Brooklyn Babe

Earlier in the summer, W Magazine gave me the mission of wandering Brooklyn with last NYFW's show haunts as my inspiration: anyone who was paying attention might remember the outrage that ensued at being called to the outer borough for the Alexander Wang and Opening Ceremony Shows.....the tweets, the instagrams, the snark! Never mind that many of the editors and showgoers now live in this neighborhood..... hahaha.

a combination of new and old

God, I haven't done an outfit post in so long! Had to fight several spiders and skeletons in the closet to get the tripod out. Now I remember why I stopped doing them, taking your own pictures is a pain in the butt. But I did want to share this outfit agenda!

I actually just got this Comme des Garcons skirt yesterday-- for less than $100, too, happily enough. Like I said in my old budget/dream wardrobe series, it seriously pays to have friends in retail who are looking out for you. This still has the tags on it! I love good, random fortune. I'm wearing it with an Express jacket, which is plain and boring and lovely. I like to wear things that are either far too much or very plain. When you wear those two agendas together it makes for a good time. I wear my Margiela Tabi's every other day and they've broken in perfectly. 

Oh yeah, I'm a redhead now. Surprise? It has most certainly changed my beauty routine, I don't wear blue lipstick anymore (for now...) because I look a thousand percent like a clown (and not a Cindy Sherman one) with it on, but I am appreciating Lady Danger by MAC a whole lot. I've been testing out different skin finishes, also, trying to get my #robot look down. Still working on it. I'll keep you posted.

Anyway. Yep! Now I must go back to work. I'm a full time freelancer now (woo) and it's keeping me very busy, delightfully enough. See you around!

tabi time

Illamasqua Scribe Eyeliner, Comme des Garcons Jacket (remixed) from Fall 2005, TAO CDG blouse (remixed), Undercoverism shorts (gift), Margiela Tabis.

Hi peaches. Long time no see I suppose, at least on this little internet space. I have been writing elsewhere -- Teen Vogue, Rookie, and The Style Con (twice a week right now). I also did some interviews, I've been keeping busy. We're back to working on our monstering photo series, Tayler and I, after about a month off. "Off" is an inaccurate word to describe what I've been up to though. I've never been so busy in my life! I've been at Teen Vogue freelancing M-F and then working on other projects on Saturdays. Today and tomorrow are the only days I've been home, but I've been working today too. The only downtime I've had was when Tayler came over to hang this weekend and she took these pictures. This is my dining room, I've photographed in here quite often over the years. It's really dusty and gross right now, but I think that's fitting, everything in it is old. Pirate ship looks.

So -- since last post: I bought myself a grail item of mine, Margiela Tabis. I'm considering them my 21st birthday present (yes, that happened last week!). It was also the blog's 7th year anniversary, which is absurd to me. I've wanted these shoes for probably at least half of the blog's lifetime. When I look back on my past posts, in between cringing, I can recognize myself in my inspiration even though how I interpreted things was a lot different then. Quite honestly, my inspiration boards are the same they've always been. I have just reformulated my process, trimmed the fat. I wrote about giving away a lot of my clothes for TSC actually. 

Three years ago buying these shoes would have been completely ridiculous and unfeasible to me. But a lot has changed since then. The other week, I was walking through the office on one of my last days at the magazine, staring at my feet in these shoes, in a Seditionaries tshirt (a gift from Hazel from a Rookie swap) and navy CDG skirt (bought for myself last summer), and I had this out of body experience. I was living -- am living -- the dream I first articulated on this very blog years ago. Sophomore in high school dreams being lived out as a Senior in University. I've already purchased so many of the things I've dreamed about, through my writing and other work. I'm in the process of doing so many other things right now I can't even talk about, and I'm so excited, because even a year ago I wouldn't have had the capacity to think myself capable. But now I'm the girl with the tabis I used to hyperventilate with jealousy over. A lot of it -- so much, actually -- has been because of the kindness of my friends and mentors who have believed in me and gave me a chance (and even their clothes, as you might have noticed from this post). I'm a lucky girl. 

