Out for Dinner

Do I look unusually florid here? I'm either tanning during my morning scoots to the train station or I need to learn color balance in PS. Or paint that wall.

wait, I figured it out:

Pro!

 Kimono shirt shell: Forever 21 (thrifted)

Jeans: 7 for all Mankind (gift from brother)

Platforms: Candie's (thrifted)

Necklace: family crest (inherited)

Damascene bracelet: eBay

Stepped out for dinner with a dear friend I hadn't seen since I moved back up. Finally wore the shirt shell I thrifted last year when I was visiting for one of Favourite Joe's shows. There's a lot of yellow and bright teal in it, so I was unable to figure out an underlayer until I bought this goldenrod tank top I posted about last month.

This whole 'color' thing is opening up all sorts of new frontiers!

Good to see this outfit looks nice and not over-the-top "HI DID I MENTION MY ANCESTORS CAME FROM JAPAN"

OzzOn, not dozin'

Hey, did you know that cold brewing tea doesn't really lower caffeine content? It's 5 am and I learned this four sleepless hours ago.

Well, there's always blogging. Behold, the most leg I will ever show on this blog:

Dress: OzzOn Japan, Ozz Oneste (secondhand, Japan)

Platform sandals: BonSens (borrowed from Mom)

What are the rules on repeating outfits? I love (LOVE) this OzzOn Asian style punk dress and I certainly plan to wear it more than once, but I featured it on the blog back when I got it in December. In fact, that post got the Sal bump from Already Pretty, which is always a huge exciting honor, so it's at the top of my blog's popular posts, probably forever.

I wanted to take pictures with more even lighting though, and without an underskirt (I wore exercise shorts, instead.)

Here are the original photos of the dress I found randomly on the Internet. I was super fortunate to find it (sans gloves) a year later on a Japanese auction site, and my mother bought it for me and had it sent to my grandmother's in Japan.

Sheila brought up that if I can't wear it without something under it, it's more of a tunic. I think it's meant to be a dress, with the caveat that the diagonal zipper has two heads, so you can wear it closed or open wherever you like, and there are some very risky spots that I'm convinced upsell matching leggings or something.

I didn't wear this out, and when I do I'll definitely be wearing leggings, a skirt, or some shorts longer than these under it. Behold, alarming dress areas:

Still, if this isn't the climate to experiment with wearing inappropriately breezy jagged skirts, what is? Also, I gotta find a jacket for this thing. Something mostly plain with structured lines in black, I think. Thoughts?

Sundress Success Unless... ?

SoCal weather! I had almost forgotten about you in my decade away.

Dress: Heart Moon Star (thrifted)

Gee Whiz Sandals: Eastland

It was warm the day I took these, which is good, because no piece of outerwear I own goes with this dress. None. And I have a "Holy crap you have a lot of jackets" type of closet. I think it's because it needs a cropped or bolero cut jacket, and while I love those, they are difficult to find.

I mentioned thrifting this dress for <$3 back in November, after taking the GREs. Now I'm in the climate to wear it!

I took photos from different angles to give me an idea of how the dress's cut and length suit me. I know halters are probably not the best cut for broad shoulders, and I'm unsure about where the hem hits (maybe it depends on the shoes?) but by gum this dress is insanely comfortable. It skims my body without squeezing or clamping or cutting in anywhere. And the print looks Japanese-y!

Also, I've been trying to figure out what constitutes 'feminine' posture or body language in my mind. I feel my body language in photos is more like "Yarr!" and "HEY." Too much stance training? Tuck the chin down? Maybe I should practice in the mirror.

