i was lost but not anymore

i'm not dead! but i did feel that way for a really long time and promptly abandoned this space for said really long time. (fyi i'm always available here, though.)

i'm choosing to forget most of the staid beigeness of no growth or inspiration that was last year, and (very) hesitantly but heartily welcome the new one. i'm all about the shiny newness... after the sheer laziness and thoughtlessness my sartorial choices had fallen victim to, i have to be!!

most of these words aren't really going to make much sense without a bit of context. in short, i job-jumped a bit for the latter half of last year, already being about 112% done with 2013. i was numb and had resigned to a kind of gloom i had not known before. i'm really more angry at myself for not even allowing this, my safe space, to not be safe anymore. 

and so, i rang in the new year on a mellow note and really just threw myself back into my japanese lessons full force. i regained my resolve to be fucking good and get back on track to chase the dream of working in tokyo. 

so that's it. 

right now as i'm getting all this out, i've regained all sorts of life. mostly thanks to the unwavering support of my dear creative soulmate who came all the way from new york to visit me in my third-world hell hole, and another bestie (also from uni) who i just met up with today... in tokyo. 

familiar sights, sounds, people, and that distinct euphoria that unfurls in my ribcage assures me of the realness of this moment. i feel like i've been fixed even though i didn't know that i was broken to begin with. i'm sure some of it has to do with my obsessive love for this place that lends itself to my weighty bias, but i really don't care. i feel how i feel. i don't know how the rest of this year will go, but i'm more determined than ever to not fall into the abyss as i did last year. fuck that; it's tiring and incredibly unproductive (the worst feeling imaginable).

my sight is clear again and all roads lead to tokyo.

東京、ただいま。
いつも、いつまでも、ここに帰るよ。

TOKYO RUNWAY☆

how do i begin to describe the pure, undiluted, girl-driven fashion fest that was 「TOKYO RUNWAY」。。。？

it was made by girls, for girls. completely and brilliantly unapologetically so. 

the event was held in yoyogi stadium on the 20th of march that ran for the whole day. it is open to the public, but tickets often sell out quickly online. i'm likely to keep reiterating this, but this was FASHION FOR THE PEOPLE in its purest, pastel-coloured, candy-flavoured self. mothers were there with their daughters, there were groups of friends, couples, business partners - all were present and accounted for.

attendees were greeted with goodie bags from the various sponsors of the event, and additionally lured in with celebrities, idols and music acts. 

idol worship: Yumemi Nemu 「夢眠ねむ」 &  Mogami Moga「最上もが」

models as celebrities: ViVi model Lena Fujii

the runway shows, which were speedy, hefty, heady in their execution, the models are celebrities in their own right within this realm; they wink and smile and wave, all while perfectly coiffed - not a single hair or lash out of place. 

the brands that showed wholly embodied aesthetic singularity as a brand strength. the cuter brands dripped with saccharine sweetness and the edgier ones with airy, trendy confidence. as the brands were the point of the entire display, the clothes were almost like costumes as the models cast for each brand showing took centre-stage. each niche was clear and the audience responded appropriately. guest models from China and Thailand were also on the roster. their look and feel were so similar to the local girls' that the shared aesthetic allowed for a seamless, cohesive show.

"Once you have reached your audience in Japan, you don't need anyone else."

"Don't feel sorry for their lack of international presence, the girls and designers can live off the love they get from those at home!"

it still rings true; the devotion and excitement in the air in the stadium was positively intoxicating. 

east in the east

please be considerate of others.

can't you tell i love everything about this poster?

i wish these were everywhere in my current part of the planet...

anyway, i happened to be in 東京 during Japan Fashion Week. by some ridiculous measure of a rather new friend's generosity, i managed to catch a few shows while i was there!! Vivienne Tam was the featured international designer this season, and it proved to be quite the experience.

「　SAVELOVEGIVE　」

from the entrance to the interior, everything was quite aptly drenched in red light. Vivienne Tam's signature is an often seamless play between modernity and antiquity as reflected in her Chinese sensibilities. everything was impressively cohesive; from the projected graphics on loop to the music choices and lighting.

sidenote: plenty of beautiful fashion kids who take selfies that of course turn out gorgeous because they are gorgeous people. the variation in conversation leaves plenty to be desired, but the anxious maelstrom churning inside my chest cavity at the time calmed a bit when my ears picked up on conversations taking place in a colloquial mix of English and 日本語。

the audience absolutely lost it at the sight of 冨永 愛 「Tominaga Ai」- who is arguably the most famous supermodel export out of Japan, and with good reason. she is neither of flirty winks and cheeky grins akin to Victoria's Secret Angels. instead, her aura is strong, silent and incredibly cool. メッチャカッコイインだ。

the show opened with purposefully worked, feminine sportswear. the palette was an exercise in restraint, in shades of rich scarlet and tangerine accented with sharp black and white. abstract, marble-like prints appeared to originate from Vivienne's own handwriting. the pieces were easy to love - an easy balance of clean, tailored lines, print, and chic proportions. 

the collection took a decidedly almost military turn; the prints faded away to black, displaying only the sumptuousness of the fabrics and ease of tailoring. stunning, painstakingly handcrafted pieces des resistance finished up the show. displaying a mastery of fabric combination, cutouts (that seem to originate from Chinese characters) as well as tailoring, the stark contrast of red, black and white only serve as emphasis. 

overall, however, the collection was held together with a very chic punk feeling. the models strut down the U-turn runway with quiet confidence that radiated with even quieter rebellion. the clothes, however ladylike they felt, did not ever fall into saccharine. the shapes helped to reflect this balance of opposites, calling on traditional pencil silhouettes juxtaposed against oversized outerwear which would look far more at home on the streets than in a fine restaurant.

