One year mark

There's something about French Vogue editorials that makes them not seem dated when you look at them a significant amount of time later. In this case, exactly a year. I think it's because they don't replicate entire runway looks. The brilliance of Daria, Terry Richardson, and Emmanuelle Alt working together is hot sex. Knowing that Daria's such a tomboy makes it that much better.

Source: tfs

Today's inspiration

Sources: foto decadent and model couture

This week's auctions

You asked, I listened: high waisted shorts and skirts, floral mania, fringe..and blazers!

Expect crazy awesome updates this weekend too...yay!

xoxo

PS...the coolest leather skirt..maybe ever.

Jak & Jill: Part Two

I warbled briefly about the Jak & Jil site briefly in March and can't resist posting my favorites from the newer photos. What other site offers such indulgently shoe-exclusive shots? I mean, if you think about it, it is odd that we recognize our fellow human by only about 10% of their physicality. Perhaps we should look into making feet the new face.

I imagine these to be what a fashionable alien that played mental neo-soccer with red giants would wear (Jan Arnold in Pierre Hardy):



Adorning the feet of the opposing team (Marie-Amélie Sauvé in Balenciaga):



Honestly. I would wear these with EVERYTHING. Pleeease show up on eBay! (Kate Langley in Chloé)



I can't say I like white pumps, but I'm falling hard for all things cutout, oxford-y, and hewn of white patent (Emma Elwick in Givenchy):



Kate Lanphear is pure sex (in Gucci):



Almost too good to be looked at directly, Emmanuelle Alt in THE BALMAIN FRINGE ANKLE BOOTS. These are pretty much my ultimate boot. And I will never own them. Whimper.



Visit their blog if you want to die some more. Can't wait for updates Tommy!

Fashiontoast <3 Café Mode

I've been meaning to post this forever now, I think it's one of the most inconceivably high honors I've experienced as a blogger. I'm sure it's relatively apparent from my general rantings that I, along with most cognitive humans, am more than mildly obsessed with Parisian everything (check out that header!) and have long been spying about on Café Mode, furtively saving photos and being entranced by that certain French..magic. Géraldine always manages to capture a stylish essence that is wholly recognizable, even if showcasing something you wouldn't necessarily wear yourself. Her coverage so far at Hyères has been arresting and that Louise is slowly killing me with her charmingly imperfect perfection.

So, with all of that in mind, I am still in a daze that she dedicated a post to me..I literally thought I was seeing things when my photos loaded on her page and wanted to say THANK YOU to Géraldine (hopefully someday we will have that coffee together)! Equipped with my high school/college French I read through her words and have never been so flattered. Plus now I have all these awesome French readers that I love.

Somewhat relevantly, my mom is going to Paris in two weeks to stay in an apartment with a friend from Switzerland for a week. Seriously. My mom is so much cooler than I am. Between bouts of raging jealous fits I am squeezing in time to construct a list of items I am taking the liberty to ask her to purchase. She, sadly, probably won't. I even told her she could take iPhone photos of vintage Chanels and YSL star brooches at Colette and I would yes/no (YES) them for her but I think I am going to have to come up with more convincing tactics. Like planning my own trip to Paris! Hmmmm...

My default "I have to get out of the house..NOW" outfit

I ordered this skirt from Forever21 last week and even though it's kind of scandalous I love it - the material is way thicker than the AA ones and the side zip makes it less ride up-vulnerable. Also, these heels are some of the most comfortable I've purchased in recent months, too bad they're not available online! I searched for an entire fruitless minute.

Shirt and skirt, Forever21. Heels, Tahari. Bag, Marc Jacobs.

Through the dappled sunlight

I knew I had to have this dress from the moment I saw scans of it from British Vogue last April. Recognizing how I have 60,000 white dresses already, I had the sage wisdom to purchase it in this cutesy lemon yellow. I know, I impress myself sometimes, too. However, I can't get too saccharine and wear the thing with Maryjanes or something (unless they were my studded electric blue ones...hmmmmm) so out came my Aldo triple strap Velcros. I realize how lucky I am that my parents have such an idyllic backyard, it's especially dreamscape-like in the spring...my brother and I used to hang out in this treehouse always and only, even posting a bandit-like sign saying "KEEP AWAY" with red paint splattered all over it (blood, you see). One day I got scared when I saw a big caterpillar there and visits lessened slightly. Now it's sort of rotten and falling apart, and not at all the best place to pose in heels. But I still love treehouses, I've always wanted to live in one.

