“Can You See My Knickers?”

For as long as I can remember, I have been a fan of music. I grew up in the New Wave & Pop era of the ‘80’s, the Grunge & Rap of the ‘90’s and in the early 2000’s: Depeche Mode, The Go-Go’s, Madonna, Nirvana, Jane’s Addiction, Luscious Jackson, Metallica, The Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Jay-Z, Missy Elliott, Christina Aguilera, and N*SYNC. To confirm: your eyes are not deceiving you, I did list Jay-Z and Metallica with “BSB.” Then there came The Spice Girls. I remember the day I bought “Spice” at the campus bookstore at North Carolina State University as a freshman. From the screeches of “Girl Power,” to the karate kicks for no reason and the “pleather” cat suits, I was hooked. My friends and I even dressed up as them for the opening night of Spice World. I wore camouflage cargo pants, a matching green bra under a white tank top, and Timberland boots (I was Scary Spice). Seriously, I had no shame.

Cut to 2007: Announcing the reunion of the Spice Girls for a “Greatest Hits” CD and an 11-city global tour. I had scheduled a trip to Chicago and saw that, as luck would have it, the girls added a show there. I had to find tickets…. their first show in London sold out in 38 seconds! Miraculously, I found one… Seeing the 5 women doing what they do best – not dancing, not singing, but entertaining – was enough to bring tears to the eyes of many 16-year olds who were too young to see them in their ‘90’s heyday.

The tour wardrobe was designed by Robert Cavalli, including Melanie Chisholm’s bedazzled Adidas track suits. People couldn’t believe a designer of Cavalli’s caliber would do this (as evidenced by a half-page article in my city’s newspaper, The Charlotte Observer) and I thought to myself, “This isn’t new! Jean-Paul Gaultier designed Madonna’s Blond Ambition tour (1990) and her Confessions tour (2006). I can’t be the only one who knows about this stuff.” And then I realized….yes, I actually might be the only one who knows about this stuff.

And thus, the idea for “Tourdrobe” was born. This is a passion project and the name is the combination of 2 words: “Tour” + “Wardrobe” = “Tourdrobe.” One of the main goals of Tourdrobe is to bring exposure to artists you might not yet heard of, but I can almost guarantee that you will. You’ll also find a bi-weekly blog about the intersection of Music, Art, Dance & Fashion (written by me, as well as some fancy guest bloggers), and special uploads of Pix & Vids of people I meet, concerts I go to, adventures I have and a calendar of Local/Regional/National events in case you want to travel to your favorite destinations to see your favorite artists or designer shows. If you know someone who might like to be featured on Tourdrobe, please feel free to contact mk@tourdrobe.com! Feel free to follow on Twitter @tourdrobe.

In case you’re wondering, “Can you see my knickers?” is a quote from Victoria Beckham in the television show Victoria Beckham: Coming to America. Imagine her wearing a little Gucci dress in an earthquake simulator and there you have it. So, until next time, remember it’s your life. Live it on tour! <3, MK