27 December 2009

street v.s runway, why harajuku is awesome, why chanel bores me (sorry uncle)

disclaimer: this is long as hell on the blog, if you really intend to read it, paste it onto Word so you can read it. i can't fix the font on the post because my blog is being a jerk to me. it's a journal excerpt i've just typed up.

I was reading the comments in the other post and I'm glad we all share a mutual obsession
fascination with asians! I had my Columbia interview some days ago and the dude interviewer (asian, taiwanese, majored in east Asian studies + going into fashion = yeah Columbia I see what you did there, and I'm diggin' that you cared enough to match me with someone I would like! thankksss) and I had a discussion about Harajuku street style. Obviously he had more to say since he, you know, WENT THERE BEFORE (I'm not bitter at all of course not why would I be bitter) and he had some interesting points to make.
  1. Harajuku style was a bit odd, because they all dress unique, but they all dress unique the same way. As in, they all dress on the same level of weird.


I don't know. Is it bad I don't care? That I really don't mind that? I have a feeling I would actually really enjoy being surrounded by the people that inspired me and got me into fashion in the first place, but would it wear off after awhile?

It's a bit odd. On one hand, everyone here is really awesome about my style, and though apparently it's too weird for them to do themselves, they support me wholeheartedly. A few days ago the Board of Ed here came in to critique our outfits to see if they were "business interview worthy" and of course I was wearing an absurd(ly me) outfit, and when they started to critique it my entire graduating class gave me a round of applause. 200~ people just clapped for me! Even people I didn't know.


So going from somewhere where I'm different but supported to (hypothetically) going to the place whose style I emulate but probably wouldn't be considered different in... would I like it? When I think about it.... I think I still would.

The thing about fashion for me is that yes: it is a double edged sword. It's all about ~originality, but those who are truly different are always. consistently. ostracized. When Rei and Yohji first showed in Paris, they were freakshows at first -- of course they eventually came to be the powerhouse icons they are today, and basically introduced the entire fashion crowd to androgyny and BLACK -- but they were first considered weird as hell and then considered awesome. Sonia Rykiel and all the designers of the time (along with the majority of critics) complained that the "Japanese designers" weren't considering the body, that the clothes they were making were asexual and weren't molding to the body.


They were right and wrong. The way designers like Chanel, Rykiel, Lanvin, etc design is a completely different way that Rei Kawakubo or Yamamoto or Margiela or Miyake designs. I have a scrapbook of all the Japanese Style articles I've read, and this phrase stood out to me:

Kawakubo's clothes were deliberately designed to look unfinished and worn, defying common sense and challenging notions of perfection. At first she was regarded with revulsion, but this eventually gave way to amazement and admiration (Baudot 1999). Kawakubo (in Ayre 1989:11) says that 'Perfect symmetry is ugly.... I always want to destroy symmetry'... She wants to question the notion of perfection as something positive and beautiful.

And see, that is why I love street style more than runway (of course, besides the Comme collective, and maybe fifteen other designers around the world). Too many designers in my opinion don't try to break any conventions or contribute something truly thoughtful or new to the pool of fashion. They try to reach out to people, but what they want to say isn't something with depth. It's just something flattering to wear, something that makes you feel pretty and confident.

Art!Fashion doesn't aspire to that. It doesn't need to. It speaks for itself; it is its own justification. While other designers have a specific image--a brand concept they adhere to constantly and consistently each collection-- Comme doesn’t. The entire House: TAO, Comme, et all, they all reinvent, rethink, explore new ideas, and no one collection is on the same strand of thought as the previous one. None of it is safe, none of it is predictable. Hell, half the time, very few pieces aren’t actually wearable. And it’s called “Ready to Wear”!

Issey Miyake 1990

Fashion right now feels really homogenized, predictable: safe. I'm beating a dead horse here but honestly, fashion as a whole, as a general being, isn't very interesting at the moment. There are too many wannabe Chanels, too few protégés of the avant garde (that survive the first year, anyway).


So, I’m brought to the question: why do I even claim to love fashion when I dislike, I don’t know 80% of the designers that are famous? Because, when the runway cannot survive, street style is always there to provide new thoughts to chew on, and if you’re lucky/obsessive enough to go through 30-90 street style blogs a week or month, you can see culture in its rawest form. You see it on someone who doesn’t even consider themselves fashionable, you see it on old ladies and drunkards and rebellious teenage schoolgirls and businesswomen. I don’t know if I’m clear enough, but I like street style over actual “runway” because it’s more accessible, more creative, more varied. You don’t have to own a $5000 dress to look amazing, and a lot of Tokyo Street Style snapshots don’t have any designer item in them at all.