This would do..imagine the photo possibilities! And how horrifically scary it'd be at night!:


Dress, Kate Moss for Topshop. Heels, Aldo. Headband, Forever21.

Cutout issue resolved

My new heels! I went a little cutout oxford crazy this weekend, uncontrollably snatching up two pairs, these Aldos (is Aldo the new Nine West, or is it just me? I can't keep away..) and this pair from..heh..Marshall's. I am so lowbrow. They're by Tahari, and I love them lots. I was going to go for these Steve Maddens but then I couldn't find the white version anywhere online..these and these were contenders too. Obviously I thought about this white shoe thing too much, and should dedicate time to more important thing like going to the gym and folding my clothes. Normally I veer from thinner heels like this but these are somehow extremely comfortable, they seem to mold rather perfectly to my feet. I like how everything in this outfit is the barely there version of a masculine item. Track T, fedora, Levi's...

People always ask about all the random bracelets I wear..they're pretty much vintage or from cheap stores like Forever21 (surprise!) or H&M. A couple of my favorites are even from Old Navy. So yeah, not the most exciting response, but there you go! Someday I'll be rocking those Hermes studded cuffs, I promise. And in regards to questions in general, I'm realizing the urgent need to do an FAQ either in video format if I'm brave enough, preferably with Justin Bobby interviewing me and me holding a ratty hairbrush. If that is just too unlivably embarrassing, which it will be, I'll just have to dedicate some time to writing it up. So sorry if I don't always get around to answering all the questions I get, I'm trying to be on top of it! :)

PS new awesome vintage in store..including...THE BLAZER. I figured I didn't need two. Plus the cutest denim dress you didn't think you needed.

American Apparel triblend tank (best tank ever..I have one in an XS and one in a M that I switch up depending on my mood haha). Shorts, Levi's. Hat, Forever21. Heels, Tahari. Bag, potentially faux Chanel, I'm horrible at Chanel authentication.

Half and half

This is extremely shallow but if I could just once model in Vivi I feel like my life would be complete. I've pored over, scrutinized, and straight out gazed for entire minutes at the sometimes cuckoo, always exuberant styling and photo after photo of gorgeous fellow halfies. I don't think any other publication dives so head first into trends large and small, check out the Gladiator Glossary!

This might come across as pitiful, or even worse, annoying, but when I was growing up I was the only half-Asian, let alone half-Japanese girl I knew, and I'll readily admit that I spent a good deal of time wishing I was a "normal" white girl. My mom tells me even when I was little and going to school in Tokyo and Hong Kong (both international schools and populated with every nationality imaginable), I would always befriend the prettiest blonde girls in the class..probably because I wanted to be them! My three best friends were British, Swedish, and French. Then I went through a phase wishing I was fully Japanese, at least then I wouldn't be so blatantly stared at in the Tokyo subways. When I discovered Vivi in high school one summer while bored in Tokyo, it was like coming across a personal and highly colorful bible. A magazine filled with nothing but half-Japanese girls! And they were all impossibly hot! I found this to be highly cool and was instantly hooked.I have long since stopped suffering from such indulgent identity ponderings but do still enjoy my monthly dose of the Vivs. (I do realize that it's a little odd for one of Japan's most popular fashion magazines to never use any fully Japanese models, but this is probably a whole separate topic...)

My favorite girl would have to be Jun, with her dark stare that makes me think she would be pretty intimidating in real life. I rank her as one of the most gorgeous people currently in existence on Earth. Lena and Chikako have that cutesy/sexy thing going on, and Marie pulls off a Vojtova-esque nose with aplomb. Now, if only I had paid more attention in my rigorously enforced Saturday Japanese school and subsequent "Japanese for bilingual speakers" class in college that was easily the single hardest, most time-consuming course I have ever been a reluctant part of. And slacking off wasn't an option since I was one of err three students.









