Pinky Dinky Do

Happy Friday, everyone. MOAR PINK. Here are Favourite Joe (thanks for the title, Curtise!) and I after the Fillmore Jazz Festival:

Aya: 

Hoodie tank top: Skinny Minnie (defunct online shop)

Skirt: KOMMOTiON NY (eBay)

Blazer: Heart Moon Star (thrifted)

Joe:

Flatcap: Goorin Bros. (sample sale)

Mr. Bump t-shirt: UNIQLO (retail)

Green skinny jeans: UNIQLO (retail)

It was above 80F in Millbrae that day with full sunshine, so when we prepared to go to the jazz festival in San Francisco, I foolishly assumed it would be okay to wear light summer clothing.

Tee hee, I'm dumb. It was windy, overcast, and after a few hours it started raining. I guiltily announced I knew of a nearby thrift store and shuffled in there to buy another jacket. (It's gotten a little out of control. The closet is full, so I have a double jacket rack in my bedroom, now. And I love them aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllll)

I found this lovely pink velour blazer by Heart Moon Star, the same brand that makes my beloved sundress! I really like it. It has a little princess sleeve puffing on the shoulders, it fits beautifully (might move the top button over a quarter inch) and somehow, the sleeves are the correct length.

This brand's fit model is my build. I am definitely keeping an eye out for it, now.

FJ found this t-shirt during a UNIQLO trip to find green jeans. (He live calls soccer games, and the school's colors are green and white.) They only had the shirt in Large, so I finally plugged in my sewing machine and took it in. I was grateful for the impetus! I've also taken to calling him Dr. Bump.

We had a great time at the jazz festival. There were 3 stages set up with various musicians going on all day. They taped sheets of astroturf to the street for picnic style seating. :D

We watched the most awesome elderly frontwoman singing and interacting with the crowd.With a fraction of her confidence and powerful attitude, I feel I could get so far in life. Maybe I can grow up to be like her.

The ethnic breakdown of the attendees interested me. Black folks there looked to be in their 60s-70s, Asian Americans in the 40s and 50s, and white folks of 20s-30s. I wondered if it reflected the changing demographic of the Fillmore neighborhood, because 1) there was a changeover of the Japantown area when the Japanese Americans were interned during WWII, and again when they got out, 2) the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake prompted demolition of a section of freeway that used to divide the Hayes Valley neighborhood from the Van Ness/Civic Center neighborhood, and 3) the large numbers of people moving into the city who are young and in tech. SF is changing so fast.

My brother thinks the attendance reflects the demographics of who listens to jazz music in each age group. Maybe we're both right.

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Thank you for your lovely comments after the last post. I thought this place would be empty after I'd been gone for so long. Instead I got welcoming comments and helpful commentary! (I really do appreciate it, by the way. No worries about being rude; we're all friends here and if you think something doesn't work, I love hearing about it.)

Tripp Through Your Wires

Weather is warm enough for skirts, too cool to go without a jacket. I can dig it.

Military jacket: Tripp NYC (thrifted)

Skirt: KOMMOTiON NY (eBay, size M available)

Triple scarf: OzzOn Japan (Japan)

Shoes: Rieker Antistress (thrifted)

 Origami Earrings: fake Anthropologie (eBay)

I find military jackets plus floaty skirts so appealing. Or maybe it's just that I like those two things so I smash them together into outfits.

I found the jacket at a thrift store my friend Cathy took me to in Huntington Beach. It's the light cotton type that I completely jettisoned from my wardrobe when I moved to SF. I used to wear them all the time when I lived down here over a decade ago.

The brand Tripp NYC appears to be a goth/punk brand. Big shock that I ended up with it, haha. My friend actually found it. She pulled it from the rack after just seeing the sleeve because she figured it would be my style. I am consistent. :D

There was an awesome cropped bomber jacket there too, but when I zipped it up I garroted myself in the armpits and couldn't lift my arms, so I had to let it go. -_-

I was worried that when I got down here I wouldn't have any place to go shopping, but it's looking like that won't be the case, after all. (:

Who can resist a handkerchief hem? Certainly not I.

Twirly action!

Do you ever combine contrasting or seemingly disparate styles into an outfit?

Tiki Party

  Tiki, as it turns out, is the name of the large carved humanoid figures found in Polynesian cultures. The Austronesian people are a larger ancestral group that include the Polynesian peoples of New Zealand and Hawai'i, as well as the Taiwanese aborigines.  As a descendant of the Hoklo tribe in Taiwan, chances are better than not that I have some aboriginal ancestry.

  This last weekend, some lovely friends of mine threw a Tiki party. It was a chance for me to get out of the apartment and look at something that wasn't a chemistry problem for a few hours, as they are exceedingly generous hosts with great taste in food and fine interesting friends to meet.

