady Gaga. For her "shockingly low-cut dress."
But ... she's a girl ... dressed like ... a girl, right? Oh yeah, I forgot. That's a .... bad thing ... ?

(3) And finally, from another dear friend: "Yay for his new Loubs ... And this is probably the first time a Birkin landed anyone on a worst-dressed list. Idiots."

THIS.

[/tiny rant]

(For more on the subject of shallow judgments that are completely irritating, please see this lol-worthy post by my fellow blogger, Crazy Colorist!)

OK, now let's move on to some brief but oh so enjoyable picspam from Lizzy Pine, who posted her Sun Valley album to Johnny's Facebook fan page last night. Here are a few of her shots from the afternoon practice! Please be sure to click on any photo to open it in a new window and then click again for full-size, because Lizzy understands our needs and these are HUUUUUGE. And you can see all her photos here! Thank you, Lizzy!!

(Note: His eyes are closed or half-closed in like three of these ... so tired he's skating in his sleep ... which I'm thinking is probably a thing he can do, actually ...)

And just one more from Lizzy ...

Johnny chatting with fans in Sun Valley.

Beautiful.
(Note: There's something about his hair here
such that every time I glance at this photo,
I momentarily think he's wearing one of those
lovely Jewish yarmulkes ...)