Japan Finds

Sep 5, 2009 | Fashion

Two outfit posts in a row??

Carly, are you nuts??? (Maybe I’m procrastinating on writing those DIY tutorials…??)

Okay, so I dressed up today to go to one of the worst Japanese restaurants in SW Portland…not that we knew that before we went there.

[BTW…Does anybody know of an authentic, delicious Japanese restaurant in Portland or its surrounding ‘burbs???? Like SW?? (And they better not serve California rolls, because that is definitely not authentic [but I like them anyway – shhh! Don’t tell Hub.] And don’t say Sinju at Bridgeport. They were awful – I mean, slices of potato [russet] in your tempura??? A gigantic multi-floreted head of broccoli tempura?? Blecch. Even I couldn’t stomach that – and I will eat just about anything deep-fried.;-)]

So anyway, I wore a couple of pieces tonight that I found while I was in Japan, to the restaurant a.k.a carpool lane to food poisoning.

Jacket from MITSUMARA Allameda Allamada Allamanda. Whatever. It’s on the first floor of Shibuya-109 on the right as you come in the entranceway. Gosh, I could spend hours at the 109 shopping mecca. It’s like another world. (Of course every Hollywood starlet who visits Japan drops by there – Beyonce [who’s in some awful commercial playing on TV there right now- I’ve never seen her so stiff and uncomfortable in front of a camera; it’s so disconcerting and I can’t remember what it was for…], the Hilton sisters, and Hilary Duff all hit up this mall when they’re in Tokyo. Anyhoo.) When I found out Shibuya-109 finally [it’s only 2009, people!!] opened a web store, I was thrilled. Not that I would buy anything online from them anyway – I have to go there in person to just soak in the whole atmosphere. I just like staying on top of what they offer.

Back to the jacket. As you can tell, it has the same fatal flaw that most clothing made for the Japanese market has – it’s cut to Asian body proportions, which means the armscyes are waaaay to high and there isn’t enough room in the sleeve cap or ease in the upper arm. Maybe I have man-arms???? I dunno – I guess Asians have their arms connected to their body higher than the European-derived Caucasian. Plus the Asian body is flatter than the Caucasian – which causes a whole heck of a lot of problems when trying to fit Asian boobs into bra cups that are made for a Caucasian body (which is one of my theories as to why Victoria’s Secret is not doing so well in bra sales compared to lingerie giant Peach John when it comes to the Japanese market. Yet PJ extensively uses Caucasians in their catalog to model their lingerie, which is somewhat hypocritical, hmmm??? Even the Peach John catalog spells out how they draft their patterns to accommodate the flatter ribcage and boobs that are placed further apart and higher up than those of the average Westerner. Trade secrets and hypocrisy! I love it.)

Back to the jacket. Gosh, it’s getting late. The sleeves are ruched and stay permanently rolled-up – love the little glimpse of leopard at the cuffs. Just enough leopard-print for me.

I added Mr. Bear to my bag (I just call him that – he’s kind of a pouf, if you know whutimean…he loves everything sparkly). I pretty much went to every trendy store in Japan looking for this thing…about 6 months ago in Japan the thing to add on to your bag was a stuffed, decked-out bear (I’ve mentioned the trend of bag add-ons here). They crowded the magazines and most notably was Immanoel’s $79 version with Swarovskis and chain attached. Fabulous – but $79 for a tiny bear was a bit too much! Come August and I’m there – and of course the trends have changed and Popples and Care Bears seem to be the way to go (along with gigantic fur puffballs for Fall) and I scour the city looking for the elusive Bear Bag Charm. I finally found one at DollKiss, on Shibuya-109 3F. Not white or black like I wanted, but good enough for a spangled little bear!

R&E (also Sh
ibuya-109) boots!! Not available online yet that I’ve seen. I love the hidden wedge heel – they’re surprisingly comfortable to walk in. I stuffed legwarmers into them cuz I’m cool like that.

Looks like rain for the weekend here in Oregonia – hope all of you have a fantastic Labor Day weekend!! (I’ll be staying inside lying in a shivering heap from impending food poisoning, I’m pretty sure.;-)
xoxxo
Carly

Playing a Lady

Sep 4, 2009 | Fashion

(Rachelle Dauphinee earrings, handmade jacket, Le Petit Bateau tee, candy resin necklace from Japan, vintage bag, DIY gloves from Japan, Marc by Marc Jacobs skirt, Spiral Girl tulle skirt, QoJelly shoes)

Okay, so I’ve been back from Japan for less than a week and I’m about to go bonkers.

4 days after we get back my brother-in-law decides to drop in unexpectedly and stay for a week.

