Fashion

My friend Emily H. introduced me to The Pains of Being Pure at Heart a few years ago, but it wasn't until this past year that I got REALLY into them. It's no surprise really, with their mix of shoegaze and pop with lovelorn lyrics sung by a super adorable lady.


What I want to talk about today is their style. Closely fitted cardigans and blazers with button up shirts. Sweaters and tights and cute jumpers. OMG. Can't handle it.

What I like about their style is that it's not too frou frou or too ~I'm in a band.~ They're not trying too hard. They're just normal people who happen to also be a little more put together....and make great music.
And don't get me started on Peggy Wang's bangs. I adore them so much and hope to one day have that same hair (when I decide to grow out my hair again).

Dear Peggy, how do you get your hair to be so wavy yet manageable? TELL ME YOUR SECRETS.

Welcome to my first outfit post in Hong Kong. It's a lot more difficult than I expected to take pictures by myself. I feel even more ridiculous, mainly because I am trying to avoid people seeing what I'm doing with a camera + self-timer. Talk about awkward. Also, note how awkward I already am in that first picture. What up trying to survive the wind on the 40th floor of an apartment.
Anyway, this is one of the three dresses I have bought on my trip so far. It's lined inside, but you can't really see that. The sleeves are flowy, and I was particularly drawn to it because of it's mix of Stevie Nicks and Chloë Sevigny. I know, I need to stop talking about Ms. Sevigny...but I can't! The floral (Sevigny) mixed with the flowy hippy dippy of the dress' sleeves (Nicks) was just too difficult to resist.

sleeve detail
It's a little more than I usually would pay for a dress (I rarely go over $25 for a dress) but since this dress was imported from Korea, and the sales lady gave me 10% off, I just couldn't say no.

And to end my outfit post, the shoes I wore with it. I found myself some light brown loafers that will probably be all gross and broken by the time I come back...due to intense walking. Oh well. Check out the cute little heel though!

If only I brought my Doc Martens to wear with this dress!*

Living in sunny Southern California, you either love the beach or LOVE the beach. I am an outlier and am ambivalent towards the beach. The surfer bros, the hot hot sun, and the tanning...I'm just not a fan.
However the sea culture of Sai Kung in Hong Kong is a lot different. Sure, I didn't visit the beachy areas so I can't say for sure that it's not the same. But walking along the pier here, the smell of boats and motor oil overpowers the ocean smell.

Restaurants line the shoreline, selling the freshest seafood. Right by the sea, fishermen sell their leftover sea life to anyone who wants it. There isn't just the usual seafood of fish and shrimp. Here, you can get sea stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, eels, and creatures you have never seen before in your life.In addition, people can either rent boats to go to the nearby islands to play golf, swim, and do other summery touristy things.

I also saw a Dragonboat team practicing for the upcoming race and a few amateur photographers trying to capture the birds that fly lazily around Sai Kung.

So I mean, there aren't any surfer bros (windsurfer bros, maybe???) or intense sun and sunbathing. But, perhaps the beach culture is the same in terms of community, being in touch with nature, and living a very relaxed lifestyle. I can get behind that, at least.

As you wait (with bated breath, i'm assuming) for my first post in the fragrant harbour (Hong Kong), here are two pictures to tide you over until that happens.

As promised, here are two pictures of me and my friend, Kyle, in the elevator of the Renzo Piano designed Broad Contemporary Arts Museum I talked about here.

When I first started this blog ages ago, I was worried that it would just be too narcissistic or too pretentious. Like, OH MAN I'M SO ~FASHION FORWARD AND ARTSY~ Then I upload these crazy beans pictures and I realize this blog will never get too distant/something you can't relate to. I'm just too awkward and too silly a person to let that happen.
I also wrote that I saw Jamie Stewart at the Echo Curio after going to the LACMA. He (and David Horvitz) are trying to take a picture of everyone in attendance, in a sort of portrait. See if you can find me.

*edit* david made it easier to find me on the xiu blog (http://xiuxiu.org)

I have always thought wearing socks with sandals veered towards 1. touristy-looking; 2. lolita-esque.
My friend Katie T. pointed out that the model in the APC lookbook of my previous entry did it quite well and I would have to agree.
Chloë Sevigny was spotted at Coachella this weekend also sporting the socks with sandals look.
Thoughts on how she does it?

So yesterday, I went to the Los Angles County Museum of Art to check out the "Art of Two Wars/Cold War Cultures exhibit" before it leaves for the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nürnberg (May 23–September 6, 2009) and Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin (October 3, 2009–January 10, 2010). Being a super nerd (I took a lot of classes/wrote a lot of research papers on Berlin's architecture/art post-WWII-1989), I was super excited to see this and I'm glad I didn't procrastinate (well, I guess I did go on the second-to-last day) until it was too late. The art was good, although I was really expecting more from the 1940s...but alas.

The Renzo Piano designed-building where the exhibit was held (called the "Broad Contemporary Art Museum") was pretty rad, too. The huge elevator was an art piece in itself (Pictures soon!).
For those who have been to the LACMA, I'm sure you all recognize the Urban Lights installation outside of the LACMA. I thought it would be nice to do my fourth outfit post in this installation. I wish I got to see it at night, too, but I was in Echo Park watching Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu tearin' it up (an entry for that will be up soon--as soon as I develop my film).