01 December 2009

hey guys yet another post on asians, aren't i varied and interesting in my obsessions

Moping about not getting the scholarship I worked on for a couple months, don't feel like talking much right now (note: not asking for sympathy! do not console me!) and instead will dump some outfits I've been munching on for the past couple days. Don't remember where I got the pictures from -- I go through 30~ Asian Street Style blogs every other day.

bow

hat

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head to toe CdG (with a splash of Margiela), obviously I wanted to mug this person for their outfit.

dress
I'm just a sucker for drape and nude and full length skirts. call me predictable?

bag
I'm not a bag person as you all probably know (have I ever done a bag post? there was just this close call with this Lanvin bag I passed up at Sims before I got into fashion and now I have broken up with bags out of humiliation and guilt.) but this is a pretty dope bag.

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Smitten.

26 November 2009

DRUGS AND DANCING -- CAUGHT ON TAPE



This was originally going to be a test video -- which is why I felt free to be awkward and lame for the first minute -- but a special guest visited me and I figured it was too good not to post. This shit really happened; I only regret that he didn't come into the frame.

Also:



I thought he had left when I took this (hence me looking around to make sure) but he ended up being like around the corner in his cruiser and drove by VERY SLOWLY which is why I cut it short. Hopefully the audio swap works by the time you guys see this. =___=

Happy thanksgiving, readers!

23 November 2009

yokoo's asian secret brother happens to be fabulous



This should be Yokoo's new campaign model you know? Just imagine, this dude in a chain necklace. Unstoppable fabulousness, girlfriends. Unstoppable.

P.S If you're too stingy to buy from her (shame on you! her stuff is always perfect) at the very least very least least enter her giveaway. How can you deny free stuff? You can't.

22 November 2009

made for tv moment: "all the cool designers either died of aids, or went broke, or BOTH."

I had an outfit post with this picture scheduled this week but I deleted it by accident because I'm lame and technology hates me. I guess blogger was scared by my creeper pose in this picture.

Notice anything ~different? My shirt, ya'll! The one in collaboration with Borders & Frontiers along with the other bloggers -- Tavi, Fake Karl, Elizabeth, to name a few.

Ha. Yes that is my shirt you see -- wrinkled because I basically sleep in it as well because it's so soft. I'm so excited I have it finally, I wear it with everything. And Tavi's, too. It's perfect for everything, particularly awkward first dates.

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Like, go on a date and if the girl or guy across from you is being a tool, be like, "Oh, this shirt? It's my DAD. He went to JAIL FOR KILLING MY EX BOYFRIEND FOR BEING A TOOL. The one-eyed monkey on his shoulder was his deadly weapon. The monkey was excellent at throwing bananas in people's eyes. So, yeah. What are we ordering for dinner?"

Man, I haven't done it yet but I'm pretty sure that would be the best date ever.

Top: Mine! Buy it on the sidebar when Drew puts it back up because I (yet again) fail at technology and accidentally deleted it when I was editing my layout. Speaking of, how d'you like it guys?
Everything else: not important.

19 November 2009

take off your skirt and strap on a pair of balls, nikul

I have a collection of film cameras I've had since I was little. I love film, but you know how lazy I can be -- so naturally I have film from like ten years ago I haven't bothered getting developed, and liiterally boxes filled with unorganized "new" photos.

I scanned some ones in I liked I took in various stages of my life -- infancy (man, pooing in your pants is a luxury long gone now, huh), toddlerhood (when i thought i was god's gift to man, as you can see), and elementary school years (i never really grew out of the "i am the shit" phase as you can probably tell). And my mom's old pictures of her hot boyfriends. Why did she get all the hot ones and I'm stuck with watching soap operas to get my fix? LAME.

shoes
Scan10029Scan10017Scan10032Scan10027Scan10025

Arabelle: sarcastic buttface since 1993.

goodbye sweetheart.


Rest in peace, baby.

19 October 2009

Ich heiße Superphantastisch!

Got some free time with the camera when my parents were out... I should have probz told you guys sooner, but I'm not really allowed to blog anymore and haven't for... well, ever. My parents dislike me being into ~fashun and try to ground me from the computer and from using the Nikon D90 (the camera I use) so I will do their bidding, but I'm not really one for "rules", "personal space" and all that jazz. I blog when I can and because I don't really care if they yell at me..... blogging makes me happy and keeps me from going crazy and going on an all carb diet to drown my teenage angst.