Back in Mostly Black

We had a burst of weather that was surprisingly San Francisco-y, but I was determined to wear a short skirt:

Why live in Southern CA if I can't wear the things I couldn't wear in all my years in SF? :D Well, I guess the much better Japanese food is a good argument, too. (the ramen in SF sucks)

Japanese print skirt: ecoté (Urban Outfitters) size 6 on eBay

Over the knee boots: Ros Hommerson (6pm.com, gift from Dad)
Cardigan: Candie's (thrifted)
Fan necklace: Joan Rivers (thrifted)

I love this Japanese-style print skirt. I bought it several years ago for on super sale, and I still haven't figured out what to wear it with besides all black or a plain teal shirt. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

Wide shoe review (review and link not sponsored)

The over the knee Topic boots are WW width from Ros Hommerson, but they come in regular width and wide calf as well. I often have problems with my feet floating in extra wide shoes, because while mine are wide along the x axis at the toes, they're not on the y axis (up and down). Add small ankles and bony heels, and you get shoes that fit at the sides of the feet but that are too roomy everywhere else.

These aren't too bad. They're too big at the instep and ankle, but up at the toes they are fitted enough that my foot isn't floating free.  A set of heel gel inserts to boost my heels a little made the fit much better.

And of course, they are massively marked down and they can fold down or go over the knee. Love.

Personal stuff:

Low brightness florals

  Evidently I don't eschew all florals for myself, just bright, busy ones. :D As it turns out, low brightness ones that look kind of Asian make me go "Ooh!"

Shirt shell: handmade (thrifted)

Black underdress: H&M (thrifted)

Mermaid chambray skirt: Bebe (thrifted)

Pendant: handmade (old)

Platform boots: ALDO (thrifted)

  There's a little bit of tiny old Asian lady going on, so I'm going to add some darts to shape the garment better. It appears to be handmade!

  It actually reminds me of this shell I was staring at the other day, only for 1/15th the price.

(Garment is available here)

  This is what I was wearing underneath:

  The buttons have figure-eight loops so they sit side by side down the front! I was very charmed. Almost as charmed by how it doesn't breathe at all so it keeps me warm. Even if I have to wash it immediately after one wearing. >.>

  I am digging this mermaid style skirt, found after I'd been searching for a year. What do you wear for footwear with one? I went with boots, because I always wear boots, but I'd like to know what you all think.

New shirt shell love

How sweet is this shirt??!

  This Spencer Alexis Asian-ish top is a gift from Megan Mae and my latest shirt shell. I spent the morning contemplating its details and I kept liking it more with every hour.

Top: Spencer Alexis (gift from Megan Mae)

Kanzashi hairpin: Megan Mae buttonflower

Under cami: Express

Skirt: Chico's (thrifted)

Boots: ALDO (thrifted)

  I'm trying to decide if this very outfit in another 40 years will make me blend as an old Asian lady, or not. I wore it over a contrasting color tank to show the cool bottom. It reminds me just a little bit of kesa- the shawl Japanese Buddhist monks wear draped over their necks.

  Nothing would do as a hair accessory but a Megan Mae buttonflower-as-kanzashi. I also figured out if I hug myself, I make a big heart. Do you see it?

  It somehow combines so many things I like (shirt shells, embroidery, mixed fabrics, AZNness) with pushing at my comfort zones (bold colors, pattern/print, brocade, embroidered pattern on top of another pattern.) I love it. I love it so much I was busy staring at it and thus the "Hm, I should tuck my hair back" and "Is that camera thing blinking?" looks in the photos up there.

  What's an item that pushed you a little out of your comfort zone? Does it have a story?

Taylored Fit

... 5 pairs of pants and every single skirt I own later, this is the best I got:

Asian-inspired vest: Ann Taylor (thrifted)

Beaded strapless top: Ann Taylor (thrifted, size 6P on eBay)

Embroidered trousers: Karen Millen (eBay)

Fan necklace: Joan Rivers (thrifted)

  Also, sorry about this weird spotlight business in these pictures. Some bizarre "sunlight" thing going on in the Bay Area. Happens every September. Whee!