おめでとう、Vivienneさん！このコレクッションはほんとうにきれいだ。

there and back again

i've returned from my soul's motherland, and i will say i'm more than a bit sad about it.

i am truly apologetic for the delay (to the two of you who actually read this blog, haha). 
the landing back down to stone cold, so-called "real life" was a bit of a process.

but what tales i have! i was determined to make this trip as different as possible from my previous ones, and i daresay i was semi-successful! i wandered through many a backstreet, got to know a few new faces and hopefully, gained some new experiences that add dimension to old ones. of course, nostalgia will sometimes prevail and did lure me to more familiar spots.

the packing process was a meticulous, purposeful one. 

this is because 東京 is a fashion city in the extreme. Japan itself as a whole is a country whose aesthetics are integrated into every facet of living, and fashion is no exception. the stylish and fashionable far outweigh the ones who are not within the city of Tōkyō, and it drives me to pack (and therefore, dress) appropriately. 

the process that started at 2AM and did not end for two more hours. good life choices, obviously.

東京タワー「Tokyo Tower」at midnight. i'm pretty sure i teared up at the sight.

i arrived late at night, but before i promptly passed out after a quick shower in my hotel room's high-tech bathroom, i couldn't resist buying a bottle of water from the downstairs vending machine first. there's no real point to the anecdote, i was just overwhelmingly excited to be able to do so.

the next morning, 原宿「Harajuku」was singing its siren song, so there was the start of my epic week.

LAFORET is my Mecca. 

nowhere else in the world can compete with the bounding, positively thrumming levels of youthful, carefree creativity that this place emits to me. each brand that lives there do not only separate spaces. they create completely individual, unique little worlds through intensive visual merchandizing and branding with conviction that merrily wanders into the extreme end of the retail spectrum... with spectacular results.

in fact, this can be said of the standalone brick-and-mortar retail spaces in 原宿 altogether. 

it's positively fashion Disneyland!!

STUDIOUS is a relatively new fashion concept that effectively curates the very many local fashion brands who champion local manufacturing and craftsmanship, which i firmly believe is quite literally the best the world has to offer. the brands selected for the STUDIOUS umbrella are of course, impeccable, but commercial. 

by "sending out fashion items made in Tokyo or Japan to the world", did they mean it only had to be slim suits and remarkably petite womenswear? the accessories were wonderful, but i felt that the clothes did rather fall short of my expectations design-wise when i read about this store sometime late last year. 

LAD MUSICIAN: menswear stripped down to the barest minimum details, in both slim and billowing proportions that only really seem to look at home on painfully stylish Japanese men. i'd still wear it if i could.

one of the many unnamed storefronts in the hidden backstreets off 表参道「Omotesando」. i couldn't resist this one in particular not just because of the explosion of pastels and monochrome on the racks, which are abundant in this part of 原宿, but because two Spiderman toys were hanging out on their roof. also, きゃりぱみゅぱみゅ「Kyary Pamyu Pamyu」was blasting through the speakers. i can never resist.

i found the TOKYO BOPPER store, which proved to be most elusive in the past, was found by pure, wonderful accident this time around. i was really happy. TOKYOBOPPERは一番大好きの原宿ブランドから、私はめっちゃうれしんでした。ほんとうによかった。

not only did i manage to find and purchase my dream shoes, but the staff proved to be the coolest people i've met this trip. i even met the famous yama-san!! she was soft-spoken, remarkably polite and is practically the definition of effortless style for me. but in fact, i was overwhelmed by the simultaneous warmth and coolness in the store.  i left the store practically still shaking in disbelief. 

the TOKYO BOPPER staff: minami-san / shima-san / yama-san / nici-san

as if it weren't enough that my ultimate shopping goal had been met, in my wanderings i found some amazing second-hand/thrift stores that proved to be heavily reflective of the thriving vintage/second-hand shopping culture in 原宿。

this shop was highly curated and sold a lot of highly niche menswear brands; most notably WhiteMountaineering, visvim, NONNATIVE & PHENOMENON. street brands SUPREME & A BATHING APE were in abundant stock too.

RAGTAG is an immensely popular second-hand store whose size seems to reflect its success. where the previous store buys selectively, RAGTAG buys en masse. international and local brands mingle and are displayed with skill and an obvious knowledge of their customer base. they use a grading system that determines the price of each individual garment, but like most second-hand stores, RAGTAG does not do returns or refunds. 

i couldn't walk out without this perfect assymmetric Yohji Yamamoto knit!!

by this point, i was feeling pretty exhausted... off on a cafe search i went. i decided to explore the new Tokyu Plaza building that is now across LAFORET back on the main street along 表参道。i'm not even going to lie, the immense mirrored escalator-equipped entrance was a huge part of the reason why. 

how trippy and awesome is this???

girly snacks and girly magazines in a girly cafe is my kryptonite!!

needless to say, it was a ridiculously euphoric, cathartic first day in 東京。