Head-to-toe Chanel is a style statement most women can only dream of making. But then, Biko Beauttah is not your typical lady who lunches. The Kenyan-born trans-gender fashion model is known for her over-the-top tastes of both the couture and Kensington variety. This week’s best dressed—spotted at the National Ballet’s White Hot Gala—dishes on her grudge against grunge and why dressing for body type is a universal challenge.
(Photo by Courtney Shea)
Did you buy your outfit in one go, or is Chanel something to be accumulated?
I didn’t buy it all at once. The gloves and shoes are from a couple of seasons ago. I got both at Saks in Las Vegas. The dress is vintage Chanel. There’s a store in Kensington called King of Kensington where the owner calls me whenever they get a new shipment. You can find a lot of great labels if you get there before everything is picked over.
You lived in Kenya until 2006. I’m guessing your look has changed quite a bit in the past few years.
I’ve always lived for clothing, but in Kenya I had to be a closet fashionista. Being trans-gender is illegal there, and the style is just totally different anyway. In high school I wore a lot of hip-hop-type clothing—baggy pants, Tommy Hilfiger, totally not my style. When I went to Dallas and then later to Canada, I could express myself.
Speaking of expressing yourself, are there specific dos and don’ts for trans-gender dressing?
Sure, although it’s not that different. Like any woman, I think about what flatters my body. With my genetic makeup, I’m never going to look good in the same things as, say, Dita Von Teese. I avoid pants, and I almost always wear heels at least four inches tall to make my legs look feminine. I’m lucky I’m not that tall in the first place, otherwise I’d tower over everyone.
What trend would you like to see the end of?
This is easy. I am a huge vintage fan, but I really don’t like the sort of hipster look where younger people just throw on a bunch of stuff that doesn’t match. It’s like they’re trying to look homeless. I like to think everything through. For this outfit, I had the dress and shoes on, and then I thought the gloves would make a nice addition, then, finally, the hat. It’s like Coco Chanel said, “Fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportions.”
Get Toronto’s Best Dressed delivered to your inbox every Wednesday with the Toronto Life Style newsletter. Sign up now >>
Pretty, great figure and legs, and certainly nicer upper arms than me, (the testosterone helps), but the dress is too short for “her” age, and while the pieces are all classic, they somehow seem kind of ordinary on her. I can’t imagine even the tallest and thinnest of waifs making this work… again, while classic, it just looks kind of dated, and white is a tough colour to pull off for anyone.
It would be cliché to say that she would be best-suited in something more avant-garde, so while she looks nice, what makes her the “Best Dressed”, Toronto Life? Unless she were trans-gender and media-worthy, I believe she would just be another one of the nicely-dressed, pretty girls in Chanel… but “Best Dressed”? I’m giving this one a thumbs down. I would have loved however to be a fly on the wall if one of the “boys”, after a few cocktails, started hitting on her…
You’ve probably got a better body and looks than most of the women who attended the event Biko, but once you start appearing in the “Best Dressed” section and they give us “ordinary folk” space to comment, you’re fair game… Am I being too catty? – Meow Meow
June 24, 2009 at 8:42 am | by Meow MeowMeow Meow’s got it all wrong. Biko girl, you’re looking head-to-toe fab.
For the record, I agree about those hipsters going for the homeless look. Look in a mirror, people!
June 24, 2009 at 9:22 am | by GregThere is absolutely nothing fabulous, unique, creative, or fashion forward about that outfit. Not sure why it made the “Best Dressed” list as I’m sure most people with a decent fashion sense could pull that together and there are plenty of other outfits that could outshine that one. Toronto Life, WHO is making your picks??? They need to get out more.
June 24, 2009 at 9:41 am | by MiLeClearly this gal is here because it is politically correct and I find that run-of-the-mill offensive. Should I, a white, natural woman with a similar body, have shown up in this mish mash of dated, not vintage, Chanel, we can be sure there would be no cameras flashing. Biko, I am proud of you to be who you are as well as a stunning woman, but this is not one for the “Best Dressed” list.
