CELEBRATING PRIDE AND QUEER WOMEN’S SPACES UNDER THE WEST HOLLYWOOD HILLS

WORDS DANIELLE MUSTARDE

PHOTOS SHARON MCCUTCHEON

The last time I visited Los Angeles I was 15 years old. I wore eyeliner à la Avril Lavigne, had just covertly (and possibly illegally) finished bingeingbefore- bingeing-was-a-thing the first season of The L Word and – unrelated – was also genuinely mystiied about how my family had afforded such an extravagant holiday having never before ventured further than South Shields.

Almost 15 years later, I’m back to experience LA Pride – sans eyeliner and not at all covertly awaiting the arrival of The L Word: Generation Q.

WEST HOLLYWOOD

Arriving into LA, after spending the week at a huge travel conference in Anaheim, California (aka Disneyland), I set up shop at my home-away-fromhome for the weekend: the oh-soedgy Mondrian Los Angeles on Sunset Boulevard (mondrianlosangeles.com) – just a short walk away from Santa Monica Boulevard, in the heart of the LA’s scene.

After settling in, I decide the best thing I could possibly do with my spare time that afternoon is to zip east across Sunset Boulevard to Wildfang (wildfang.com). Now, if you’ve not come across Wildfang before, it’s a US clothing brand “for women who like to raise a little hell”. In other words, they sell deliciously tomboyish clothing favoured by many a queer-O looking to refresh their wardrobe with a well-itted shirt or a pair of socks that tell it like it is – you know the sort.