Crazy fashion eye candy with pages chock-full of photos and weirdly awesome items:


I have the strangest feeling that Lucky isn't going to provide us with the following:


This post was completely due to reader Tali's comment informing me that the site of my dreams does exist, a livejournal community dedicated to Japanese glossies that posts scans of, like, entire magazines. You're stoked. I'm stoked. THANK YOU TALI!

To Luella land!

In the spirit of being random, I decided to try a Luella copycat look . I mean, this Forever 21 skirt just begs for it, no? I have a few ideas for how I'm going to wear it in real life but it's always more fun to play dress up. Outraged to discover I didn't have a similarly campy shirt, I made do with a plain white one, and geared up with a leather jacket, secondhand aviators I took the lenses out of, and a vintage cross-body satchel. The finishing touch was my new Aldo (but very Topshop-ish!) heels, the closest thing I have to Masha's lace-ups. I have no explanation for the 7th grade bear-pack. Sorry. My brother thinks I'm so weird now.

And did everyone else already know that Luella has taken it's wares online? I just found out this week, very cute site. I want it all, please.

First mate

I received an outfit request this week! How fun, and kind of odd! This dress is perhaps the single greatest thing Forever21 has produced. However, I've sort of not worn it..since last fall!!...because it's ridiculously short, even for my immodest standards. I tried to stick vintage slips under it but they were all the wrong lengths..then this morning I remembered I had one of those flippy little Abercrombie miniskirts from that sketchy 2003-ish era. It took me about half an hour to find it, but then victory was had in the shed outside. It kind of works, kind of doesn't, but whatever allows me to wear this without flashing people everywhere is a godsend to me!

Dress and hat, Forever21. Heels, Aldo.

Welcome to Musictown

When a reader delivered a lofty compliment this week proclaiming I looked like I could be in Empire Records in my unabashedly '90s outfit, my freakish amount of love for that movie came rushing back and I was left daydreaming about Liv Tyler in Doc Martens and a plaid mini to the beat of Sugar High ("I want to kiss myself goodbye!"). I wanted to be her a crazy amount, and had the plaid skirt collection to prove it. I rocked them to school with thigh highs from Wet Seal, which now that I am pontificating upon it, was pretty scandalous for my awkward age. Hmmm.

Unfortunately for me and the rest of the cultish Empire Records obsessers, the story unfolds throughout the course of one measly day, which equals exactly one look. We are left to imagine the assumed glory of Casey/Liv cavorting at the mall and eventually Harvard in Rampage dresses and high waisted shorts. I'm not saying I'm going to rock the cropped angora or anything, but my already existent desire for Doc Martens has probably increase tenfold due to these reminiscings and photos of Camille in her recently acquireds.

At least I had logic behind my idolatry, with these Liv ads staring at me from my Seventeens:


The setting:



Damn the man. Save the Empire.



The only time I ever did care about something Renee Zellweger did:



Oh Liv...Rex is all wrong in every last wavy blonde hair way imaginable.



There were like 50 of these kinds of girls at my middle school:



Warren: Stop calling me Warren! My name isn't FUCKING WARREN!
Eddie: His name isn't Warren.
Corey: His name isn't Warren.
Berko: His name isn't Warren.
Mark: I thought his name was Warren?



Liv exhibiting her charm in full, you really have to watch this:


Sources: moviescreenshots and bwgreyscale

The ultimate girlcrush

Source: clemence-poesy.niceboard

Substitution post

I didn't get around to documenting today, so am posting these photos from the weekend before last instead when it was Indian summer-hot outside. Which is the sort of weather I am madly craving anyway as I blast my heater until I my eyes feel dry. I was foolishly chewing gum in this particular series. Note: the only thing worse than a mid-sentence photo is a gum-chew photo.

Shirt, American Apparel. Shorts, Forever21. Belt, vintage. Bag, Lucky. Heels, Aldo.

For Crista

Reader Crista almost made me spit out my coffee and Special K this morning with the following in regards to yesterday's outfit: "Woman, I love those boots!!!! Do you have a better picture of them?? I need like a damn panaromic view!!"

I, of course, had to comply with some store photos from last week (lovvved this dress, it is now on it's way to the UK to meet it's new owner) which displayed the boots with their soulmate, the floral print. I'm glad you all like them, and thank you Crista for the morning entertainment!