Thanks for helping me with everything, peaches. I'm happy you're here with me too. I think I'll do you proud this year.

thanksgiving

Hope you're all having a nice holiday weekend -- I know it can be hella triggering and terrible (usually I totally dread it), I hope it isn't the case for you and you are surrounded by people (and food) you care about. This morning I spent the day gloriously in bed, brainstorming pitches and watching Zoolander. It's a bit frightening how it never gets old. Thinking up pitches on fashion criticism while watching Zoolander is just.. really surreal and funny. Because honestly it's not that different from real life. Which makes it even funnier. 

Anyway --- these weren't taken by Tayler, she's gone home for the break. They're actually in my new studio! But it's still under construction, so it's close cropped. I am embarrassingly rusty at taking my own photos now, but I think these came out kind of cool. Blurry and void of details, yes, but let's all pretend it's #art. Optimism! 

Ok, I felt absurd with all those blurry photos, so here is ONE where you can actually see me. Bah. 

But to the clothes.... my new parka makes me feel very Blade Runner especially with my new haircut. And I am finally wearing my vintage leather pants I thrifted a month or two ago -- during Rookie weekend, so I guess it's been two months? Time flies. It feels so long ago. I was on a mission that day for some CDG because I heard someone had sold a bunch of theirs to a consignment store, and I ended up going on a really dramatic mission throughout the neighborhood looking for a mysterious CDG collection and also leather pants. I lucked out and found these in the first store I went to, for I think $12! I ended up finding way more than I bargained for and ended up having a panic attack in the dressing room with a frozen bank account because I couldn't leave without buying more than I probably should have. OH WELL. I DON'T REGRET IT AT ALL. 

I'd rather resell things I don't wear than walk away wondering what if, anyway. There is so little that I actually really want in my closet nowadays anyway so when I find multiples of things that inspire me I can't just turn away! I don't wan't to wonder what could have been. That applies to more than just clothes. 

Hope you're having a delicious day darlin. See you soon.

tweedledee and tweedledum for prada

This weeks shoot was like, really too heavily influenced by youtube videos we'd been watching the night before and also my obsession with Pat McGrath / Val Garland / Lisa Eldridge but I think it turned out really well. I can't avoid paying homage to my idols, it was really funny catching myself veering towards creams and colors that I had fallen asleep watching the night before. Doing Tayler's and my own makeup after this week's girlmonster was really kind of therapeutic actually, since I didn't have to worry about a story or anything like that, I could just think about my favorite makeup looks and pull from them without worrying if I'm erasing a story that is important to the portrait.

 

 

I began by referencing Lisa Eldridge's Biba tutorials, but then I remembered Grace Jones exists and so that happened too. I have to make the makeup very pigmented and stripey to work with the lighting setup we use so blurred out super blended makeup doesn't really work for the pictures right now. Another time. 

This look though, besides the Biba/Grace Jones connection, was heavily influenced by how much I've been thinking about the Guy Bourdain x NARS situation lately and the power of blush. I'm really into it. I used a mixture of OCC Creme Color Concentrates (which I L O V E), INGLOT & MAC* shadow,  MUFE Powder Blush*. MAC lipstick in Violetta. I've been using MUFE cream and powder blushes almost exclusively for the past few weeks and just found out they have a matte teal and purple so UMMMMM consider me a fan. 

I didn't have as much time to do my own makeup (this always happens) but I knew I wanted a kind of hazy mask like I remember happening at Valentino one year, and also, glitter. That lipstick is Morgana's Cryptoria, I've worn it on the blog before here. The gloss on top is INGLOT. The glitter on my eyelids is Naked Cosmetics on top of a combination of MAC and OCC eyeshadows. My gradient eyeliner is Makeup Geek Eyeliner in Poison blended into Urban Decay*, and I used a combination of  blue butter london mascara* with Collection 2000 mascara. 

Can you tell we both like Cindy Sherman? Like a lot? Sidenote: the identical body language was not on purpose AT ALL, which makes it EVEN BETTER.  Talk to you soon babies.

