The World's a Stage

I decided to try this color blocking thing I’d read about in a couple places last Friday. It was mostly an excuse to wear some things that I hadn’t worn in quite a while (or ever) and feel like I had a reason to throw them together.

I really wanted to wear my red-orange pants that I got at the Rinaldi costume shop clean out last year, so I looked up the color wheel and saw that red-orange is supposed to go well with blue-green/teal. Surprisingly, I don’t really have any blue-green/teal shirts, but I did manage to find the one in the picture in my pile of clothes-that-I-never-wear. The scarf I added to try to balance the top and my pants and is actually the sash to my Tibetan robe. I didn’t realize until looking at this picture, but I think the outfit looks a little super hero-ish, which I’m not sure I’m really pleased with. Also, the corduroy and satin didn’t really match … hopefully my next attempt at color blocking will be more successful.

So I decided today to try a more whimsical outfit (versatility etc). I’ve used the same shoes and the same colors as the last one.

The shirt is from Putomayo, a Japanese lolita/punk brand. The text references the Wizard of Oz, although I think the decor looks more Alice in Wonderland-ish. I also have this hilariously adorable and sort of macabre hoodie from them that you’ll probably see at some point.

The puffy skirt, a favorite of mine, is from a random store in the basement of Kichijoji station, where I spent a lot of my time my first summer in Tokyo. It’s very versatile, and I like how it makes my waist look smaller because of its volume. The one problem with the skirt is that the ties that hold it in that puffy shape often come undone, and fixing them in public is sort of awkward.

The hat that I’m wearing has been called by friends my Mario hat and my communist hat, among other things. I happen to think it’s really cute and helps, along with my shoes and giant cherry earrings, add a bit of color to the very monochrome outfit. I got it in Paris when I was on my crazy backpacking trip in March. The cherries were a gift from Jasmine during our last round of Secret Stereotype (er, don’t ask). They were a gag gift and are a bit heavy, but I’ve actually worn them a bunch since then.

Also, I got a haircut recently! My hair’s wet because I’d just come out of the shower, but here you go:

Every time my hair gets to about chin length, I start dithering over whether or not I want to grow it out or cut it all off again. Inevitably, I’ll be walking somewhere or have a couple hours free, and I’ll almost impulse decide that I want it gone. This time I went to the John Brody Salon in the Castro and asked them to cut my hair like Kate Lanphear.

I was a bit worried that it wouldn’t turn out as well, since my face isn’t as thin as hers is, but I think it turned out pretty well. Hopefully I’ll be as stylish as she is one day.

So I’ve been reflecting on my personal style lately, and on top of it being really monochrome, I’ve been thinking that it’s a bit … juvenile. It’s often cute, punky, a little weird, but not really elegant. So this outfit is an attempt to mix it up a bit while still keeping my own style.

I really like the tux shirt+vest combination. It appeases my occasional cross-dressing tendencies but is still fitted and stylish, unlike my cargo shorts. I really like men’s formal wear – I own a tux jacket with tails, and I hope to get a men’s kimono one day.

I really like how bright the skirt is – it adds a lot of color so that my outfit isn’t monochrome like with the pants suit pants I would usually wear, contrasts well against the tights, and (mostly) matches my shoes. I haven’t worn it a lot because I feel like the red can sometimes be a bit difficult to match with things. Too much red in an outfit can be a bit blinding, and this skirt in particular is also a bit darker than the cherry red that most of my other things are. The skirt’s shape is also different from what I usually wear – I like a-line skirts because they better disguise the lump of fat around my stomach.

The tights are the Wolford Hero tights, which Audi introduced to me. I debated with myself about buying them for a while – they’re quite a bit more expensive than any other tights I own. When I saw they were on sale, I snapped them up, and I’m so glad that I did. The stripping really emphasizes the shape of my calves, which I think are one of my best features. Also I love the way they feel with the skirt brushing against them. I may have been converted to buying pricier tights.

I got my shoes at Fluevog (sensing a pattern?) a month after I moved to SF, and they were my first non-black/brown shoes. I’ve worn them a lot since getting them, and I always feel more fashionable when I do thanks to the bright color. I also like how the shape makes them a bit whimsical and playful – sort of Dorothy in Oz and sort of Japanese schoolgirl-ish. Hopefully they don’t take away from the more adult/elegant look that I’m trying for.