4-23

These boots are currently a minor obsession of mine, even though Scott Schumann recently tarnished the name of the midcalf boot (Sart! come to San Francisco!). Actually I didn't like that particular pair either but I think the style in general can work. There are more flattering styles out there but the nostalgia factor is rather heavy with this pair, since they remind me approximately 100% of a pair (by Esprit no less!) I had in middle school. Except my Esprit pair had sweet sweet hiking laces that went almost all the way down the toe so they sort of resembled mountain-friendly ice skates. What more could you ask for in a shoe? Well, perhaps a lot...my feet were on the receiving end of many a (befuddled?) stare on the street today. But my love will hold strong. And on the Esprit tangent, whatever happened to the arbiter of '90s hipness? I think my favorite days of my 7th grade era were when my mother would, albeit begrudgingly, agree to escort me and my fellow gangly friends to the Esprit outlet in San Francisco where we browsed fuzzy peach motif shirts, mildly inappropriate sundresses, and reversible leopard print purses for hours. Don't even get me started on that catalog, talk about sick obsession.

And is it just me, or do I need new clothes? I feel like I've been over-wearing a lot of pieces, maybe I just need to do that thing where I dig around for five minutes in my closet and find myriad items I completely forgot I owned. Though that just sounds like something that would lead me to try on odd outfits until inappropriately wee hours of the morning...I had to laugh when reader Greenlady asked me when I sleep since I always post so late at night and have to get so early to commute. Luckily I am a zombie that tries to fit as much into one day as possible. So the answer is..hardly ever.

BUT there are changes underway, and my company was kind enough to allow me to sort of morph my role, which will allow me to work remotely. This is huge, and means several things. Firstly, more Fashion Toast and Treasure Chest Vintage action. Second, I will have time to do things like slumber and get haircuts. And third, I won't necessarily be bound to the Bay Area. Palm trees are starting to sound good again...

Jacket, Union Bay (yay '90s again!). Skirt, made by Camille. Belt, vintage. T, Urbn. Bag, Marc Jacobs. Boots, vintage.

Cause don't we all want to be rock'n roll royalty?

Source: foto decadent

Insert vest

This vest is ripe with potential, I think, even though it's kind of hokey. I must mull over more options.

Vest, vintage. Dress, Forever21. Heels, Kors Michael Kors. Hat, Urban Outfitters men's. Bracelets, vintage.

On the newsfront

I am so incognito here. This is what I wore yesterday actually, and it is quite a Monday look - all black (well and navy...and leopard print...ok never mind) and moccasin boots for comfort. Though my newest Starbucks barista friend is now calling me "fashion girl" based on this, even though I was wearing a trapper hat when I encountered him this morning. Quite embarrassing.

And I will just note - SO difficult to try to downsize to a clutch for the day. I'm pretty sure I was entertaining my fellow public transporters as I frantically tried to jam my Gwyn Vogue and largish green apple into it at the end of our ride. But more notably, I saw someone steal a lady's purse on the street! All these shop security guards and burly men started chasing the miscreant and he was caught a block down (a YOUNG boy, all surly looking...but I guess anyone would be surly when handcuffed to a stoplight), but perhaps purses with straps are in fact a better idea! Crazy city.

While I'm rambling and working on this next week's auctions (going up tomorrow!), are there any requests for the store? I mean, not really specific or anything, but anything you'd like to see more of - accessories, sundresses, jackets? Would love to hear your input. By the way, the COOLEST high waisted leather ruffle miniskirt coming your way.





But you know I really wanted to wear my MJs:



Blazer, Ralph Lauren. Dress, American Apparel. Scarf, H&M. Boots, Minnetonka. Necklace (it's actually all one) and clutch, vintage. Leather gloves, Target.

I heart Monica

You can imagine my initial confusion and then inner shriek of delight when I opened an email today from the lovely Monica of Miss at la Playa containing the subsequent images. I have loved her blog for a long time, actually since far before I started my own, it's always such a pleasure to see what amazing photos she's gathered and collages she's artfully arranged and I highly highly appreciate the English translations she makes sure to include (I did go up to Spanish 5 AP in high school but now I can only practice when ordering tacos, sad!). Plus we seem to share a love for all things Zooey, Clémence, and Gemma. I highly recommend a visit, you could easily lose an hour gazing at her amazing posts.

