Tonight I smelled dinner and spring

And the thought of all the warmer days to come made me so happy I've been playing Bebel Gilberto nonstop. Listen with me.

August Day Song - Bebel Gilberto (this could be my favorite song in the world)

I think the daulmonster...

is one of the few models who really knows how to dress. (Irina's random waist-cinching has never appealed to me. Nor have Iekeliene's glasses and polkadots for that matter...but I do like her mermaid-ish face) Anyway I just love this girl's blog. And I want a pair of margiela tabis too. They look so comfy and cozy

image via facehunter

Try the lighter version

Even if you liked Gareth Pugh's collection (which I guess I kind of did although GP has never really really tickled my fancy) the chances are there's no way you could a)wear that stuff in public, or b)even afford it in the first place. But you can always try geometric blocks in smaller and cuter and doses with Pleats Please by Issey Miyake's trademark bags. They come in like ten different colors.

<-I got this one

By the way if any of you are wondering why I haven't been talking about the fall collections it's because I'm one of those fashionlosers who prefers to think about fall late into the summer. I'm just not ready for it right now (although I have been considering starting a Nice Leather Jacket Fund...I'll let you know you how that goes....)

Girl crush: Tania Raymonde

This French-American actress who plays Alex on Lost has really been growing on me over the last month. I like her face and her hair and her voice, and I know nothing of her personal style but she exudes a coolness which I'm thinking is no mean feat considering the A&F-style garb they make her wear on the show. In fact she manages to make those ripped tank tops, checkered shirts and dirty messenger bags look good, and you have to kinda love her for that.


And she looks a lot like Amy Winehouse (albeit a much cleaner prettier version) dontcha think?

Oh man

I've talked about this leather racerback vest from Helmut Lang before but it is just soooo soso sssososo beautiful I'm going to have to post it again. (but with the creepy shopbop model's face cropped out) Damn if only my credit cards weren't maxed out right now I'd get it like straight away

Tell me

do any of you own a kindle, and if so, is it really as good as they say it is? It hasn't been getting much press in Japan yet (none that I know of, actually), but it does sound pretty awesome.

"Sold out" is the single most frightening phrase I know

These are three things I desperately want/wanted but have no way of getting my hands on at this point.





Bruno Pieters//Christian Wijnants//Chloe
Farewell, fall07!

We like short shorts

You know how sometimes when you have a lot you want to write about you end up not writing anything at all...? That's what's been happening with me lately.
But anyway, over the last couple of weeks I've been steadily accumulating pieces for my spring wardrobe (including two pairs of Helmut Lang silk dhoti shorts in black and beige that I told you about before). Shorts are a summer STAPLE for me because I like lazy easy looks...My latest buys were two pairs of balloon shorts (one in shiny khaki and another in beige) by Seta Ichiro. His designs are the pretty-pretty kind that I usually don't go for, but these were just too nice and comfy looking to pass up. At the moment Seta is an exclusive label to just one store in Tokyo, but he'll be branching out to Paris from next season, or so I've heard.
His spring lookbook

This one's for the weirdos

Linda Farrow Vintage makes the kind of sunnies that would brighten any random passerby's day. I know I would fall over (laughing or otherwise) if I saw anyone in these; bless their poor poor souls.

Designer souvenirs are fun

Maison Martin Margiela

And ooh did you hear Gareth Pugh made a latex rose VIP pass for Moet & Chandon?

Me likey

Jargol has been doing some really great posts lately. There are so many things that have been catching my eye and I don't really know where to begin...but for starters, Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair AW08. Um wow?

More here and here.

Also, Joan Schepp has a small but fantastic selection of clothes and accessories that are so so so me. I'm loving these in particular.

Martin Margiela 6

Sissi Rossi

And while we're at it, aussie label Claude Maus looks really nice.

Alex the great

Diana at SoFash'on made an interesting point about how it's difficult to draw the line between inspiration and imitation nowadays. She said that a lot of Alexander Wang's AW08 creations mimcked looks we've actually been seeing on the street, particularly that grunge-chick trend with the loose sweaters and oversized tailoring and whatnot. Maybe there's some truth in that. But in Wang's case, I think the problem has more to do with the way the garments were presented on the runway. If you were to take it all apart and examine the pieces individually, my opinion is that his designs are classic, well tailored and very wearable. It's easy to label a young designer who caters to the masses unoriginal and boring, but among many of the overly conceptual or glamorous designs of high fashion, Alex really stands out in that his collection is extremely (and painfully) covetable for the average girl living the average life. I personally loved everything--from the basics to the herringbone to the simple leather bags.
It will be so exciting to see how this guy develops as a designer.

More nozomi

Close ups of my two favorite pieces from Nozomi Ishiguro's spring collection. It's hard to tell but I think the flowers have been embroidered onto sheer tulle or something. Pretty crazy.

Queen of cutting edge

Maybe it's time I introduce a Japanese label. It's something I hardly ever do just because I'm exposed to domestic designers on a daily basis. And if truth be told, I much prefer the cleaner silhouettes of new york designers--I think they suit me and my attitude better. Having lived in Tokyo for over a decade, I am throughly weary of the kawaii-bizarre aesthetic we're well known for...
Anyway. I think it's safe to say that Nozomi Ishiguro is the queen of the latter--the current cutting edge of Japanese fashion. When I think of Fruits and Tune magazines, I immediately think of her trademark loud, crafty and voluminous style (it figures, she interned at Junya Watanabe and Tricot Comme des Garcons). She's big with the in-crowd but relatively unknown otherwise, and outside Japan I'm guessing hardly at all.

AW07


Her designs are intriguing in that they're cutsey and grotesque at the same time.

SS08


update: nozomi ishiguro is a MAN!! it's so funny because I always had this image of him being a female, because of his name. oops.