Tell Your Shirt to STFU

Do you guys remember in like the early noughties, say 2003, when everyone wore horrendous graphic tees with stupid slogans like “my boyfriend is hotter than yours” and “don’t blame me, my evil twin did it”? These were huge when I was in high school and my sister and I used to try to remember the stupidest ones and list them off after school.
Anyway since then I’ve had a strong aversion to shirts that SAY anything, unless its a band name or a movie. It just bugged me that it was such an obvious and lame way to make a “fashion statement”. Like, if you have to wear a shirt that says I’M A THUG, you probably aren’t much of a thug. Just sayin’.
However recently I have found some gems that I would say are the exception to the rule. Here are some I would actually rock; (click to enlarge)

“Your Cave or Mine” shirt by Jeremy Scott, available on Fatal.

“Welcome to the Great Depression” shirt by Your Eyes Lie.

“Porn is the New Black and “I am the dream you are the dreamer” shirts by Auslander.

Daniel Palillo x Welcome Hunters LA shirt available on Welcome Hunters.

Bum Chic

Bum chic, bum chic, boom chick boom chick boom boom (sounds like beat boxing!)

I love this skirt, not just because its short and black and studdy, but because the asymmetrical layer recalls a most practical punk accessory, the bum flap. Bum flaps because sort of a fashion statement now, or just another place to put band patches, but for crust kids they are immeasurably useful and serve as a portable sitting mat. *Nostalgia nostalgia*

Available at Oak.

Reflection

I never buy magazines, just because I consider them to be kind of a luxury. I get Entertainment Weekly for free, but their fashion columns are totally useless. When I travel, however, I occasionally treat myself to a glossy or two, and I figured one can make an exception for september issues.

Anyway, on the way back from Geneva I was flipping through British Vogue, and I noticed an overabundance of ad pages with mirrors. 

(My pictures are kinda shitty but you get the idea). It got me thinking, the fashion industry is in a time of self-reflection, and I think this time its more than just an end-of-season thing. What with the recent films Coco Avant Chanel and The September Issue, it is obvious that the industry is changing and looking to its roots for guidance. Is it because of the economy, environmental concerns, the diy movement?

What are your thoughts?

Your One and Only

I know its still summer, (*grumble grumble*), but there is something that I feel is necessary to discuss early. The questions is, do you have a really amazing coat for fall? 

I don’t just mean any coat. I mean a REALLY. AMAZING. COAT. That you can wear everyday. I’m talking about that coat that has stood by you through everything, your one and only, your apparel soul mate. One that will snuggle with you while you ride public transportation half-asleep, when you’re still not conscious enough to generate body heat. One that you can call YOUR coat, your trademark coat, the one that you would be wearing if someone made a cartoon version of you that wore the same thing everyday. One that you can spill coffee on, and it will still love you and stand by you and survive through the laundry. One that will miss you if you leave it behind one day. One that will gladly take you back next fall when it gets cold again, and won’t resent you for having left it in your closet for so long. One that will always harbor something fun and unexpected in the depths of its pockets; a crinkled five dollar bill, a forgotten tube of lipstick, a box of mints. A coat with a story.

The reason I mention this is because I have not yet found this coat. I have had coats that I thought I had a deep connection with…but in truth these were simply fleeting affairs. Infatuation, but not love. I felt the connection because I needed the coats at the time, like the gray trench with black velour buttons I wore the year I lived in Paris. This coat got me through the glacial winter and happily stored my stash of metro tickets, but where was it two years later? It didn’t grow with me, it remained a thing of the past, a warm friend I had when I was ten years old and cold.

The same goes for my chocolate-colored reversible bomber jacket I took to horse camp, the ridiculously oversized skater hoodie that hid me from the world all the way through puberty, the blue Old Navy jacket I wore when I had my tracksuit obsession (Dear. God.), the heavy leather jacket my friend stole for me in Switzerland. 

And so my quest continues, with the hopes that I will not feel a hole in my heart again this fall. Just like with relationships, it is not healthy to simply fall back on something of the past that didn’t work out. I cannot use any of my previous coats as rebounds, nor can I settle for what is easy or steal a coat from a friend.

Sometimes, it is worth being lonely and cold for a while, until something perfect springs out of the fog and surprises you. So tell me, do you have a one and only coat in your life? And do share, was it love at first site?

Mrs. Frizzle?

Does anyone remember Mrs. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus? If not, you must have been sitting under a clueless rock for the past century, in the middle of Out-of-Touch Land, at the bottom of Oblivious canyon on the MOON, because this woman’s style was bangin’ AND educational! 

If I taught a class with the help of a goofy transformer-bus, I would totally wear matchy-matchy dresses and earrings with the theme of the day on them. Also, I want all of her shoes. All of them.