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W W W JU ST O U T .CO M
APRIL 2 2010
PHOTOS BY MARTY DAVIS
COMMUNITY EVENTS
Care f a r your car the plan et by keeping up
with regular m aintenance
¡ t i': ’ -,f¡8 * j i t .
m e*
E squire M otors
• T h e re s no escape from
donning a red d re ss for the
hottest party of the y e a r1
Celebrating over 40 y ears in Business
stj/lish
> years in.
Red Dress Party
shines on for
o good cause, and
for bloody good
fun
ELECT
WALT
NICHOLS
PORTLAND COMMISSIONER
THE I0TH ANNUAL RED DRESS PARTY
WWW.WALTNICHOLSFOftCrrYCOttNCIL.COM
kicks off at 9 p m Saturday April 17 at the B iso n B u ild in g
419 NE 10th Ave Ticke ts are $50 at reddresspdx com and will not be available
at the door VIP tickets SI25. include a 7 p m p re -p a rt/a n d access to an all night VIP lounge Shuttle service between
the event and Boxxes/Red Cap will run ever/ 30 minutes shuttles passes are $5 each way Festivities are 21*
Approved and paid for by W alt Nichols for city council.
j By AMANDA SCHURR
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It’s been a terrestrial planet, an ancient
body o f water, a luxe airline carrier, even
a Soviet block. In its decade o f crimson
glory, Red Dress has proven itself a versa-
tile choice. Guests have been transported
across time and space, past velvet ropes and
on late-night flights o f fancy. But this year,
the folks behind Portland’s most popular
color-coordinated party needed only look
in the mirror— or at a pair o f stilettos— for
inspiration.
After all, there’s truth to the saying—
fashion can be murder.
“The Shining was my generation,” says
Red Dress former Board President Reid
Decker, referencing the reverse image— “re-
drum”— immortalized in Stanley Kubrick’s
1980 adaptation o f the Stephen King novel.
“We had in our plethora o f ideas ‘redneck,’
‘red lantern,’ ‘red tape’ ... but I really wanted
to do a scary theme. A lot o f people thought
that for the 10th anniversary, it should be
fluffy. But I was extremely adamant about
it. Think suspense, think Big Wheels, think
haunting little children.”
And with a decade o f globe and galaxy
trotting behind Red Dress, it’s eerily fitting
that this year’s milestone keeps partygoers
close to home. “Here we are back in Or-
egon,” says Decker, an “at large” board mem-
her who still handles press and advertising
for the event. Movie buffs and local residents
alike will recall that the horror classic turned
to Mt. Hood’s own Timberline Lodge for
the now legendary exterior o f the fictional
Overlook Hotel. Decker and his fellow board
members set about recreating a weekend on
the mountain— and into madness—with the
Torrance family.
“We tried to match the theme to the
building in a lot o f ways,” explains Decker.
The Bison Building doubles as the spooked
mansion, which will host two dance floors—
and an evening o f killer entertainment. VIP
revelers who pony up $125 will be treated
to a special, earlier performance by BodyVox
dance troupe and the “sophisticated sex
comedy” o f cabaret act The Wet Spots. Party
people will then join the general admission
crowd for later sets from Tahoe Jackson, DJ
Harmonix and D J Tronic. The thrills don’t
stop there: Red Dress organizers took a sin
ister shine to the theme, right down to the
outdoor hedge maze.
Such grand plans mark quite the evolu
tion for Decker, who along with Matthew
Werres, Rob Anderson, Brent Echols, Arjan
Emmerich and Dustin Shanky, crowded
into Jeff Hawthorne’s three-bedroom North
Skidmore home with some 75 guests— most
ly men— one Super Bowl Eve back in 2001.
“Our first two years, it was just a house party.
We just wanted to get together and wear red
dresses,” laughs Decker. Themes were intro
duced in 2003, when the house party moved
to a vacant grain silo loft in industrial North
Portland.
Fast forward a decade— after stints in
the Indian Ocean and on Mars, from H ol
lywood to Amsterdam (see sidebar), Red
Dress is as well-traveled an affair as it is a
well-groomed one. Partygoers have ventured
here from Seattle, Los Angeles, Vancouver,
B.C. and New York to don their best reds,
and have included no less than former First
Daughter Chelsea Clinton. Red Dress PD X
attendees have launched satellite events in
Las Vegas, Seattle and, come this fall, C hi
cago and Hawaii—with plans in the works
for San Francisco and San Diego parties.
Venues have been equally varied: the inau
gural NoPo basement gave way to bigger
digs in warehouses, nightspots (the former
Meow Meow Club) and more.
There’s a method to the madness, o f
course— or at least a good reason. Since
2003, Red Dress has made giving back to
the community a priority. Resources rang
ing from the Kids’ Connection Program at
Cascade A ID S Project to Our House of
Pordand, Outside In to Esther’s Pantry have
benefited from funds raised totaling up
wards o f $150,000. This year’s recipients are
Q_Center, Men’s Wellness Program at CAP,
and the SafeChoice Domestic Violence Pro
gram o f the YW CA o f Clark County.
“We’re really proud that [Red Dress
proceeds are] going to the program,” says
Cecily Griffus, LG BTQ _ domestic violence
and sexual assault advocacy specialist for
SafeChoice. This year’s event marks the first
time that proceeds will benefit an organiza
tion in Clark County. “[Red Dress] is really
targeting services for queer youth,” Griffus
adds. Funds will go toward outreach efforts
involving youth in the community.
For other beneficiaries, the Red Dress
Party has long provided a vital lifeline for
programs, both youth-geared and otherwise.
The event has donated almost $15,000 to