* denotes product that was c/o the brand as a gift or editorial consideration. I don't blog (or use) about products I don't like or use myself, these are all things I keep in my kit now. I highly recommend all products mentioned! If you ever want in depth reviews of makeup, you can always ask me on my makeup blog.

mermaid princesses and tartan queens

Pretty much every Saturday now is dedicated to artmaking with Tayler now, it's my only free day of the week really but I spend most of it working on my girlmonstering photo series. These snaps aren't part of it, they're just pictures we decided to snap at the end of our shoots today to commemorate our working together and our excellent outfits. I've had a rough past month or two and so I decided to wear Scott's dress throw myself into things I love and not look back. It's working and I'm really grateful and inspired by my friends and the work we're doing. 

Tayler and I dyed each other's hair impulsively last weekend and watched My Mad Fat Diary together as a bonding ritual before our photoshoot the next day. I let her do what she wanted with it really, we couldn't find my regular dye in stores (it was the weekend before Halloween also, so venturing into Ricky's was similar to a gauntlet in Hell) so she just used a bunch. 

What I would give to go back in time and run some dry shampoo through my hair before these photos, oh my god. Oh well, these were shot in like twenty minutes, you can't expect perfection. I put my makeup on real fast and didn't bother to wash the product off my hands from when I was doing other girl's makeup. That's all black lip tar on my hands by the way. Tayler's wearing a CDG skirt she spied at Tokio 7 when she went shopping with me (she went back and bought it cause it haunted her....I'm a good influence), you can see why we're friends. 

I think this snap was just to adjust the lighting but I like it the best, I think. Anyway, I hope you're all having a rad weekend. If you're located in or around NYC and you're queer and/or a WOC and down to be a model for our photo series just drop me an email, we're always looking for models. Here's kind of a moodboard and general idea of what we're focusing on if you want to know more. We're keeping all the photos under wraps which is so hard! We want to show them SO BADLY but I think keeping it close until it's ready and more finished is the right thing to do. I'm excited and proud of what we're doing though. I think you will be too once you see. 

on the grid

Shot these the same day as the last outfit post actually, and I've been wearing this suit in some variation ever since I grabbed it off of Choies. I've been looking for a patterned suit for months -- maybe even a year? This fits like a dream. Being petite can be incredibly annoying when most inseams are for people several inches taller than my 5 ft 2 frame, but I seemed to have lucked out this time.

Blazer: Choies Button Up: Vintage (previously seen here) Pants: Choies Shoes: Cole Haan c/o.

I'm super into the graphic lines of this suit, for some reason it reminds me of J.W Anderson though he wouldn't and hasn't done a suit of this nature before. Most people are saying I look like a new version of Beetlejuice, which I'm into so long as it's not Robin Thicke's version of Beetlejuice a la that horrible performance. I think I mostly look like a game show host. It's cool seeing this suit out of the context of my life though and just on a grid. I kind of am way more into this than I am a quick street style photo simply because you can actually tell this is editorialized.

 People have a hard time realizing my internet life (and those of other bloggers) are pretty much editorialized fictions at this point. You're seeing what we want you to see. That's ok, that's fine, I think, I think knowing you're being presented choice aspects on purpose is much better than being led to believe otherwise. The outfits I post on this blog are real, and I do wear these things, and I certainly think all these thoughts about fashion and beauty and queerness, but I'm also dealing with friendships and sadness and school and so many things I'd much rather keep close to my heart and never tell the internet. 

You can assume from a street style photo that oh yes, I'm living and loving in Da Big Apple, running from this and that to this and that. Glamour! Getting That Guap! So on. Some of that is real. Sometimes I am so lucky to go to events and things. But mostly I'm hustling to get my homework done and overthinking myself to tears on the L train from being overwhelmed from ALL the feelings, and the thought of presenting a magazine-glossy glamorized (and at this point, very standard) street style photo seems wrong to me. Also I have never been good at that? Most of my outfit posts have been me with a tripod in my neighborhood when nobody is walking around, and then me running back into my house. The quick street snap is not real, it never was. I want to explore how weird and complex and intricate I can get with myself in a way that a street style photo can't serve. I know what my clothes look like in the context of my life and work and things, I want to see them in my own imagination via weird photoshoots and stuff. So that's what's happening with Tayler. It's not a perfect interpretation and it won't ever be, but I'm ok with exploring. 

loop theory: yale and sartorial excellence

Juggling work, an internship (my dream internship, no less!), school, and a social life is a grind I am trying to perfect with some difficulty -- but I'm making it happen because I have to. A fortnight ago I teamed up with my girl Tayler on a few photo projects, one of which were these snaps of a beautiful suit sent to me by a lovely young designer -- and reader -- named Elliy, of the brand Loop Theory. These photos were a long time coming. I was actually sent this suit probably a month or so ago, but with my friend Massiel, my most faithful blog-photographer and cohort off in Japan doin her graduate school thang I have been trying to find someone I trust as much to work with for photos. I don't mind working alone, but taking photos on top of my bed with a tripod gets old way fast. So I'm excited to be working with Tayler, and to be able to finally show this really cute suit off because Elliy is a smart and kind person who has created a very beautful collection. 

I'm wearing: Loop Theory Suit c/o, Vintage necklace, Bonlook glasses c/o.  

A little about Loop Theory -- you may recognize the prints on this suit if you're into architecture, or have ever been to Yale, as they are manipulated snaps of the Ivy League campus. Here's an excerpt from Elliy's brand statement:

Yale was where Loop Theory and all the memories surrounding it were first created. This collection's surrealist designs entail both metaphysical and metaphorical reflections of an illusive Yale based in reality but perceived only through memory in the realm of mind.

This outfit is from her Pre-Fall collection and comes in a skirt version as well. It was hard deciding what to style, but I decided on a suit option instead of a dress for more outfit options. I'm interested in playing around with how these very unique prints play off other patterns in my closet, as I don't have anything quite like this. How would you style this? I'm thinking plain white button up or t-shirt would be most predictable and casual, but I'm also neither of those things.

Anyway -- truth be told I'm feeling super under the weather, but I really wanted to post these up as soon as possible. As a young designer (and reader!) I feel very, very honored and proud to be able to showcase an upstart in the industry, especially as she's a WOC and has little connections to the industry as she doesn't come from a fashion school. Breaking into fashion is SO hard but I hope and think she has a really thoughtful brand and a vision worth watching. Here's to hoping.

knitwear, basquiat, and barbara kruger

Went to Central Saint Martin's with Scott my last full day in London (can't believe it's been a few weeks by now), wore this particular creation of his on the trip there. It's a spectacular dress isn't it? Can you believe he's only been doing knitwear for a year, about? UNREAL. This dress was inspired by Basqiuat and other influences, I think he did a good job of making his intentions known. We'd gone to the Tate Modern the day before and the influence was startling. Unfortunately CSM was closed when I went -- I am cursed apparently, every time I try to go to a fashion themed library it never happens -- but the entrance hall was open and the lighting was killer so we snapped a few pictures together. I'm lucky with finding light. The clouds moved on immediately after we took these pictures, so it was great timing after a lot of dawling elsewhere being frustrated that we weren't getting what we wanted out of the day.

 I love photography and framing and lighting a lot, it lets me find something very intentional about everywhere I go. We're always walking around doing one thing or the other and when you're on the lookout for a good picture, you see things differently. It's nice to capture an ordinary moment and being able to invest something into it. A nondescript concrete wall can be beautiful too. 

I'm horrible at modeling though, definitely fall into the good ol' awkward blogger standby's, so trying to show the back of this dress without looking like I'm drawing on the wall or peeing is too hard for me. Whatever, I'm not signed to Ford, I don't gotta worry bout that stuff. 

I will try hard, however, to always be a better creative person though, which means I'm never going to stop experimenting with this here blog for as long as I have it, pushing my ideas and my techniques and exploring collaborations. I do read every comment and every email and every criticism and fanmail even if it's hard to answer them all, and I try to channel them into something even better and more productive for myself because it's just the only way I know how to live fully and happily. I am very young and have been able to do many things already so there is a constant worry of me wondering -- have I peaked already? is this it? -- but I think it's more productive for me to just hustle and try harder forever. The universe is expanding and nothing will be enough, but I think working towards being enough is fun while I have the chance. The meaning of life, as Kruger points out, is that it stops. So basically: *Jesse Pinkman voice* carpe diem, bitches.

the irony of perfect destruction

This outfit doubles as a London outfit post AND shows you what I wore to the first day of NYFW, haha. Quick phone snaps of my current 'practical' 'every day' fave outfit, I've worn it at least once a week for a month. Dress by Comme des Garcons, everything else is from wholesale liquidators and/or Goodwill. The most literal high/low mix and pretty descriptive of my actual style....I buy from Goodwill every six or eight months or something if something I've worn for awhile is worn out, and save the rest for the yearly CDG sample sales. My focus for my future is to consume less but better. This dress is surprisingly versatile and good for this idea because of the half sheerness, and the lack of structure (or rather, the more unusual kind of structure) of the top, so I can wear it tucked into pants, or with shorts, or with another layer of skirts, or backwards, etc. A lot of possibilities. It would be completely hideous if the actual techniques used weren't perfect. Comme is so interesting because it uses the rules of tailoring, patterncutting, etc, and completely distorts the approach. It reformulates the rules on it's own terms. I like this particular take on it a lot for it's playful dark geometry....if I bothered going to my senior prom, I'd have gladly worn this.

The quality of these photos is a bit of a  bummer but we shot & edited them on my phone, so you win some and lose some. These photos were taken on the side streets of Brick Lane in London, such a cute neighborhood, so much cool art and interesting shops.  A nice mix of  dollar bagels and Yohji Yamamoto gloves -- the best mix, really.

Edit: Thought it would be cool to show that yeah, I literally do just completely recycle outfits shamelessly. Here's outside Lincoln Center w/ my cutie internet bud Ben. He let me print his photos in my queer/fashion/feminsm zine I did a while back (but have yet to sell online, because I'm horrible), he's really talented:

Yay, friends!!! Aren't his shoes the illest? Ignore the fact I am a scrub and not looking in the right camera. Oops. 

kentish town calling

Hi darlings! I'm blogging this from my phone in London, so I apologize for  weird coding, blogger isn't the best for mobile blogging. I love London, it's just as fast paced as Nyc but there are more pubs and cute accents here. -My best friend Scott, who I'm visiting, took these photos and then my camera promptly decided to flash low battery and die and my charger isn't a fan of uk adapters. The dress is from Choies c/o and I picked it specifically for this trip. I think it was the perfect decision, right?

This neighborhood is so cute, I saw pictures of it literally hours before I left NYC and immediately knew thishad to be the first place I visited. I am not a very good tourist, I haven't done any of the requisite landmarks yet though I will force myself to sometime during my trip, probably...hopefully...maybe.

Anyway, I'm starving so I'm going to go eat some leftover pizza and plan my day. I'm sorry I am a bit slow in responding to emails at the moment, I'll be back in the states soon. (edit Actually, this post is going up from my bed at home! Anyway.) Hope all is well.

quote work attire unquote

Scheduled post, still in London and these pictures are my living room mid-construction work. It's a favorite spot of mine for photos -- same place these two posts were shot --- but it's hardly recognizable at the moment with all our trinkets in storage. We're replacing a lot of the windows and renovating the attic into a little paradise for me. Custom closets say WHAT. 

This is just an outfit I threw together in very literally one minute after getting a last minute email for a meeting. I really wanted it to be ten degrees cooler out, so I could wear my Comme des Garcons tumor cape over this because it's not quite weird enough for me, but I guess it was for the best since this is also as close to business casual I can get with my wardrobe hahaha. It's very hard to find button downs in my size that are made well, I'm a snob so I'll just wait until a Helmut Lang top pops up in my size somewhere. I know it'll be worth it. 

Outfit details.... this hat is my dads, it's a vintage Stetson. Luckily for me (and horrible for him), all his hats have shrunk to the point where they fit me perfectly, and I've consequentially stolen each and every one for myself since middle school. I love me a good hat. This top is not new to the blog either, I got it on a Goodwill trip in freshman year and it's served me very well. Jeans were c/o PacSun, but they aren't available anymore so I linked to some alternatives above. The bag was a surprise from Rebecca Minkoff last summer I think -- it fits my tablet & wallet perfectly, so you know it'll be a school essential. And the shoes....are basically my everyday pair. I am so lazy and out of practice with actual heels, I wear these creepers every day. I'd be ok with just having a million pairs of creepers and no other shoe option, honestly. If you want your creepers to last, skip the Demonias and go straight for a pair of Underground, though. The difference in quality is so noticable and worth it, and your shoes will last way longer.

My hair fades to different shades of green so quickly and grows SO fast, I don't know for how long I can frankly afford to even have short (and green) hair at this point when my undercut grows like an inch every two weeks! Topher @ ARROJO is always in shock whenever I come in for a buzz at how fast it's grown. I really love how short hair has directed my style though, I feel not necessarily more masculine, but not so automatically femme when I put together an outfit. I just like mixin it up. Though I suppose since I'm so known for absurd hair colors at this point maybe it will be the ultimate challenge to one day soon go back to brown hair. One day....

another jump from paper

This is the other JumpFromPaper bag I was given to play with -- I think its my favorite, I'm going to use it as my bookbag next semester when I'm feeling particularly snarky.

Anyway, this park is actually an old outfit post area, or at least -- the grass far beyond that white wall you see in the background.  I've always wanted to take some photos on this walkway though and I think they turned out really well! I'm trying not to burst out laughing because the kids playing in the background kept on sneaking into the pictures, haha. This is definitely the most casual outfit I've ever posted on the blog, but it's one I wear at least once a week because sometimes you just have errands and I don't really think going to Home Depot merits me pulling out my Rodarte dress. I'm sure you understand.  

Outfit details: Bonlook Nomad Glasses c/o, Urban Decay Lipstick in Jilted mixed with Anarchy c/o, Serge & Jane Muscle Tee from BITNB c/o (it's not available anymore though, alas), Vintage Belt and Thrifted Denim Shorts, and JumpFromPaper Bag c/o. For my lingerie babes, I wear this shirt with the Rumeur bra by Huit. Huit's one of my favorite brands, and this is my favorite set by them. I got it through True&Co, along with a few other bras I'm loving. I haven't talked about my True&Co experience though it's been months -- is that a post you'd be interested in? Lemme know in the comments.

a$ap, leather, and a reframing of luxury

When I go to sleep at night (or more accurately, 4:33 A.M on most nights), I'm at my most  delusional from sleep deprivation but also most active when it comes to things I want to talk about. Something about being incredibly loopy makes my mind break open a little bit and I see things a lot clearer in terms of the big picture. Like, the other night, it struck me that most people's idea of "luxury" is pretty outdated, and it's causing some strange hypocrisy and more than a little racism and classism (not that this is new, pft) when it comes to the 'new' luxury consumer. By this I mean -- there are a lot of amazing designers who cater exclusively to the kind of hyper-aware consumer who doesn't buy often, but buys very loyally to a handful of brands, and their aesthetic is deeply based in streetwear, but strangely, these consumers think it's ok to scorn the people who inspire the designers they're buying from. Listen -- luxury is not a static thing, it's no longer a Chanel 2.55 and some YSL heels and Tom Ford lipstick. It's also the limited edition Supreme t-shirt, it's also your leather laser-cut mesh shorts you wear when you're pretending you're exercising (but really just scoping out babes on the High Line), it's paying hundreds of dollars for a fashion sweatshirt. 

 

You don't need to have a lot of material things to be living in luxury. Luxury is about options, quality, choice, not quantity, you know? For example: minimalism is very luxurious. When you're poor or working class, I/you never try to throw things away because you always want to find a use for them. Fixing is more of an option, so you'll keep something even if it's broken for a little while. You don't know when you can get something better so you keep all things mediocre. And the stuff piles up. You might end up hoarding. To intentionally practice minimalism, you have some kind of understanding you will probably always be able to buy whatever you need when you want it. Space is the ultimate luxury: Comme des Garcon's ultimate status symbol is their incredibly sparse store spaces in Tokyo, a place where square footage is rare and prestigious. And Comme is not your traditional purveyor of luxury, with it's boiled and  intentionally torn wools and strangeness, but it's still luxury. Luxury is just as much about the rejection of traditional status items as the appropriation of more 'lazy' items like sweatshirts and sneakers, and the appropriation of pedestrian fabrics and unusual things like manmade plastics. Anti-fashion is still fashion, after all. The language of luxury is the same as the language of privilege. Denying status symbols of what you have doesn't mean you don't have it. It's the same with privilege. They both operate in terms of economics, and capitalism, and identity. When we don't bring these things into a discussion on fashion trends & marketing, we're choosing to ignore the importance of these things to how consumers treat one another. You can argue that brands shouldn't have to care about that stuff, but I am a romantic and I want to believe brand culture at it's best extends to build a community that takes care of one another. I've seen it first hand and have had it myself, so I know it exists, and I know brands are aware of the culture they create or aspire to create. I definitely feel kinship to other black crows of CDG, and I know my lolita friends feel community within loli. 

Which brings me to my real point: no one has the final say in what a brand should mean to someone. Just because you know a lot about this one brand doesn't mean a newcomer isn't any less worthy of wearing their stuff. We're all buying into a personal experience of a universal projection. Hypebeasts making fun of A$AP Rocky for wearing Rick Owens or whatever, and fashionistas making fun of Riri at Chanel Cruise, I see you. And the masculine goth dudes dressed in Rick Owens like to forget Rick is (inarguably) a huge kinky queer dude who loves hip hop (Zebra Katz 4ever) and doesn't take his work very seriously (pony play tails on the runway, goth metal bands suspended in air, photoshoots of him cumming in his own mouth, come on) and he probably loves A$AP Rocky. And people who idolize Coco Chanel seem to conveniently forget she was also married to a Nazi, sold people out to the Nazi Party, and fled to Switzerland because of it. I personally think it's hysterical that now Chanel is best friends with WOC, because it would utterly upset Coco, and anything that upsets a Nazi makes me super satisfied. Basically: all your faves would probably surprise you. There's always more to know about a person and a brand. I don't enjoy taking things at face value -- I'm insufferable that way. 

 Just because you own an item from a brand, doesn't mean you have the rights to dictate your personal experience with the brand to other people who want something from them too. People experience clothes very differently, you know? When I say I love fashion, my love for it is bound up for it in many different experiences, and books, and personal journeys with clothes. I like very specific aesthetics in a handful of designers, and I spend a lot of time researching them and their inspirations and  little to no time reading fashion magazines or trend watching. When someone else says they love fashion, they might mean they love buying fashion magazines and they really like Coach bags and collect them. We're saying the same words, but the stories behind them are a lot different. And both are completely legitimate and neither negates from the other. 

Anyway, that's my super dense fashion feels post for now. Broke it up with pictures of my take on the eponymous "fashion person" outfit I see on old-school industry insiders, the ones who don't dress up for street style photographers -- they slip in and out of the shows to get what they want, and they invariably do it in leather. I really do love this outfit, and the fact you can replicate it throughout all price ranges. I've included links to similar looks, though my take is all vintage. I am not wearing shoes in these photos, because I'm at home and I don't do that because these photos were taken on my bed -- and I'm not wearing shoes on my bedding for the internet. No shoes allowed. Anyway, thank you for reading this wall of text! I hope you leave a comment.