Kristine Karnaky, or Miss KK as she prefers to be called, lives in Hermon, a small, unknown neighborhood North East of Los Angeles. The ground floor apartment where she resides with her fiance Joseph, aka Featherbeard – he wears beards made out of feathers when he performs – is tucked in the back of a tiny community with identical little houses. The love story of Miss KK and Featherbeard is an entirely different tale of endearment that can be recounted over pages and pages of chance meetings and fateful turns. “A tarot reader friend of mine predicted I would meet my king in April. He would be from out of town, younger than me, with long, curly hair and wearing moccasins. At the time I was only going to gay dance night and hanging with my girlfriends, so the chances of me meeting a guy were slim. But she reassured me that I would and he would be the one. And then I met him at an art show, right at that exact, imminent time. It wasn’t love at first sight; he was very shy and I was anti-man at the time. But over the course of a few weeks, we kept bumping into each other and there were other signs that I was on the right, magical path to be with him. Our wedding will be our 4-year anniversary.” The predestined couple is getting married in a park, in a very non-traditional way. The ritual will have their friends standing in a circle around them and there will be sword bearers and a parade. They will spend their honeymoon in Mexico.
Miss KK writes LOVE in capital letters. And she’s into making manifestation shrines. Her colorful drawings and artful altars have a significant presence all over the house. “You must believe anything is possible,” she convinces me, “and that the Universe will provide what is perfect for you at that moment. I make manifestations for many things. You have to put it out into the universe, be patient, and it will come.” Admitted, it sounds a lot like The Secret but Miss KK’s philosophy comes from a dreamy, playful place, without any trace of greed. Her favorite color is iridescent and she likes to make up words that start with K. Like “KooKin’. That’s what I do in the kitchen, instead of Cookin’,” she laughs. “I always cook things in a very KooKy way. Joseph always says, “She’s kookin’ in the kitchen!” or I call people that are kookoo “Koo Koo-nuts”, but don’t get me wrong I LOVE koo koo people.”
Vintage is like second nature to the 32-year old Southern belle. Her walk-in closet does not have room for any contemporary designers, except her friend Jerome C. Rousseau’s phenomenal shoes. They take up the entire top shelf. The 1930’s is her favorite era because the clothing of that time “is so comfortable and made with nice fabrics. Most things are hand made and of high quality. They have a sort of preciousness about them that I can’t seem to find in contemporary clothing.” She’s in love with everything Zandra Rhodes and Ossie Clark but her dream is to own a Schiaparelli, “one of her out-there surrealist pieces would be nice!” As a Costume Designer Miss KK gets to live out many fantasies. She designs clothes for music videos, theater, film, and dance performances. On any given day you will find her sewing custom-made pieces in her atelier or tailoring for commercials. “I like to do projects that reflect my style, which is very feminine, colorful, and inspired by vintage and fairy tales.” Sounds like a dream job to me!
Contrary to what you might think after reading about her less-than-ordinary ideologies, Miss KK is no Koo-Koo nut. Okay, she has three cats whom she named after precious stones and yes, she’s on a mission to master the ukulele but after spending a couple of hours with her my impression was one that’s way more grounded. She is an intelligent, educated, creative soul with a warm heart. She’s soft spoken and sensible and has a clear vision for the course of her career and future life with Joseph. I am marking my calendar to send my wishes to the happy couple on their wedding day. Hopefully I will catch a glimpse of Miss KK’s special dress. “I am wearing a white, hand-printed Zandra Rhodes from the 1970’s,” she reveals, “and a pair of silver glitter Jerome C. Rousseau shoes! With a flower crown and my hair in a art nouveau up-do.” Mazeltov.
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