I agree with Meow Meow – as usual.
June 24, 2009 at 10:32 am | by sageSage and MM: Why waste your time on being offended? You don’t like the clothes? Fine. You’re both wrong, but whatever, you’re entitled to your opinion. But why jump on TL for putting up transgendered person? Personally, I thought this was an elegant, flawlessly assembled outfit – I didn’t even realize that it was a transgendered person until I read the interview. Really, this whole package of is amazing: a totally interesting story behind a totally beautiful outfit. As for you, Sage, leave your condescending “pride” at the door for now. Concentrate instead on the fact that you DIDN’T wear this outfit, you DIDN’T make it work, you DIDN’T get your picture taken – Biko did, and that’s what makes it amazing.
June 24, 2009 at 10:45 am | by sallyWhy is it that whenever a non-white/non-straight person is chosen for anything, some white person always comes forward and says, “The only reason they were chosen is because they’re black/Asian/Hispanic/gay/actually a dude”?
June 24, 2009 at 10:55 am | by White GuyWhat a fun piece! Finally something different on here. Lets see more of Biko. Very refreshing. Please Toronto Life, tell us more about Biko.
June 24, 2009 at 11:45 am | by SavageI’d like to remind “Sally” that this column is called, “Best Dressed”, which in itself is a pretty big statement. It implies that of EVERY single person who attended this event (let’s guess about 1,000), the chosen one had the best “ensemble”, aka the “Best Dressed”. The column isn’t called “Most Charming Dinner Conversationalist”. I really don’t care who wins, my comment in this case, trans-gendered or not, is while I think she looks great, I don’t think she deserves the title of “Best Dressed”… but hey, what do I know… I wasn’t there.. maybe she was, so I therefore suggest that a democratic process of voting be implemented. That way we get to nitpick ten outfits instead of one.
Toronto Life should post the top ten outfits for each event and let the reader’s decide. Voting is also kinda catty, and frankly I also wince when I look at those “Who Wore it Best” features in the tabloids… Paris Hilton 37% Nicole Ritchie 63%
Don’t kid yourself “White Guy”, Toronto Life picks people for this column very strategically… It’s no different than tv… do you think that even one second of every joke and gag on a show like Letterman is spontaneous? Every single second is scripted, and print media doesn’t just randomly choose their subjects lightly – it’s a big business based on generating revenue through subscriptions, and without good content, it’s nothing.
So give us MORE “Best Dressed” per column and let us vote, Toronto Life!
Okay, enough recreation for one day! Thanks Biko for braving the public, thanks respondents and thanks Toronto Life. Now I’ve really got to get back to work!
June 24, 2009 at 12:00 pm | by Meow MeowWhat a bunch of catty beeotches that comment on this feature!
Complain, complain, complain.
June 24, 2009 at 12:08 pm | by ME-owI dont see what all the fuss is about. What is so special about what the persona is wearing? Plan jane!
June 24, 2009 at 12:18 pm | by chimmyPlain Jane…sorry.
June 24, 2009 at 12:19 pm | by chimmyBiko looks fantastic. Coco would be proud!
June 24, 2009 at 12:25 pm | by love itKudos on anywoman who can wear a hat these days. Its almost like this type of classic style is dead! Lets bring it back!! Biko certainly has the “balls” to pull this look off. lol.
June 24, 2009 at 1:57 pm | by GingioI’ve attended the Gala with a friend and we’ve spend a good part of the evening trying to figure out if this person in ridiculous hat was in fact a woman…Well, FRIEND, you were right..This is a man, transgender or not.
June 24, 2009 at 3:27 pm | by I've been thereThere were plenty of stylish, beautiful women, both young and mature, at the Gala… TL, why didn’t you pick someone who really has some sense of style? There were several 50+ women who wore stunning outfits. One had an amazing avant-garde red dress, another wore beautiful skin-tone lace outfit…Anyone can put black and white together.
It is exactly because Biko is a transgender that her picture is there.
June 24, 2009 at 4:00 pm | by sage