Last Sunday evening was the annual meeting of The Corduroy Appreciation Club, held in Brooklyn's Montauk Club. We had a fully packed house, and the corduroy concoctions on display easily outshone my own rather drab ensemble. Miles Rohan is the perfect emcee for such an event. He has the air of someone who would be an ideal Elks treasurer: reserved, credible, bookish, but with a wry grin playing about the corners of his mouth. There was an expulsion of an "infidel" (someone wearing only one article of corduroy) at the beginning of the evening, who shouted "Dont cord me, bro!" as he was dragged off by two of the corduroy-caped enforcers. Clearly, this was serious business.
After giving a quick interview to a young man from Men's Vogue and exchanging wisecracks with fellow attendees, I made my way to the podium.
( A few shots from the evening behind the cut )
I was surprised that my silly speech was met with a standing ovation, but I was most grateful. First in the history of the Club, I was told.
( My keynote address behind cut )
For the second segment of our keynote address, Miles Rohan and I presented a brief exploration of the sonic phenomenology of corduroy and a demonstration of the uncanny ability of cordvouyance. We played a series of acoustic field recordings of corduroy worn by people hailing from all walks of life. Just as the sounds of animals in the wild tend to settle into a kind of syncopated pattern among all the different species, so it is with corduroy, which when left to its own devices, forms an ecosystem of its own. For the very first time we had a window into the invisible ecosystem of corduroy that is all around us.
Here is a link to far better photos of the event. Many thanks to JBAphoto!
My trusty agent Peter gave us a ride to the Gershwin Hotel to meet with my fairy clothmother Seyta (of Duchess fame) to retrieve my new suit. Can't wait to share it with you, which I shall in good time.
My sincerest thanks to Miles for having us. So many lovely people!
~W