Being that En Vogue is my absolute favorite French Vogue feature (well alongside Une Fille Un Style), I was so honored to have her think it appropriate to do one for me, though I feel quite not cool enough for such a thing, it's sort of a surreal sight! It's also fun to see my style through someone else's eyes, I love the extra accessories she chose for me and would lovingly wear every last one, most notably the YSL star heels!

Entonces muchas gracias Monica, por hacer estas imágenes, eres la más dulce! xoxo

Right in the wreckage

How we entertained ourselves with a tripod all weekend, since we decided not to drink so that each moment would be clearer....after taking care of the vintage shots for the store, we took a five minute drive to the back of what used to be a bustling shopping complex and is now a desolate and pretty creepy ruinous mess. Although I've been wanting to shoot there for a while now, I never imagined there would be such background treasures as warped weedy fencing, a pulverized television, and exposed generators, or whatever those are. We considered claiming that we sacrificed a TV ourselves to set the mood but have decided against such inveracity lest people think us insane, which you probably will anyway for spending our Sunday thus. One advantage to living in suburbia is stumbling across odd scenes like this...a few years ago I was hiking around in the hills and came across a printer that looked like it had been clubbed to death...Office Space much? Suburbs = weird pent up bitterness/rage.

But as you can see we had quite a bit of fun with this looking as obnoxious as possible. My boyfriend would like to note that he doesn't wear the same jeans all the time but due to having a drink (cranberry-inclusive, even!) spilled on him in the airplane, was forced to wear one pair (I meant to wash them for him but kept on forgetting), lamenting that "I have such a fashionista girlfriend and I wear the same pants every day" - I have somehow managed to forgive him for this so perhaps you will too.

Hope you enjoy these as much as we did taking them :)

Dress, FCUK. Blazer, Ralph Lauren. Heels, sunglasses, hat, and socks, Forever21. Bag, vintage Anne Klein.

The wind in the weeds

Jacket, vintage. Dress, Lux. Boots, Jessica Simpson and vintage. Sunglasses, Ray-ban. Bag, Lucky.

Saturday morning

Flannel shirt, secondhand. Tank, American Apparel. Shorts, H&M (last summer). Heels, Nine West. Bag, Lucky. Jewelry, vintage.

Current inspiration

All pics, TFS

Neglect to satisfaction

I love it when I end up wearing something that ends up being really weather appropriate for the day, it's hard to tell what would be best with this microclimate business.

I received these Aldo heels at the beginning of the month and was sort of perplexed in regards to them. I loved the idea, and especially how they look from the back, but my warped mind found the heel to not be high enough. I know, it's sick. I also think this dress is really long, if that gives you any idea what kind of dementia I am now suffering from. So I tossed them in a room downstairs in a rather cruel manner, to decide their fate at a later point, while showering the other heels from the same order with inordinate amounts of attention. However, this morning I decided in a rush while leaving the house (alllmost didn't even have time to make my peanut butter and honey sandwich, so frenzied was I) that these felt right and I would officially break them in. I mean, it's probably good to have a couple pairs of heels that aren't cripplingly high on hand for prolonged wear sessions, right?

I must say I was quite pleased with them and found them extremely comfortable, probably since I am used to that higher inch-age. A happy ending to a trite tale.

Dress, Topshop. Jacket, H&M. Heels, Aldo. Sunglasses and hat, Forever21. Bag, Anna Corinna.

I so heart Ruby Aldridge

From Jalouse March 08, scanned by cadg at TFS

Must be dreaming

Umm I can't believe it either. Only fellow Teen Vogue obsessives could possibly understand the shock and ongoing heart palpitations that began when their online editorial assistant emailed me, saying that they were "huge fans of my site and style" - what?!?! Teen Vogue or at least some of it's brilliant employees, know who I am?!! The mind boggles.