Sorry the photo quality’s a bit poor – we snapped this picture while running out the door this morning and in between searching for Erik’s shoe (which he still hasn’t found). The corner you see is in the living room of my new place, which is currently a barren wasteland. Besides the trash can and the pile of boxes left from moving, all that is in the room is my futon from Tokyo folded up on the floor. We’ve been using it as temporary seating while watching Arrested Development on Erik’s laptop. Hopefully we’ll get some real chairs or even a couch soon …

OK, so a lot of you have already seen this picture (sorry, it’s not what I’m wearing today, but I’m still being slow about the camera thing), but I’ve gotten a lot of questions about where I got basically every piece of the outfit. So I’ll go ahead and go through them (warning: links ahead!).

The shirt and jacket are from the same store in Japan: Ozz On Japan. This is one of the few stores I’ve seen where every time I pass it, I stop and think “Ooh, that’s nice. I wonder what store this is?” and look up at the name, and yep, it’s them again. They’ve got different … collections? I think you’d call them? Maybe themes? And each of their locations only carries a few of the collections. One thing I really like about this place is that almost all of their stuff has laces to adjust the sizing. I’m pretty fat compared to the average Japanese girl, so the fact that the clothing is a bit adjustable is pretty awesome.

A bit about the jacket itself. When I bought it, I just thought it looked awesome, and I’m often a bit wary about wearing it, because I think it can often seriously overpower the rest of the outfit. It turns out that it’s a remarkably useful jacket though. I love the sort of ruffled point in the back – often with skirts with a bit of fullness, the shape of the back creates an elegant sort of line that makes me look a bit taller and thinner. It also nicely emphasizes the shape of skirt, I think, instead of drawing attention away from it like I had worried.

The skirt, which is really what I was trying to show off in this picture, is from an indie fashion designer in Oakland called the window lady. I don’t what her real name is, but I suspect it’s … Jany or something similar? I’m not entirely sure where I got that though, so who knows how close that is. Everything she makes is made of recycled materials. The skirt is actually made of ties, and when I bought it she threw in a collar/choker type thing also made of ties for free. I haven’t worn it yet, because it seems like a party-ish sort of accessory and I’ve been too busy with apartment hunting to even think about finding parties, let alone going to them. I love the mix of colors in the skirt that make it so versatile and easy to match.

The tights are from Sock Dreams. I bought them on a whim to go with the 1880s Victorian jacket I got at Decades of Fashion a month or so ago, and they’ve been ridiculously useful ever since. I think I’m going to try to get a few more from that brand – they’ve been remarkably hardy, considering how rough I am with my clothes. The burgundy color of them match so many things so well.

And the shoes are the infamous Fluevog Babycakes, which you’ve all seen multiple times, since I basically don’t wear any other shoes (not quite true, but close). I’ve actually had people stop me on the streets asking about these shoes, and I’ve had a number of conversations with random people thanks to a shared love of Fluevog. Just don’t look too closely at the price tag …

Here are a few photos of an outfit I wore a week or two ago. Some of you may recognize the dress from my one professional-ish/published photo shoot, and I’ve made it more appropriate for work with the purple cardigan. The belt is actually the obi from a touristy yukata that my grandmother got me from Japan long before I ever made my way there.

I look a little distracted here because I’m watching Project Runway for the first time. I may have a new addiction. A lot of it was over-dramatized and annoying, but I loved a lot of the designs. We were watching the 2006 season finale, and the designer I was rooting for didn’t end up winning, which was sad.

Here’s kind of an odd-angled picture so you can see the outfit better. I think I’m still talking about Project Runway, so I’m a bit distracted and the photo has caught me kind of at an awkward moment with my mouth open.

And lastly, here’s a photo of the bottom of my shoes, which are the gorgeous Babycakes from Fluevog. My friend is trying his hand at artistic photography, which is why the rest of me is blurry and the angle sort of odd.

So I’m starting out my outfit posts with this one, even thought it’s a bit lame. I like it, and I figure if I get expectations up too high, I won’t really be able to post it later without looking even more boring in comparison to the ones I’ve already posted. So, it goes first.

In this outfit, I’m experimenting with breaking one of those fashion rules that I learned when I was pretty young and not at all into clothes – don’t mix brown and black. When I started getting into fashion a few months ago, I started reading a few blogs, and people pointed out that you actually can mix brown and black, you just need to be more deliberate about it. So here I’ve tried alternating them a bit – black boots, brown/black belt, black shirt, brown jacket, brown/black choker. You can’t see it in the picture, but I’ve also go a brown and black leather cuff on my right wrist in an attempt to balance out the black of my tattoo. Not sure how well I’ve managed, but there you go.