Damsel in this Dress

Hey there!

I missed you guys. And I missed blogging.

  My elbows are glued to my sides because I am shrinking out of my clothes. Stupid stress. Lately I am so cranky. I will be better soon, though. \m/ -_-

  Tonight I stepped out a bit from my summer school panic and hand-waving freakoutery, as my dear friends Matt and Cathy treated me to dim sum, and then I was treated for my roommate's birthday dinner at a delicious restaurant, and amazing food was had by all.  Sometimes, watching a gorgeous display of wushu, or an amazing dancer, or eating food that makes me stare at it, incredulous, I'll say, "I am in the presence of a master."

  Should you get the chance to visit Coco500, get the squash blossom flatbread and the charred carrots salad and you may say it, too.

    I'm not sure about my choice of jacket now that I am looking at full length photos. Something about the 7/8 length sleeves combined with slightly longer than calf length dress isn't sitting right. I think it looks gangly- like my limbs are a little too long for everything I'm wearing. Gangly! There's an adjective I never thought I'd use to describe myself. :D
  I was really excited when I found this jacket, though. Any jacket I don't have to alter the sleeves on makes me excited.
  Maybe I'm just startled by a strong resemblance to my aunt in these pictures. The women on both sides of my family are smaller (though taller) than I am. I tell them it is the American diet*. Then I flex.

* Sarcasm, because my father, his sisters, and my grandmother were all born here, and my great-grandparents came they were 14 & 15**.

** Though on second thought, they all came of age before the era of fast food. As a child of a single parent, I had a diet reasonably high in pizza and fish burgers. :D Not complaining at all, just wondering if that played a role.

  Japanese-y print! I was so excited to find this on the thrift rack, some years ago. The ribbon around my waist is from a box of chocolates. A lot of times, when I am reading Sheila's blog, or Megan's, or Gracey's, I think, "Man, they have such awesome thrift finds." And then I scroll through my blog entries, and remember I have awesome thrift luck, too. It's always easier to overlook the gifts you've got. (;

  Low heels! I love low heels.

  Forgot to take photos with purse, because I almost never carry one. I usually carry everything around in a small sports backpack my friend Cathy bought for me 10 years ago. I sure like metallic blue, though. It looks like I skinned one of those aliens from the Avatar film and made a bag. (I do not actually support doing this.) I just realized the fortune cookie shape fits into the whole Asian outfit theme.

  Check out this awesome sketch from Megan Mae. It's me and Meghan from Cirque du Frock! So cool. I am super excited to be a sketch. Look how toned my arms are!

  I will leave you all with this strip from a web comic I just discovered, called Momga:

  Take care you guys, and remember that sleep is important!

Dress: Jaloux /zalu/ (thrifted)

Ribbon belt: Recchiuti chocolates box

Jacket: eci new york (thrifted)

Shoes: unlisted a Kenneth Cole production (thrifted)

Rhinestone button cord bracelet: unknown (old, The CAMP)

Bamboo earrings: CostPlus World Market (old)

Blue topaz ring: self-made

Metallic blue purse: Sorial Fortune Cookie hobo (Nordstrom, gift)

Casual Japanese Elements

  Casual day today. Trying to relax. So, jeans!

  This is my shirt shell with the most ridiculous sleeves to date. I dig it. I heart the chrysanthemums and Japanese-y traditional print, and I love the criminy out of the flowy bell sleeves. I didn't even have to alter them. They are wrist length for me. Love.
  I am adding a new label today: fire hazard. It will mark all of my impractical sleeves and anything that has dangly pieces of lace or string.

  Clearly with jeans and black shoes, a leather jacket is in order. Something about these three things together make me feel more confident and a little armored.

  Sushi jewelry is also in order. It's even American-style sushi, with California rolls! Japanese, American, and California, just like me.
  Trying out liquid eyeliner more lately. I avoided liner for a long time because I thought it was far too dark and had the unfortunate effect of making the wearer look sleep-deprived/angry/strung out. I've since realized that of course, you notice the things most when they are are too strong for your personal preference. When I apply the me-amount, I quite like it. And of course, there are always people who can rock eyeliner all day like it was made for them. Like this man:

  Hot damn. I hope your weeks are off to good starts. As always, thank you for stopping by.