I am such a hardcore Teen Vogue lover that I have found it impossible to throw any of the issues I've gathered away since the Jessica Simpson/Nick Lachey cover because that would be demonic sacrilege. So you see why I have no closet space left for my clothes. But anyway, I fell in love immediately with the high-low styling and very different take on teen magazines it took..did anyone actually read those "embarrassing" YM stories..who on earth were the girls writing in with them? I don't care if you had chicken stuck in your teeth when your crush kissed you! Well I guess I did read a couple then, but still. I remember in particular a profile on Jeisa Chiminazzo and Isabeli Fontana that followed them around in their perfect model lives that made me fall in love with them immediately and a story on denim featuring Karolina Kurkova in tie dyed jeans before I knew who she was. I should really look into scanning the thing..if my scanner still functions that is. Oh, and in search of the 2000 cover photo, I found this amazing website that archives information on a good number of magazines..fun stuff. I'll never forget the Helena Christensen-photographed debut of Nylon either.

If you want to read Anna Wintour's intro letter for that first issue and how it was inspired by Bee (and you do), click forth. She even acknowledges such mundanities as braces and blemishes. Oh, to be a teen.

Well anyway, thank you to Naomi and co. (if you really do read this!), Teen Vogue is one of my biggest inspirations.

Click on the pic above for the full interview.

Crossing the denim line...

Today, I did something that I probably should be disgusted at myself for, but I'm kind of not . Yes, I mixed denims. Denim on denim. Pseudo-Texas Tuxedo. I should probably be stoned with Crocs and fanny packs for this one but it was kind of awesome. And fanny packs are sweet anyway.

A. Olsen definitely paved the way. This is sort of a Version 2.0 of this outfit from last month.

Pared down.. -







Plus that perpetual essential, the leather jacket - and to reader catpower, this should fulfill your request :) -





Mid-adjustment of cuff..it's always so surprising to see photos of one's hair in natural light, no? -





The final touch..my vintage fringe scarf..and, man, I never realized how unflattering cuffing your jeans can be till I looked at these photos..I mean I still like the look in a don't-want-to-flatter-myself anyway sense..but jeez -







These jeans are one of my favorite pairs I own, I got them at Uniqlo in Tokyo a couple years ago. I had been shopping in the Ginza all afternoon while my mom met with some random people and after browsing designer outposts far too expensive for my blood (one of the coolest Chanel stores I've been to..well Honolulu is alright too..but one shiny department store was selling the MJ Stam for more than double what it is here, insaaane) I had to enter basics heaven ie. Uniqlo so I could dispense some cash and regain my sense of consumer worth. Is it weird that I remember exactly what I purchased? These jeans, a black trench, and a high waisted tulip skirt. The jeans have definitely gotten the most use, my only complaint being that the waistband stretches out after a couple hours of wear and totally needs a belt, most ideally a loud fierce tranny one with metal crap all over it. Must add that to the wishscroll. End ramble.

Denim shirt, secondhand Eddie Bauer (HA!). Jacket, Forever21. Jeans, Uniqlo. Wedges, Kors. Sunglasses, Rayban. Bag, Anna Corinna.

4-14

Monday work outfit:



Due to California's current schizophrenic state, I was back to bundling today, wearing my tan toggle coat over this even to shield large amounts of surprisingly arctic wind. The kind of wind that like..moves you around. Scary stuff. Cute storage shed, huh?

Dress and belt, vintage. Cardigan, randomly from Marshalls. Tights, H&M. Boots, Jessica Simpson. Bag, Balenciaga. Sunglasses, Forever21.

Too hot to think

Sunday was so full of business for the store I didn't have much time to think what I wanted to wear, instead focusing on shooting all the vintage, so just defaulted to another version of Saturday night's look. A little boring, but so easy. I totally relate to Lulu's ponderings on what a challenge it is to mix things up to yield something "fresh" every day. I've been feeling a tad bogged down by being so busy, but things are looking up since I have purchased what is now probably the single brightest thing I own...I'm guessing this is more of a hit in the UK thus far since it's almost all sold out on Asos:



Plus my love is visiting this weekend so better photos will be had!

T, Hanes little boy's. Bra and skirt, American Apparel. Heels, Aldo.

This week's auctions

Wow I sure have a lot of sunglasses. Here are this week's auctions, exciting items abound! This is only some of the items so be sure to take a look at the rest too. Everything from Chloe to Roberto Cavalli for H&M to perfect little floral grunge dresses and quite a selection of playsuits, from XS to L.