  Swearing may not be seemly, but my internal name for this outfit is 'Augh this fucking shirt.'* It's a dark purple strapless Ann Taylor top with boning and beadwork. I thrifted it because I want to cut it down the front and make a cost-effective corset for Ye Olde outfit fun (and because it's too tight on top and loose at the bottom), but first I wanted to try styling it down for everyday wear.

* To be fair, many of my outfits are called this.

  It goes with nothing. Since it is structured and fitted, as well as formal-looking, I tried to pair it with loose/baggy things in opposing colors.

  I want to try it with a pair of loose legged trousers that cinch in above the ankle, but I donated my only pair of those years ago, after not finding anything to go on top of them. Today is not helping me squash my hoarder tendencies at all.

  Otherwise I kind of like how this Asian-ish outfit turned out. I found a golden fan necklace (Joan Rivers, thrifted) and I finally got to use these Karen Millen trousers after several years. I love the koi embroidery on them, but trying to alter them was a hair-pulling job and it took a long time for me to look at them without wincing. I'm glad I kept them (seriously, who else could they fit at this point?)  That silk vest is Asian-looking too, though I folded the heck out of it to keep the top from getting covered.. It's another one of the pieces on my long list of alterations I need to do.

  I'm working on a grey velour blazer now that will go with this top and make me look like a fancy toff. Unfortunately I don't have a skirt to go with it. Argh! I feel like I keep collecting pieces of a very elaborate large puzzle, and now it's slowly becoming clear which pieces I'm missing and what the picture is, but it sure has taken a lot of time and not a few clothes that didn't work out. -_-

  How did you all find your personal styles? Did you build them piece by piece, or did you find a brand that spoke to you? I read about minimalist wardrobes with fascination, because I cannot imagine doing such a thing. (:

  Please note that comments now let you get a ping if you want to know when you get a response! It's sometimes difficult for me to keep track of where I've left comments in the blogs I follow, so if you'd like to know if I reply to something you said, please tick the box! I like replying to comments. :D

East by South East

  Ariane at Style Sud-Est is doing a linkup with a Japanese-inspired theme and I was all, "I'm Japanese! I'm inspired!"
  I'm going to link this up to Patti's Visible Monday, as well.

Look, fire hazard sleeves! My favorite.

  This is my latest shirt shell from the thrift shop. It was like, "Look, (non gender-specific) bitch! FANS."

  and I was like, "Hells yeah." *reaches for shirt*

  I took one of the lovely button flowers Megan Mae gave me and used it as a kanzashi hairpin.

Kimono-style shirt shell: Zero Zero (thrifted)

Skirt: Express (thrifted)

Button flower: Megan Mae (gift!)

Laura sandals: Fitzwell (old)

Necklaces: gift from brother (Okinawa), rice necklace mall stand (very old)

  The only wee problem with the shirt: the way it's folded right now, I am a dead person. I'm going to have to take apart the ribbon under the bust and switch the fold to left over right. I am not at all superstitious, but I keep worrying a Japanese person will see me and be mortified. (haha!)

  It is SO HOT and sunny in the Bay Area right now! Of course by hot I mean it got to 85 the other day. I know all of you languishing in summer heat are staring daggers at me right now. I can feel them. Poik! Poik! Poik! Ow.

  I love this weather, though I can't spend a lot of time in direct sunlight because starting in my late twenties-early thirties, I started freckling instead of tanning evenly. NOW I know why fobby women shield themselves from the sun as if they were puddles.

  Last weekend in Sacramento, my friend got married in the California Automobile Museum. It was really cool! We could walk around and look at the exhibits in between the ceremony and reception, and there was Vic's ice cream for everyone. I never thought of myself as a car-lover (though I enjoyed working on them with my father growing up and in high school) but the collection there is amazing. There are interactive demos, old cars you can climb into and take pictures in, and free tours. I really loved it.

  I thought of Ally especially so I took some pictures of the classic cars. (click to enlarge and scroll)

  I hope all of your weekends are as gorgeous as mine. (: