we can get in trouble just by going free flow

The second to last day in London, Scott and I just went everywhere with me in his creations. This is from his White Project from last year, I remember listening to his development process on Skype while he was working on it. I've seen Scott develop a lot as a designer through his sketchbooks and the signature aspects of his creations are always heavy, intensive knits and large volume. I love the distortion of the body and how I end up moving in his work - the best words for it might be an angelic monstrosity, you know? Some dresses float like on air, and that is a really powerful, sexy experience. But this defies that kind of movement and you as the wearer are forced to experience your clothes in a different way, and I love that. Some of it is stiff and other parts are floaty...it's ethereal in it's own way, it's a very alienating experience. It's always on the right side of absurd for me, I never feel uncomfortable in his stuff. If I try to describe how I feel in it, it's more like a hand is being extended to take me on a good trip. There is a lot of goodness involved.

 I think it's because we come from the same place aesthetics wise and share similar backgrounds. Scott's my designer just as much as CDG is, if not more, because I actually have an influence on what he creates. It's very fulfilling to have someone to collaborate with on ideas and to see them run with it and being able to wear the results in the end is a unique, rad experience. We like the same things to the point we never have to explain our influences to each other. We might not talk for weeks at a time, but then we'll talk for hours and share moodboards and they'll always have a few of the same main inspirations out of coincidence. And since we come from similar class circumstances, we get what the other person is trying to do. Because despite us being fashion kids -- him being a cutthroat kid at Central Saint Martins, me being a blogger-student juggling work and school forever -- we're still not secure or successful in the ways a lot of fashion kids are who come from money. We're always dipping into luxury art and fashion realms but our actual daily realm is eating 99cent muffins for dinner because we're too broke to afford real food because student loans, and materials for our work. So we're always drawn to bringing our aesthetics into our neighborhoods, it's a visual representation of the weird juggling act we're constantly participating in. Photographing his work and our collaborations in neighborhoods that don't match up visually -- that's just our lives, really. We don't match up to the expectations our clothes -- or dreams -- tell us we should have. And I personally enjoy that very much. 

We took a lot of pictures in this dress so it was hard to narrow it down -- you'll likely see different iterations of our approach in the future in this, I want to show you how fun it is to wear. Anyway -- hope all is well and you are safe and sound. 

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....

fashion nerd appreciation: the magazines & books that shape me

One of my most frequently asked questions is what books I read about fashion because I have so much to say on the subject, so I thought I'd show you the media I most frequently flip through. I've discussed Style Deficit Disorder on the blog before in 2008 but the pictures don't work anymore and also that post is hella embarrassing. So: here. My current most cherished favorites. I do have many other favorites, but they're at my house at school, so whatevs. Here ya go:

Book info: 

Style Deficit Disorder: Harajuku Street Fashion - Tokyo by Tiffany Godoy
Revue Encens Magazine, Love Magazine (issues 6 & 8 specifically), 032c Magazine, METAL Magazine, Worn Journal, The Japanese Revolution in Paris Fashion (Dress, Body, Culture) by Yuniya Kawamura.

This is a LONG post, so I'm putting it under a cut.

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.

lingerie sunday: mimi holliday ss2014

I attended CurveExpo with some lingerie blogger friends and was lucky enough to get appointments with some of my favorite brands. Hour long show and tell with silk and lace and hot babes modeling lingerie that isn't even out yet? Sign me up! I wanted to show you Mimi Holliday's work first because I'm so exited about it! Buyers are still placing orders on all of this, so you won't see any of this in stores for months, but perhaps earlier online, if you're lucky. Mimi goes up to an F cup and also does maternity bras, while still being very affordable for luxury lingerie (I believe the average bra runs about $80, which is reasonable for the quality and craftsmanship you're getting. It's a step up from Victoria's Secret in terms of both quality and price.) Mimi bras fit true to size on me, probably the best fit for me actually, as I have a slim frame. I'm a big fan; super stoked to have been able to preview their new products up close. There is a lot to show you, so most will be under a cut.

You'll also find shoppable links to similar Mimi Holliday pieces that you can buy right now (w/ free shipping and for less than $30!), if you like what you see....

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.

lingerie fw day two: cuteness and respectability

Romwe Printed Dress, Rebecca Minkoff Metallic Pink Bag (similar) c/o,  Qupid Holographic Flats c/o, Vintage Necklace, Urban Decay Jilted Lipstick c/o. 

My outfit for Day Two of  LingerieFW, snapped by Caro after the Dita show. Thank you my dear! You should give yourself more credit as a photographer, huhuhu.

 Anyway, I got this dress while I was in Taipei last summer and I wore it quite a lot this spring (even instagrammed an outfit in it before) and then totally forgot about it until the other day. I've been much more into sparser color palettes and less patterns (you'll see what I mean in a few more posts, which are things I wear on a day to day basis) but I realized I'd never documented this dress or bag before and couldn't pass up the opportunity to bring them out on such a pretty day. It's a super obnoxiously vibrant, baroque, femme outfit and it was disconcerting how different dudes (and different kinds of dudes specifically) treat me in this compared to my now pretty  uniform outfit of red velvet shorts, leather harness and a scowl. I think it's mostly because being cute implies you're harmless or passive or something when you're a 5 ft 3 something girl like me, and I am.....not okay with that idea of pretty.  It doesn't make me feel safe or in charge of myself.

Some snaps from the Nevaeh presentation -- super into that set on the blonde especially. 

I do think I look really cute in this outfit and it makes me feel confident when I'm walking around with girlfriends but I feel a little more at home in things decidedly more dark. It's more confusing and harder to swallow and I like disrupting people's ideas of respectability when I mess with what cute/femme/ladylike means. The day after I wore this, I wore a floor length black dress and no makeup to balance out my mojo....hahaha. Of course, I am on my period and thus feel like dying and killing everything also so that....is certainly....an influence to my outfit choices. BUT! BESIDES THAT! I've definitely made a conscious decision to set aside my super colorful outfits for awhile....in fact, I've set side racks of clothes to sell in late September along with some other cuties. If you're in Brooklyn in September, you'll be a happy babe, I promise.

magical lingerie moments with dita von teese

If you've been following me for a lil bit, you'll have noticed I'm a huge lingerie addict. (Like I need another expensive material obsession when I run both a fashion and a beauty blog!) Lingerie Fashion Week, CurveExpo and Lingerie Collective are all happening right now, so many of my lingerie blogger friends (and designer obsessions!) are showing in New York this week. It's so fun to finally meet people I talk to on a pretty much daily basis and even more to do so while we all mutually fangirl beautiful lingerie.

Lingerie is seen often see as this kind of intimidating, luxury expense you only buy to look good for your partner but I like to see it as a way of worshipping yourself and your body. I don't think you need or should seek other people's validation when it comes to clothes in general, especially something often private like lingerie! If it makes you feel good and powerful it's worth it, any sexy times that may result are just added benefits. Honestly, buying a quality set for myself was one of the best decisions I made for my self image, because even if you're single you can just walk around the house in it, dancing to Beyonce (I made this playlist for this exact purpose) and have a great time. It's pure self care.

But anyway. I wanted to share with you some moments from Lingerie Fashion Week Day 2, specifically the Secrets in Lace / Dita Von Teese Runway Presentation. I've been going to NYFW for going on five years now (so literally many dozens of shows) but I can count the number of shows that have really inspired and impressed me and made me super excited about fashion on both hands. This was one of them.

(This video isn't actually upside down, just click, you'll be happy you did.)

Took all of these stuff on my phone, so I apologies it's not crispy clean DSLR perfection. Didn't want to lug it around. You can expect more coverage from LFW and the other lingerie events I'll be attending on my Instagram & Tumblr for live coverage, and more in depth round ups and interviews with designers & brands & my outfits from each day here on a near-daily or daily basis, I'll see what I can manage! Check back soon. Much love.