Anyway this is more of me experimenting with the camera focus and range more so than an outfit post.... not really that much of an interesting one but it was just SO. COMFY. and i felt very russian because of the hat.

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I look like I'm molesting the tree stump. Ummm AWKWARDTIME.

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My new favorite ring! ModCloth sent it to me, along with some rad tights and a skirt and a bow. I've been wearing the ring and the tights with mostly every outfit I've worn. I'll show you guys the rest of the haul in a future outfit post. But I love ModCloth (no lie) and especially this ring, so thank you Modcloth. wooooooo lets ignore by bitten, ugly ass stubby fingers and move on.

byeeeeeee.

18 October 2009

apparently i look like a southern belle on acid.

I've always had a lot of random hats -- family heirlooms, gifts, etc. In the past few weeks I've accumulated six more hats, the pink and white tophat are my current favorites though. I wore them to school and apparently I look like a southern slave holder in it or someone who bets on horses. Kinda rad. The total I've spent on hats is rad too: $3! In total. Yeah I feel yo hate *brushes shoulders off*

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I spent two bucks on this last goodwill trip. Goodwill has been bumming me out lately, since more hipsters go there now (I HATE YOU ALL) and take all the good stuff and are rude to the employees and steal shit out of my shopping cart. Yeah I know who you are, and I will hunt you down. BUUTTTT HAPPY MOMENT TIME

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Oh yeah guys. Oh yeah. I know you're drooling. Yeah dude. THEY GLOW WITH GOODNESS

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Also a super rad recent purchase for me. $15 bucks at Beacon's Closet, ya dig?

13 October 2009

My Obsession with Sequins and Harem Pants




click to make larger

I forgot what harem means. Does it mean 80's rappers or harlot houses? Or 80's rappers harlot houses??? Anyway, I LOVE YOU WEARDROBE BLOGGERS.

I was wearing: DIY plaid skirt, Brian Lichtenberg for Blood is the New Black (<33333) href="http://www.rachelroy.com/"> Rachel Roy necklace (gift), Yokoo necklace that I love up to the sky (gift), and Payless Vans. I miss Keiko and Brooke and Tavz.

Random Photo Dump of Weardrobe

I am too tired to elaborate on the Weardrobe thing (but it was AWESOME) and you'll probably have read the updates on the 20 other blogs talking about it, but I want to show you the pictures anyway that I took.

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I'm obsessed with taking pictures of Brooke and her haircut obviously.

Then we headed out to Beacon's Closet, and I grabbed up some epic wedges, no thanks to their BITCH ASS HORRIBLE staff. I know i'm supposed to be gracious and stuff but I wanted to bitch slap their soul back into their mother's uterus.

After that unpleasant experience we went to Buffalo Exchange, and the staff were ANGELS. They said we should have a dance party and gave us water and bags, and in general were just the nicest staff I've met in awhile. Sweet dudes.



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I have a girl crush on Claire and her gorgeous hair and shoes. GIRL CRUSH WITH ME AND WE CAN START A FAN GROUP WITH CREEPY POSTERS OF US PHOTOSHOPPED NEXT TO HER!

23 September 2009

badass looks that are badass and have london accents

Totally diggin' LFW so far. NYFW was great and all being my first time there, but it's still by far not my favorite FW.

Rodarte (Hiiiii guys Tavi has so many stories about you it makes me die) and MJ are obviously pro, but London, Paris, Tokyo, Copenhagen/Berlin (ILY ANTOINE!) are the shit. We cannot deny this. They are the fecal matter of joy. I bet if they were actual fecal matter they would smell like brownies, they're so good.

PART UNO/UN/YI

1-3: Peter Pilotto - I was at Opening Ceremony when I bumped into Julia Frakes of Bunny Bisous/Paper Mag. Can't wait to teach at TVFU with her! But they had a rack of Pilotto and Rodarte... the Rodarte was on the floor, Tavi and I gasped a little. But the Pilotto! Holy shit! So beautiful in real life. I really love this collection, the shapes are something I already love to wear. And the clashing patterns are dope.

4.Antonio Berardi: I didn't expect to like this collection (gotta admit, I'm not a total fan of neutral colors. i got the jersey syndrome, sequins and patterns and tacky all around) but it was really nice. I'd actually wear a lot of it, it had nice structure and I could see someone offsetting the neutral colors with something obnoxious.