Shirt shell: unknown (thrifted)

Underlayer : MNG basics (old)

Jeans: 7 For All Mankind (thrifted)

Blue leather jacket: Laundry by Shelli Segal (gift)

Shoes: Dansko (thrifted)

Sushi necklace & earrings: tatsuko- shop currently selling chiyogami. other sushi jewelry (old, etsy)

Plum, on the balcony, with the candlestick

  I don't think this one turned out.

  I've had this LUX blazer (thrifted) for a while, and I was going for another Ye Olde look because the cut reminded me a bit of a waistcoat, and maybe a bit of a bodice, with its wide collar opening. Also it has pockets. Important!

  I like the color and the material, but the fit is funny. It is very tight under the chest (so tight it's pulling the buttons askew, haha) and loose from there down.

  I went with the Bow & Arrow shirt I wore in my very first blog post, for its pearl buttons. I would like to try a slightly foofy shirt or one that buttons all the way up plus a cravat, but I own neither. I added a box of stuff* I'm on the lookout for at the bottom of my gadgets, like a reminder to myself.

* I can't title it "wishlist" because then I'd have to put "unicorn"

  I'm entertained by the ends of my shirt ties hanging out the back. It's like my jacket is pooping. Because I'm twelve.

  Overall, I think the pinstripes on my trousers are not very visible, and the 3/4 cuffs on the blazer look like I'm going to a board meeting rather than adventuring with brass goggle adorned rabble-rousers. A longer bustle/hobble skirt might go well with the blazer too, but alas, something I also don't have.

  I did take out my purse, though. I don't often use purses, but this is one of those items I always have people telling me is cute. It even came with a long crossbody strap thoughtfully tucked inside!

  Your thoughts, dear readers? Should I alter the buttons and store it back in my closet for some more months until I find some things it goes with? Do you ever get things you want to style but find you don't have the right items to go with it (closet orphans)? If so, what do you do?

Plum blazer: LUX (thrifted)

Pearl button shirt: Bow & Arrow (thrifted)

Pinstripe trousers: Banana Republic (thrifted)

Platform shoes: Candie's (thrifted)
Denim purse: Giudit (thrifted)

Necklace: H&M (Paris, very old)

Whatever the Weather

Whatever the weather we'll weather the storm!

And whether we waver in water or wetter

Wayfarers will gather wherever it's warm!

  Right, I think I've lost my mind.
  When I woke up in East Bay this morning, the weather was beautiful. Sunshine as I hadn't seen in weeks was streaming in the window. I packed up and headed home, into the fog bank, where even Daly Sad is getting a hint of light through the everpresent cloud layer. I am in a sundress type of mood.

  For someone who lives in the climate I do, I have a disturbing number of sundresses. I may have more sundresses than there are actual sunny days per year. I think I keep shopping for my dreams, rather than my everyday. It reminds me of my former roommate, who would sometimes wear shorts on principle, because it was summer, or as we like to call it, "summer."
  In deference to the weather, this one is fully lined, which adds some wind protection, while making it twice as much trouble to iron (which is why I didn't. >.>) I took the opportunity to add some layers and accessorize in a way that felt like me:

  I love these faux leather panel leggings. I got them last winter for warmth and they're actually more like stretch pants- they're a thick exercise pant material and of course fully opaque. Still, principles are principles, and leggings will be worn appropriately under skirts and dresses, never on their own. Someone has to fight the good fight.
  You can see in the side shot the pretty chiffon layer on the dress doesn't extend to the back. It's a plain knit material there. Unfortunately what you get with cheap dresses these days. Does seem odd to me the company would go through the trouble of this labor-intensive detailing and skimp on a panel of chiffon for the back.

  I got this necklace when I was a teenager, and was quite taken with it. It came with a little scroll you could write on and tuck inside. Of course I have no way of finding out what I wrote, because since the capsule kept unscrewing and falling off, I glued the blasted thing shut and now I will never get it open again. Good job, 16 year-old me. Your secret is safe forever. 32 year-old you would like to have a little chat about skin care.

  Here is a shot with the fascinator, for Michelle:

  I thought the fascinator went really well with the dress, and somewhat less so with the biker leggings and jacket. Unsurprising. Maybe one of these days I will feel like a feminine pair of shoes and bare gams, and then we will see.