  And then, and mark this well, friends, I said something that I very rarely say: "Aw crap, I have nothing to wear." I own nothing I would consider "tropical" in appearance. I bundle myself up in vaguely military or Ye Olde style clothes with random extra buckles and stitching. It was time to go digging. Here is what I found:

I also found out light outfits cannot photograph worth a damn outdoors.

    I wore the skirt I last wore when participating in Style Imitating Art. I hope the outfits don't look too similar. I guess that's the risk you run with light colors and a big white skirt. I also wore a tank top under a handkerchief ...shirt(?) I bought several years ago in Paris.

  I bought this thing because it was 110°F (43°C) almost every day when we were there, the sun was up for 12 hours a day, and we were out walking in it most of the time. I wore it with a pseudo-bra made of a plain bathing suit top tied together with the strings and I felt slightly less like passing out of heat exhaustion. Meantime, Parisian ladies would be dressed in nice suit jackets sipping steaming coffee in the sun. (What is this I don't even)

  I have of course never worn this shirt out in the States because 1) hypothermia and 2) getting approached by strange men. Speaking of hypothermia, even though it was quite reasonable for SF, this outfit would not keep me warm by itself, leading me to wonder: what do Hawai'ians wear when it's cold?*

  I hoped my accessories would make up for my lack of tropical wear:

I'm annoyed the focal length didn't turn out right. The shortcomings of a point and shoot.

  I bought the makau when I was in Hawai'i several years ago. I didn't think anything could live up to the giant hype of the most perfect weather and landscape, but it did. Hawai'i really is that beautiful. I was impressed. I also felt like a ninja because people would walk up to me and ask me for directions, or shopkeepers would ask if I was native. :D

  I was big into semiprecious stone jewelry when I was a kid, and I still have a few pieces.

  I also wore my much loved Eastland Lagoon sandals.

  I should do a wide shoe review to focus on them some time. I've trekked all over Paris and Taiwan in these and they're fantastic.

* Hahaha! Trick question.

Skirt: KOMMOTiON NY (eBay)

Shirt: FRANGI (Paris)

Makau: Hawai'i

Bracelets: v. old gifts

Sandals: Eastland Lagoon Sandals (DSW)

Style Imitating Art: Illumination

  There is sunlight today, so I got to try Salazar and Jess's Style Imitating Art! (I've been looking forward to this for weeks.) Their blogs are Animated Cardigan and 14 Shades of Grey, respectively. Thanks to Gracey from Fashion for Giants for posting about it.

  Each week a piece of art is selected, and participants can send in photos of ensembles inspired by the artwork. Salazar and Jess post them up on their blogs.  This week's inspiration is Colette Calascione's "Illumination" :

  Spring seems to traditionally be about florals, something I have traditionally not worn. I have plenty of things with flowers on them though, which is pretty much the same thing, right?  I love the color range used here so much. I don't like bright colors (... or prints. or patterns. or symmetry.) for some reason, and the level of saturation and brightness in the painting felt so on for my wardrobe.

  I also liked the way the painting had her makeup done, because it's pretty similar to how I do mine every day. I tried to replicate it with Wamiles pearl pink base color, and The Body Shop's pressed face powder, brown eyeliner, & lipstick #22 (Garnet). I tried to part my hair in the middle too, but it was having none of that.

  It's strange; I do not like white clothing except when it's sunny out, and then all I want to do is wear floaty white skirts and shirts. It's not in the nude, but I think it's a spiritual equivalent- I love it when I can wear light, flowing clothes and feel the breeze against my skin. Rare occasion indeed in Daly City!

  I wore my favorite long summer skirt and a shirt I've had for years but never worn. It was $4 and it made me feel like a fairy princess (bought it!) but is transparent at the midriff (can't wear it outside!) I got up the guts to wear it out to take photos though, because hey, the painting gal ain't worried, and she's nude. I'm thinking I will make a separate colored layer to wear under it that will help highlight the lace and subtle sequins. Both items have flowers in the fabric design.

  I'm wearing one of my favorite necklaces again, a bead and flower confection from Printemps in Tokyo. Wearing it always brings back memories. The earrings are a new thrift find from last weekend. I'm excited at how well they matched the floral arrangements flanking the model's head.

  This was really fun. Thanks to Salazar and Jess for coming up with this idea and to Gracey for introducing it to me; I had a blast participating, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's styles June 3rd!

P.S. If anyone's wondering what my process is for earrings, it's cleaning with Claire's antiseptic, followed by distilled vinegar if I want to polish the metal, followed by alcohol. No ear poisoning so far! *crosses fingers*

Shirt: True Light U.S.A. (thrifted)

Skirt: KOMMOTiON NY (eBay)

Necklace: unknown (Printemps, Tokyo)

Earrings: unknown (thrifted)

Rings: unknown (gold flowers-Brasil, lab emerald-gift)
Shoes: Rieker antistress (thrifted)