Friends to Lovers Bookstore is the first romance bookstore in the D.C. metro area, located in Alexandria. Founded by Jamie Fortin, the store offers a curated selection of romance novels, with a focus on inclusive and diverse stories.

Ms. Moxie’s Moon Shop is a boutique dedicated to destigmatizing menstrual and menopausal health. Owned by the incredible Emily Coccia, the shop offers a range of products and educational resources to empower individuals through all stages of their reproductive health journey.  

Since 2021, Madison Street Tattoo has been making nice tattoos for nice people.  From personal and business experience with them, we can confidently say that there is no better way to describe the incredible team at Madison Street Tattoo. They specialize in a variety of tattoo styles, ensuring each piece is a unique expression of the client's vision.

Artist: Carissa Papp, an Old Town retailer and lover

Honoring how queerness and the trans experience are rooted in the wild truth that nature has never fit neatly into a binary. Bodies change, identities evolve, and nothing stays fixed. transformation isn’t the exception—it’s the rule, a reflection of its endless, beautiful diversity. 

Artist: Carissa Papp, an Old Town retailer and lover

This piece captures the paradox of the chest binder—something that restricts, yet offers freedom. It holds the body tightly, even as it creates space to be seen, to be whole, to become. In its tension lies transformation. In its pressure, possibility. In its bind, beauty.

Artist: Artemis H.

Binders are tools to build yourself. As are the craft supplies, toys, and LEGOs that cover this binder. All are tools of play, creation, and joy.  Just like the process of creating with craft supplies, creating with a binder lets you shape not just your body, but your whole world.

Artist: Rawan Nasir, on behalf of
Friends to Lovers Bookstore

This piece is a chest binder covered in annotated pages from Red, White & Royal Blue—a story that reflects the reality of queer self-discovery and love- a mix of messy, earnest, sweet, and brave. It holds the quiet power of recognition—of seeing yourself in a story, and feeling, even for a moment, that your love is real, worthy, and possible.

Artist: Madison Street Tattoo

This tattoo-painted binder plays with balance and boldness—two distinct designs forming one unified image across the chest. Inspired by a Japanese aesthetic that blends masculine and feminine without tipping too far in either direction, it’s a statement of strength, softness, and the beauty of living in between.

Artist: Hillary Cleaveland Rubeor

Inspired by the tattoos and tattoo dreams of the trans masculine folks in my life, this piece centers the octopus—a creature that powerfully embodies the duality of blending in or standing out. It uses both adaptive camouflage to quietly avoid detection and deimatic displays to boldly assert itself. Purple pansies offer nod to queer history—a subtle signal to those in the know, and a vivid bloom of pride

Deimatic display is the term for sudden, dramatic, and showy displays—like when an octopus flashes bright colors or patterns to startle predators or assert itself.

Artist: Ms. Moxie’s Moon Shop

This binder is a reminder that menstruation doesn’t have a gender. Tampons and pads transformed into butterflies add a touch of whimsy to the complex, layered relationship many have with their bodies and cycles. They call attention to how often people who don’t fit society’s narrow expectations are left out of the menstrual health conversation.

What once felt like shame or disconnect becomes part of a larger metamorphosis—a symbol of growth, resilience, and the power to reclaim and redefine our bodies on our own terms.