Awkward poses are my forté, of course. Here I am doin' the running man.

fin.

I have been in love with Paris' Phoenix for quite some time now. The band has graced many movie soundtracks (Lost in Translation, Shallow Hal (lol)) and cameos (umm, Marie Antoinette) and are so good with making great, fun pop songs.

The other thing that is so great about them--and the relevance to this blog--is their fashion (OK, maybe it's also because Thomas Mars is married to Sofia Coppola).

Here is a short clip from SNL, lookin' like some English graduate students (the best kind of grad students?) performing "Too Young" at the end:

And their latest video for "Lisztomania"--all looking quite dapper:


I guess I'm just a sucker in lanky guys wearing well fitting jeans and leather shoes. And perfect jackets. And tousled hair. And...OK. You get the picture.

To finish, one more picture!:

But first, one thing I dislike:
calling last month to ask for the print edition yet still getting the digital edition this month. UGH. A little annoying because i would rather not zoom, wait for a page to load, and then scroll to read an article. plus, now I can't read it in bed!

But anyway, these are the three things I liked about this month's Nylon.
As always, click to expand!

1. Matthew Williamson for H&M (check out those Docs, ya'll):

2. St. Vincent (Annie Clark)--one of my girl crushes. Seriously, this gal can shred a guitar like nobody's business.

3. Dev Patel, whom I looooved in Skins. He's so adorable and eager and excited about everything!

It's probably a blogger faux pas to post the same shoes two posts out of three. It's not like I wear these shoes everyday! It just so happens that have motivation/time to take pictures and I happen to be wearing my Docs!

My roommate thinks there's too much of a contrast between my blouse (thanks Mom!) and dress and my T-U-F-F Docs but I thought it would look too "cute" if I opted for Mary Janes or something. Anyway, what do you guys think?

Went to Tustin/Orange with my friend Katie T. today and scoured two Goodwill stores. These stores were seriously the most organized Goodwills I have been to. All the clothes were of course organized by tops, bottoms, dresses, coats, etc. But the most fabulous thing was that everything (even the shoes!) were organized according to color.

I die. Basically. Here are two things I managed to get at the stores.
My roommate was like, "let me guess...did you buy a pair of shoes and a purse or something?" I'm sorry that I'm predictable and may have an addiction. It happens...

Designer Claire Greaves used to work for Topshop before she moved to Australia. Now she's back with her line "Maise." For Fall/Winter 2009, we are graced with her "Eerie Indiana" line, inspired by Hitchcock films.

The lookbook photos are all so amazing: ethereal and dreamy with a bedhead/sleepytime feel.

all photos courtesy of maise.

i love chloë sevigny. i think she is the bee's knees (that's still a phrase right? haha).

here she is, in all black and being as fierce and chic as she is. that gal can wear the ugliest, dumbest thing ever and she will still have everyone envy her.

all scans courtesy of stylerumor.com & the fashion spot.

I don't know why, but the last half a year has been dominated by my obsession with Paris in the 1960s: French new-wave films by way of Jean-Luc Godard and the like (and omg, Anna Karina! Chantal Goya! etc. etc.), Yé-yé (France Gall in particular), and the clothes. Oh man the clothes. You already know about my soft spot for shift dresses.
So it comes as no surprise that my own clothes would sort of reflect that. Obviously, I'm not going full out...just a few pieces here and there. In addition, my rabid love for the AMC show "Mad Men" (seriously, if you're not watching it, there's something very wrong with you) and the wardrobe in that show (both men and women) have influenced my shopping choices as of late.
Don Draper may have worn these shoes, right? hahha. I kid.

Also, I apologize for looking so uncomfortable and awkward in my outfit pictures. Something about "posing" with a self-timer just...smacks of too much effort. And I get restless/easily embarrased. You know the drill.

The last year and a half of my high school years were devoted to listening to a lot of New York bands, one of them being Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Imagine my glee when I found out a few weeks ago that they'd be performing on SNL this past weekend. I assumed they would play "Zero" off of "It's Blitz!" but for their second song...DUDE. THEY PLAYED MAPS. I was dying in front of my T.V. DYING.

David Pajo (Tortoise) on keyboards, leavin' the guitar shredding to Nick Zinner. Yay!

*edited* Lame! NBC took down the videos.

Instead here are some pictures of Karen O. at Coachella, with some mad style.

pictures courtesy of Kevin Winters/Getty [via Stereogum]

funny and crass sarah silverman models some boy by band of outsiders in canter's deli, los angeles. i wasn't really a fan of kristen dunst's lookbook for boy because it just looked sort of awkward. don't get me wrong, i love dunst's style and movies but it was just like "hey, can you stand here and look bored/awkward while wearing these clothes? ok cool, thanks." granted, she probably wasn't allowed a lot of freedom in her enviornment. but whatevs.

here are a few choice polaroids of ms. silverman.

all polaroid scans courtesy of boy. by band of outsiders. as always, click to expand.