So since I’ve been back I’ve been trying to ignore my jetlag and frantically cleaning the house and fixing up the garden, to make space for him to stay (not that I’ve stuck him out in the garden, mind you heh heh heh- it’s just the house looked like a bomb hit it since Hub’s idea of unpacking is to upend both suitcases and spread everything all over the house instead of actually putting it away). It’s not that BIL cares very much – he’s easy-going and fun to be around – it’s just that I care, and a messy house and yard makes me look sloppy.

I’m not sloppy, darnit!

So to prove that, beyond an infinitesimal shadow of a doubt, I wore this to my son’s school registration day when I was forced to drive into downtown Portland and sit in a hot, sweaty gym for 3 hours listening to the head of school drone on about school policies and such – which are all spelled out in black and white in the school handbook. Doesn’t anyone read nowadays?
I whipped together this jacket in a couple days before I went on vacation. I didn’t use a pattern; just eyeballed it using a well-fitting jacket I already had as reference. This is made of a 2-way stretch denim, and it’s a bit too well-fitting, since I didn’t account for the stretch. In other words, the only thing that’s fitting under it is a really fitted tee or some latex body paint. (I’ll skip the body paint for the school registration meeting, methinks.)I made the jacket with zip-detailing that’s actually functional – just for kicks, I can zip off the ruffled front and sleeve cuffs and come up with…

A jacket that looks pretty much the same as the previous version.

LOL. (The asymmetrical hem and neck are actually intentional, though that little bobble at the top of the closure is not…I fixed it after this photo was taken, since I’m OCD like that. It also looks kinda puckery…I don’t have a steamer, and I’m scared to put it in the wash since it might shrink even more than the prewash I put the fabric thru. Ah well. A DIY fail?)

The Rachelle Dauphinee earrings I won from Lucky Magazine since I was apparently one of the first to download the Lucky widget one month. They’re simple hammered hoops but very beautiful – like $230 retail – the most expensive thing I’ve ever won from a magazine.This crimson snake bag I found at a vintage store (I forget the name) on South Street in Philly. It’s made of real snake, and the scales are peeling in places (gross). I bought it a long time ago, and didn’t think it was real then, which was why I bought it. (I’ve developed a distaste for buying new things made from animal hides over the past couple years [though I’ll make an exception for cow/pig leather for shoes because honestly, in trendy shoe styles those leathers are pretty much impossible to avoid; fashionable vegan shoes are either horrendously pricey or cheap-looking and mass-made in China]…but since I own it and the snake is officially dead by now, I figure I at least should use it, even though I feel a bit guilty each time I do. I try to console myself that it’s vintage, so I’m at least giving this bag another life. Poor snake.)

The gloves I bought in Japan – they’re UV-protectant gloves that Hub said make me look like Michael Jackson – and I didn’t like the bracelet-length style, so I shortened them and added 2 little pearl buttons to make them look like a little vintage 40’s pair that the Portland vintage stores will charge $25 for.
The shoes are QoJelly – a Japanese brand I’ve written about here – that I bought in Jan of 2008 at Harajuku LaForet in Tokyo. They have this loose band on the top that you can bind with long ties, which can also be worn a couple different ways. Spats for women!!

So anyway, all that griping about my brother-in-law at the beginning of this post was meant to convey that I have about 10,000 DIY projects ready to go and be photographed sitting right in front of me, and not a single spare millisecond to spend on them. Like being at an all-you-can-eat dessert buffet without a spork.

I can’t wait to share them with you all…I promise I am working on them…I just have to get brother-in-law out of the garden and Little Tot shuffled off to school and Hub sequestered in his…Hub-space….and then I can go at. Promise! 🙂

Hope all of you had a fabulous August!
xoxox
Carly

Shattered Necklace & Prim Belt

Aug 11, 2009 | Fashion

Inspired by Alex & Chloe’s Black Cave Necklace from their Tar Collection, I decided to make my own. (I posted the tutorial here.) I mean, who needs mirrored acrylic and a lasercutter when scissors and mirrored plastic will do??

Le Petit Bateau tees fit and feel like a dream. Not quite sure where to buy them retail near me, though. This one was bought in Japan, so the care label’s in Japanese and French. Funny.

I made my own version of the Louis Vuitton Spring 2003 bow belt way, way back when. Mine I made a puffy little stuffed bow and covered button. It has a hidden snap. Tell me, why does Dritz not sell stiff belting material in 1″ widths??? Are they nuts, starting at 1 1/2″???

Spiral Girl tulle skirt that I picked up at the Spiral Girl store in Honolulu. It’s lined in satin, a big plus when it comes to ballerina-esque skirts (which usually aren’t lined). I love that it’s blue, which is kind of unusual.

For this photo, I borrowed the feet of an 80-year-old woman. I thought they would look nice, and Gaussian Blur definitely doesn’t do them justice. These shoes are uber-cute though, and comfortable since the heel isn’t super-high. Unfortunately, ShopRuche doesn’t sell them anymore!!:-(