5-7. Paul Smith - TOTALLY IN LOVE with 3/4th's of the collection. It's like what I like to wear, only better and more expensive and BETTER. I aspire to dress this way. Also red is my favorite color. And the draping reminds me of the Bump collection of Rei's (shit, everything reminds me of that collection because it was the collection that got me into fashion.) but it's easier to wear.



8. Aquascutum - Didn't really like any other look but this. You know I am obsessed with that jacket. I'd wear it with ANYTHING. I am a harlot for two tone.

9. Basso and Brooke - Hi BB I want to wear everything in this collection I couldn't choose just one so I printed them all out and made a shrine of you on my wall but if fell down when I slept so I woke up to you and that is A OK WITH ME

19 September 2009

me at fashion week

Fashion Week was fun! Met a super nice guy, he got me backstage at Y3 bc he was walking. Anyway, outfit post/randomness. Here's a shot from Everythingstlye.com I grabbed. Link from the photo - SO MANY AWESOME PICTURES.

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Vintage purple blazer, vest, tshirt - Goodwill
Brooches - Reader's Gift & Goodwill
Vintage belt
Sequin Navy Harem Pants - Revasseur by Gilda.
Hooker Shoes of Epic Win and Babies Tears - I'm not telling you because then you'll buy it and I'm selfish and they're all MINEEEE HAHAHAHHA

I love these shoes. They have knuckle rings as the heel. See?

my shoes came!!!

Yeah bitches I win at shoe shopping. I love sex store shoes!

08 September 2009

it happened.



IT HAPPENED. Recap after homework.

07 September 2009


FALL IS HERE GUISE. Or almost here... so stoked. Can't wait to go to some shows and grab some ideas for some diy's. Really looking forward to being able to wear layed black slips and orange tulle and plaid and orange necklaces and red stripes in the same outfit again WITHOUT MELTING! Fall is my favorite season and I can't wait to pull out all the stops again. Putting together an inspiration board for the first time in a long while is kind of like therapy. New season, new year, new ideas. I'm the kind of person that wears everything once, so having the motivation to finally remix items I consider staples (what, you don't think black tulle trenchcoats are a staple? you obviously don't have one) is really relaxing.


P.S Weardrobe reviews very soon! So pooped from unpacking. Dead.

04 September 2009

Weardrobe NYC: DAY 1

So today kicked off the first day of the Weardrobe Conference! 21 bloggers came including me and it's absolutely insane: today we did photoshoots and just got to know each other with interviews and pizza and hanging out in expensive hotel rooms that smell of herbs and MONEY and GOOD LOOKING STRANGERS.

We're staying (Me, Tavi, and Brooke) in a double bed version of this room. It's really nice and I think I'm going to end up beating Tavi up in my sleep but thats ok because I am a fan of revenge and will allow her to throw hot water on me if i do so:

It's gorgeous! The whole hotel is gorgeous. Here are some pictures of whats been going on so far -- total insanity. Tavi and I will do a vlog this weekend to bring you guys up to speed and stuff.

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Jessica from WhatIWore is so gorgeous and nice! Legs miles long, the photographer has obsessed with her and Brooke's glasses (slow and steady wins the race, SO JEALZ)

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Sara, Amy, and Brooke being gorgeous and fashiony and whatnot

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Cheap Monday swag. I thought it was originally scarves or something but of course I was pleasantly surprised. I grabbed the polka dot ones and some great grey ones.


Hello children! Belle is too exhausted and tired aka LAZY to write so she's fondling her Where the Wild Things Are figurines while I write. Clearly I am The One That Cares in our relationship.
(oh, this is Tavi btw.)

Oh, and about the jeans above, I thought they were ties laid out for my dad and Belle's dad because they have to share a room tonight. They are currently being old man-y over drinks, which would probably mean Lactaid for my father and something cool that says "I partied with Patti Smith and Freddie Mercury" for Belle's (he did. It's nuts.)
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Goodies! Shoes, shoes, gift cards, shoes, jewelry, candles, more lovely things we'll all probably babble on about for weeks. Meh meh meh meh meh.

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Yayyyy I love people.

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It's like Christmas! Tim Gunn can be Santa Claus. This is because I watched an old season of Proj on the plane when I should've been sleeping/doing homework (the slash is necessesary as when I do homework I am usually 9/10s asleep.)

Ok, speaking of SLEEP, aka finishing Ghost World, I guess we must be off. TA TAAAAAAAAAA
Belle and Tavi and Brooke (in spirit)