Dress: sylc camisa (eBay)

Faux leather leggings: unknown (eBay, various sizes available)

Boots: Naya Lark (old, eBay)

Denim biker jacket: Guess (thrifted)

Capsule necklace: very old (Sacramento)

Fascinator: Cara NY (Nordstrom, old)

This one is for Mom

  A quick midweek post because I miss blogging and because I didn't have lab today. (YAY NO LAB)

  I was perusing eBay when I came across a skirt that simultaneously captures my delight and everything my mother could hate in a garment, ever:

  I've never had an antagonistic relationship with my mom, so you may wonder why I go into a paroxysm of belly laughs every time I see clothes she would hate, and I think the reason is that a person from Japan being aghast is about the funniest thing I've ever seen.

  It starts with a very blank look, followed by an eyeblink, then a gentle distressed cry of "Nooooo. Aya! Nooo. aaaaaaaaaa" with subcurrent of 'why do you like these things? what did I do wrong? is it my fault?' I'm pretty sure this is the exact sound she made when I cut my own hair at age eight.

  Then I roll around on the ground laughing for several minutes, hug her, and reassure her I will never wear the skirt in front of her again. But really, if she keeps doing this hilarious thing, she is reinforcing the wrong behaviors because I want more skirts that look like this.

  I've started a new tag for my posts in honor of this moment: 'Mom hates this' and it will mark all of my long ragged-hem boho skirts. :D I love you, Mom!

  Also I think I genuinely love this skirt, despite my boyfriend reporting that it is hideous and the hippie homeless vibe makes his face hurt. Every now and again I think we all have items of clothing where we're like, "Yeah!" and our friends are like, "No." and we're like, "Yeah! :D" and our friends are like, "... whatever makes you happy. (weirdo)"

  What is your special item?

  And there's a whole line of 'em! (eBay link, the sizes appear to top out at XL, but I'm not sure which sizes are available for which items.)

Edited to add: Hot damn, there is a shirt! Not that I'd wear the two of them together. I apologize for the mannequin's lack of decency. She just refuses to understand these things.

OzzOn Outfit

  I miss sleep.

  Evidently my clothes also miss the iron.

   Many Japanese brands make their clothes in one size, a Japanese M, so there are clever things like stretch fabrics and laces on the skirt to adjust a little either way.
  I don't often do matchy, but these pieces are really difficult to style with other things in my wardrobe, so I took the easy way.

  OzzOn uses the same fabrics, buttons, and piping to make their clothes I notice, just in different colors and in different garment designs. Saves on materials in bulk and make a coordinated "look" in all of their outfits of a house brand.

  Zippers in the front and back let you let it out to a fuller skirt or zip down for kick pleats/trousers look.

  Yay, my hair is under control today. Go Giovanni volumizer spray.

  I wore glitter eyeliner today because I love how the light catches it so you see shimmers in your peripheral vision. It's like a little personal sunlight. Also, it's sparkly. I am all about the sparkly makeup.

  I hope you all have a smooth and restful week.

Skirt and top: OzzOn Japan, Ozz Croce (Japan, old)

Brown Coat

  I don't know if it was Salazar's comment about beloved defunct show Firefly the other day, but today I felt like going for a little Ye Olde and a little Western in my outfit. It's my way of breaking up the jeans every day pattern and having something comfortable enough to get my car serviced and study all day in.

  Today's shirt thingy (Diesel, thrifted) is a tunic, I think, so I also wore my thrifted Diesel coat. If they're the same brand, they have to look good together, right? I think this also counts as mixing black and brown. I hear that's a style thing. Do my eyes plus hair also count?

  I had all the fun of a dramatic thigh slit without any of the stress of having a slab of my thigh hanging around in public. I love my quads more than anything, but the world is not ready for that much wushu power just yet.

 I also wore a big square scarf because when Diesel says xs, they are not messing around. I can only fasten two buttons of the coat. This tunic is also defies any attempt at covering bra straps. I'm starting to think these clothes are intended for lanky European models making duckfaces so they can cut glass with their cheekbones.

I did my best, but the coat was not fooled.

  I really liked these buttons and how it looked like I could adjust the strap length so as not to get armpit-garroted. Alas, the button holes below it are tiny and decorative. Easy fix with a seam ripper, though.

  Thank you guys for reading and blogging. It's my pick-me-up during the superlong days of chemistry all week. :D

Coat and tunic: Diesel (both thrifted)

Pinstripe trousers: Gap (thrifted)

Platform shoes: Candie's (thrifted)

Sage wrap bracelet: Foxy Originals (item link)
Scarf: H&M (old)