Let ’em ride

By night, she’s the steely blue-eyed bartender at Tonic Lounge. But these days, Alexandra Whittey, 35, is also busy planning an S.O.L (Sex Out Loud) fashion show to help children get therapy through horseback riding. The show benefits the local Special Needs Children’s Equine Therapy program. It’s held on Dec. 8 from 6-10 p.m. at Tonic on 213 W. Second St. Get advance tickets for $10 by calling 337-6868. And if you think combining the words “sex” and “children” in a fashion show sounds a little strange, just let her explain.

Tell me about this charity event.

Well, I wanted to put on a fashion show with the locally produced Sex Out Loud [company]. I chose to withhold the full name of it because I wanted to donate the proceeds to a children’s charity. At first, I searched around for an organization to aid abused children, and I found one, but they didn’t want our money because of the content. Then I came across—well, I’ve always been interested in therapeutic programs for kids, and I’ve always been a big fan of the whole idea that animals can help with rehabilitation … So I searched far and wide for a program and came up with the Marvin Picollo School’s therapeutic horseback riding program. The Marvin Picollo School is a Washoe County School [for disabled children]. When I spoke to Sue Lennon, who is the head of the horseback riding program, she told me that she’d be very happy to take our money because she gets zero funding from Washoe County schools, which is very interesting to me. … So she was ecstatic and said, “I don’t care where the money comes from, I’ll take it.” She’s a very cool lady.

It is kind of funny to see this sexy woman in lingerie on your flyer next to the words, “A Special Needs Children’s Equine Therapy Program.”

I know, but I withheld the name because I didn’t want to be distasteful, which I tried to explain to the other organizations at first, but obviously they found it too distasteful or didn’t want to offend their large funders. But I don’t know that that’s fair—the money’s for kids, and they need it. … What’s nice about this is all our sponsors are predominantly people I know from having been here for a while and working in the bar industry … It’s cool because it gives an opportunity for alternative lifestyles and businesses to come together and support something that otherwise would be considered very traditional.

Your sponsors are places like a tattoo shop, a board and skate shop, body piercing …

Well, we’ve all come a long way. We’ve all matured, and we’ve all grown up, and a lot of us have kids of our own now. So just because we do the things that we do—examples are body piercings, tattoos, clothing, skateboards, snowboards—it doesn’t mean we don’t care about our kids.

What’s this independent film you’re also showing?

It’s an erotic fantasy film by the Porcelain Twins, who are a pair of sisters who are adult industry entertainers.

So this is an over-18 kind of benefit.

It’s 21 and over.

Is the fashion show all lingerie?

No. Sex Out Loud clothing is predominantly streetwear, but it’s edgy streetwear—T-shirts, hoodies, thong underwear, hot pants. It’s edgy. It’s alternative in that way. You know, some of the T-shirts say “Fuck all night,” and the hot pants say “Ride ’em cowboy.” … It’s kind of a little bit classic tattoo-artist-skater-punk-rock.

Do you have a goal for the amount of money raised?

I was hoping to raise between $3-4,000, and if we do that, I’ll be ecstatic. Sue will be very happy because she’s got about three horses, and it costs about $300 dollars per horse per month for upkeep—for feed and veterinary care, stuff like that. So it will last her, hopefully, another four months.