Deck your walls + support Brooklyn nightlife with a sexy (and pretty hilarious) calendar featuring your friendly neighborhood bartenders
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Given the past 2.5 weeks of pure (unsurprising) shit show, I’ve decided 2021 doesn’t officially start until… uh, let’s say January 20th. And as we move collectively into the next year, I recommend adorning your walls + tracking time with the true heroes who got us through the last one—
I’m talking about our bartenders, obviously.
With that, I’d like to direct your attention to the Bushwick Bar Babes of 2021, a just-announced (+ Channel 4- and NY Post-featured) fundraising calendar featuring some of the neighborhood’s most notable places and faces!
The calendar—available for pre-order now!—was organized and produced by Haybaby baby // Our Wicked Lady floor manager // excellent human Leslie Hong and shot by Michelle Ma (Babes of Bushwick) and the incredible Jeanette D. Moses. It features model bartenders from OWL as well as Bushwick mainstays 101 WIlson, Abe’s Pagoda, All Night Skate, Boobie Trap, Bootleg Bar, The Cobra Club, Echo Bravo, Forrest Point, Heavy Woods, Old Timers, Pine Box Rock Shop and Pink Metal.
By ordering BBB of 2021 and taking 2D versions of your fave Brooklyn bartenders home, you’re not just seriously upping the sex factor of your apartment; you’re also helping keep Bushwick nightlife alive. Proceeds from the sales of each $20.21 masterpiece will be split between the bars, and they’ve also launched a joint GoFundMe if you want to throw a few more tips their way.
AND NOW FOR THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES SCOOP! On Friday, when the the project and pre-orders were announced, I hopped on a quick call with Leslie to ask her a few questions about the cal. Here are a few takeaways—
the idea
“MG [Stillwaggon, Spite FuXXX + OWL bartender] and I were talking, just joking about it… You know, the whole legacy of doing sexy firemen fundraising calendars is already there, so I’m like, why not do the same for bartenders?”
the process
“It was harder to wrangle bartenders than it is to wrangle bands, surprisingly.”
the secret ingredient
“It took a few shoots to realize, oh wait—these places are full of alcohol, maybe people should just drink a little bit of it before they get sexy for the camera. And that really helped. It completely changed the mood.”
the wardrobe (+ DIFFERENT PERCEPTIONS OF SEXY)
“Bootleg Bar was a delight… Troy was just like, ‘Can I wear a garbage bag?’ And we were like, ‘Yeah, does it make you feel sexy?’ And he totally rocked a garbage-bag dress, and I love that so much.
Also, weirdly every single man… straight man in the shoot… who ended up going bottomless decided to wear heather-grey boxer briefs, which was an interesting choice for sexy, I thought. Not very forgiving but very bold on their part.
Pine Box was also a treat because they got a lingerie sponsor and ended up looking like a ‘70s psych-rock band. I would go to that show.
It was just funny to see the different degrees of in it. Echo Bravo really brought the booty, like… full lingerie. We were shooting outside and the cars were honking as they drove by. And then Forrest Point took sexy to be like, sophisticated sexy. So it’s really interesting to see what people’s perceptions of sexiness are. Like are you wearing a bustier, or are you just wearing a vest?”
+ A break from the bleak
“Some of these places are closed for the winter and that feeling of hopelessness is on the surface for a lot of folks in the industry,… but I think ultimately everyone ended up having a lot of fun with it… It was really, really nice to put our energy towards something fun for a change.”
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I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a good feeling about this next year. And the first night we’re finally allowed back inside the bar… well, you better believe I’m gonna be wearing a garbage bag.
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Pre-order the calendar and find more info on the bars and how to help them here. Donate to support Bushwick’s nightlife via gofundme here.
Feature image (Old Timers outtake): Jeanette D. Moses