Cocktail Dresses by ALICE by Temperley
Earrings by Betsey Johnson

summer time, and the living is easy (i wish)

Item I want "not-so-nautical" stripe. Today, my shopping was limited to the weather--but I actually found a pretty good deal on a basic striped tank. It was about 4,000 KRW... which is about $3 US. So I got one in a heather-gray blue & white stripe, and one in a faint lavender & white stripe. Ideally the skirt would be a babyblue & black stripe, extremely form fitting and hit slightly above or just below the knee.

Are flats the only type of shoe to rock with this style of skirt? Maybe a flamboyant wedge heel?

Mini Skirts by eDressMe
Mini Skirts by Delia's

i love the "fruit stripe"-esque multicolored one. The colors remind me a bit of popsicles too, making this a cool summer frock.
I like the baby pink skirt because I think it adds a little innocence to the look. It's hard to decide whether I like the micro or bold stripe better.

finally something i can belt!

here is a cleaner shot of the dress:

 

I bought three belts from forever21 in Tokyo like ...over six months ago. I've never found anything that any of the belts worked with until now. Although, it's kind of  a cheatie scenario because the dress did come belted--but the belt just wasn't very complementary.

I didn't get my shoes in any of my shots. ): But they are giant slate grey platform heel booties I got from ASOS that I call my frankenstein shoes because of the way I clunk around in them.

Anywho this dress I got an even longer time ago, from a cheap store at the mall. I've worn in a grand total of three times. But now that I've got the belt situation handled, I can see it making more debuts this summer.

My other belt kinda looks like this one. Just black and basic.

something we should know... there's something to remember & something to forget...

Style mash-up: the closest thing I have to an almost famous jacket.

+
inspiration point: Failry recently I watched australia's next top model in Japan, I really love lolita/harajuku style.
It's innovative, and a bit eccentric.

 

trying to cover up my messy room for this photo

now more of my messy room is viewable...still not as bad as the other piccy tho.

sailor type items are pretty cute to me: for either a pin-up girl kind of look, or a more cosplay one... or just as more casual nautical wear.

everyone around me...

seems to feel so heavy: with burden, anxiety, stress, angst, depression. all i want to do is feel endlessly light.

i love being able to change something that i perceive as imperfect or flawed...into something beautiful. (or at least better)

That certainly was a long enough title. So that's what I've been doing, with photo editing--and with fashioning new clothes from the old. Pretty much anything I buy it never really matched my ideal, and I always see some unique potential to bring out of it. That's our job, as individuals, as artists to bring out the beauty we may see in something.

Sometimes finding it is hard.

This photo was taken during a welcome back dinner/party for a friend  held at the local T.G.I.F. that I didn't want to go to. I'm socially awkward around large groups of people, especially when the bulk of them are people I once made the decision not to associate with, some who ousted me from the group, and others still who I had not seen in what felt to be an excruciating time. Luckily, I was welcomed by some in a chatty and lighthearted manner. Said, welcome back party person was on a mission to snap a photo of me. The original photo was grotesque (in my opinion) as I was trying desperately to dodge the photo. Instead, this artsier (albeit much more minimalist --in terms of form/content photo I feel is a vast improvement.


I'm calling this synthetic photo "something blue" because when my friend posted this, he captioned it "a bride-to-be" as at that juncture in my life I was engaged. No longer engaged, I'm playing on the notion of something blue. I remembered I wanted the insoles of my shoes to be blue. Probably not only that, but it was a specific request that I felt strongly about. Obviously, also it's a play on the fact that one of the exposed layers is a sky blue. I am too cheap and untrained to use photoshop, so I use a handful of programs. So I had no control really of how the photo was cropped. I would have left the entirety of my face alone--but I think this proves a more interesting snapshot.



On a less "deep" note: these sandals are probably the most epic purchase I made in awhile. 1,500 krw of satisfaction. So cheap. They are lightweight, comfortable (see thin bamboo insoles) and come in an elephant print.

I'm linking this film because, it's one of the better wedding/marriage films out there. It isn't a true romantic comedy (most of which are trash) nor an improbable drama.

a smile and a ribbon in my hair...

okay, I admit it. I'm a photo-editing addict.

i tried to make a spin off of snow white...i need to put a bow in my hair somehow.
but it ended up looking kind of cheerleadery. i can live with that, especially since
i think ashley tisdale is sooo pretty.

back in the day

part of my love for this photo is due to the fact that this hairstyle reminds me of Bjork

This photo was taken during the summertime of roughly '01. I was in middle school back then, and I don't remember what exact year or grade I was in--but I'm guessing with some certainty that it was my 3rd year in "junior high". No one actually called it that, just 8th grade middle school. Somehow the junior high bit sounds more glamorous to me. There is so much perfection in youth being able to look good and be so care free. I've never had to wear catholic-girl style school uniforms, in fact--I think we only had the drab blue and white uniforms during elementary school for all of two weeks. So basically I see "uniform style" as something that is fashionable. I'm sure my obsession of Japan helped that. My look of course is non-traditional with a teeny orange halter/tube/crop top being the shirt of choice. I've never been a matchy matchy person. I can't really distinguish or remember what shoes I'm wearing--but here are some of the many decorated socks that my cousin donated to me. I think most of this outfit is hers, this makeover was the result of sleeping at her house.

But the aesthetic is still true to me today. I like whimsy. I hate matching, and usually for me its more of a style don't than a style do. Unless of course it's a sleek black-catsuit kind of number. I may not be as "punk rock" not that I ever was in the first place, but I have always admired decades past. Which is why one of my most favorite places in the entire world are vintage stores. From this juncture I moved on to what I remember as clown/pachuco pants, striped stockings (the red/white where's waldo variety and the green/black wicked witch of the west), printed skirts and uncle sweaters to a more or less black gothy look then to dickies and low cut tops. Then my style kind of dissipated into the bland and normal.

It makes me wish I took more pictures along the way, and makes me nostalgic for old outfits and the feeling of pure freedom. 

retro-fitted life

Other than the slightly strange title of this garment, pussybows have a special place in my heart. I was finally able to snag an item at a decent price. This blue pussybow/sailor inspired dress has a delicate floral all over it. I got it for like 15,000 korean won...which is around $12 US. Don't quote me on that though. I got a similar dress in an off white color with an orange/yellow flower mix. I really adore it--but it's SUPER short. I didn't really put a lot of thought on how these items would fit (as I'm a teensy bit taller than the average Korean girl).

My fashion-life has felt a little lackluster, ever since I stopped my writing job and since I've somewhat been dedicated to saving money. We'll see how long it sticks. I've tried my hand at refashioning old items into something new but my hand stitching is sloppy--and I don't think it will be worth the day long journey to buy a sewing machine (because of my lack of skills + we wont be here for an incredibly long time).

Anywho, I'm wearing this dress at the Hakata station in Fukuoka. There was this really ginormous shopping area, and the fashions on this side of the globe really have a way of making me swoon. Their price tags however create a whole other feeling for me. We're sitting at a pancake restaurant because everything else we tried to do besides eat was not going in our favor. So for us, Fukuoka was renamed FatUoka. But since I've been away from quality western food for so long, I only felt a little guilty while indulging.

The place was so quaint and the pancakes were good! The restaurant was on the 2nd to top floor of the building, and it came with like a "young grape" syrup on the side. It was really sweet.

is there a rhyme or reason?