Newbury Street, Boston

I visited my sister in Massachusetts for the Holidays and she took me to see the main shopping street in Boston with all the luxury brand stores. It has such a different vibe from London’s Bond Street! Check out the sneaky Marc Jacobs shop trying to hide from the camera;

There was a school of fashion design right on Newbury;

I loved this window display. Even though the styling is kind of uncreative, the teddy bear heads are such a cute idea. It reminded me of the bad guys in teddy bear suits in The Avengers;

I found this great D&G skirt at one of the branches of the vintage store “Second Time Around”, but didn’t buy it because it was $80. There are three branches of this store on Newbury Street, each with a different vibe. In retrospect, I wish I’d gotten the skirt because the print is so great and thats a fairly reasonable price for vintage compared to the prices in London.

Oops :(

One of the “Second Time Around” stores had a bunch of vintage Chanel shoes;

We also went to Betsey Johnson and Sephora. We don’t have Sephora in the UK so I was really excited to check out the Tarina Tarantino collection and so forth. Starbucks, Sephora and Betsey Johnson; Three American classics :)

Spitalfields Market, London

My gorgeous friend Una and I spent our Thursday doing “research” for “college”. Non-fashion students sometimes like to call that “shopping”. Whatever you want to call it, we chose to check out the vintage and antique stands at Spitalfields Market. People were selling anything from spoons to shearling coats to sewing machines…there were racks and racks of fur and so many antique cameras and photographs.

Una found this fox fur that by some miracle was dyed the exact same colour as the coat she was wearing;

These shoes were so fun. They were way too big for me but I hope someone buys them and loves them and wears them everywhere;

Thought tempted, we resisted the pastries.

We then hop-skipped over to Brick Lane for an epic hotdog, photobooth photos at Rough Trade and some vintage shopping.

How genius is this cookie monster sweater? Pretty fucking genius. Beyond Retro has a tutu rainbow;

Overall a very productive day. I love Brick Lane during the week when its all empty and gray :) Its one of my favorite spots in London, even though the vintage is super expensive. I ended up getting a super ridiculous pink and black parachute jumpsuit, (which Una said she couldn’t wear with a straight face), and some little bloomers I like to wear over tights. I’ll post pictures eventually if I have a day where my hair doesn’t look like a ginger dandelion.

Go Vintage or Go Home

Today was the Affordable Vintage Fair at Bethnal Green, sponsored by Rag&Bow. As recently I’ve been on this intense vintage kick, I have been excited about this for weeks. For only £2 entry fee,  we had access to loads of heavily discounted vintage stalls from all over England and, as an added bonus, a mobile tea & cake shop. Needless to say, it was AWESOME. I got a really cute skirt for only £9. All photos by Drooling Isn’t Photogenic.

In other news, HOLY BOLERO its cold in London these days. Got caught in the middle of an unexpected yet brief hail storm in Brick Lane today. Also I thought this sign was really great, its kind of hard to read in the photo but it says “The Devil wears Prada but the people wear £5 Plimsoles”

Drooling Isn’t Shirtless Day One

Drooling Isn’t Shirtless Day One: The Ex’s Shirt

This shirt is special to me because my ex-boyfriend screen printed it himself. I always wear this t-shirt with a great sense of irony; first of all because my ex was a vegan squatter crusty kid, yet he screen printed onto this really nice Levis shirt. Secondly, I almost always wear either leather boots or a leather jacket, and I remember one time running late to class and I was decked out in leather and yet wearing this vegan shirt, and this PETA guy who was flyering said he liked my shirt, despite the abundance of dead cow on my body.

So for me, this shirt is both nostalgic and hilarious. I wear it knowing that if I were still a vegan and I saw some non-vegan kid rocking an “Animal Liberation” tee and a leather jacket, I would be totally scandalized. I am fully aware of the hypocracy, but I think it has a good enough story behind it that I’m happy to wear this shirt out to Rock & Sole for some fish and chips.

Tell me your T-Shirt stories! I’m dead serious, this is the kind of thing I’m really interested in in the fashion world. Do you have an ironic t-shirt story?

Incomparable

I’ve been dying over this AW10 Moschino grommet jacket and looking for something to soothe my hunger for it…will this vintage Chia jacket (right) do the trick?

Nope :( It looks so pathetic and under-grommeted in comparison. I mean I almost feel bad putting the two images so close together, the poor Chia one must feel like a complete and utter failure next to the absolute perfection that is the Moschino one. Its actually a really nice jacket by itself, and I would totally wear it if I hadn’t seen the luxury version of it. It’s just…gah. There’s no comparison.

Sigh. Chia “Holey Grommet” jacket available online at NastyGal, Moschino one unavailable to us normal people.

Lace Museum Part Deux

Here are some more pictures from the “Cité Internationale de la Dentelle et de la Mode de Calais” which will henseforth be refered to as the Lace Museum because SHEESH that is an unnecessarily long title. Once again all photos are by Drooling Isn’t Photogenic.

I really can’t believe the amount of patience and detail-oriented work that went into the 17th century hand-made lace. Whereas I pretty much have a panic attack every time I attempt to thread a sewing machine, these people had to juggle hundreds of threads and somehow make intricate little flowers and patterns with them.

Cut Throat

I don’t wear a whole lot of scarves but I think that needs to change. I love this antique-looking scissor print. Available at Snoozer Loser online.

Summer Sucks

So I keep hinting at the fact that I hate summer fashion, and I’d like to say that this isn’t entirely true. Although I do prefer the crisp wind and the abundance of cardigans typical of the fall season, I’m not a complete vampire. I do like the sun, its just that I often hate summer trends.So here is the Drooling Isn’t Pretty take on this spring/summer season, along with some recessionista alternatives to these crimes in fashion.

 

Miss Hanna Beth looking cute in floral print and leather. Leatha!

1) Trend: Maxi Dresses

Verdict: Ew. Unless you are pregnant, there is no excuse. Also, “maxi dress” sounds like some kind of feminine hygiene product.

D.I.P. Take:  Believe me, the rest of the world is going to think these are as hideous as I do in about a month. So rather than waste money on what basically looks like a really aggressively patterned table cloth wrapped around you, I would recommend thrifting a short, light floral dress. Not only are these way cuter, more flattering and better suited to the apocolyptically hot weather we have been dealing with in California, they are also versatile and can outlast this season. Wear the same dress with tights, brogues and layers and you are set for the fall.

Sundrop Heels from Anthropologie

2) Trend: Yellow

Verdict: Doesn’t work for everyone, good only in small doses. 

D.I.P. Take: I know I’m really picky about color, but in theory, I do not discriminate. You just have to find the right way to wear that color to suit you. Yellow has proven to be a big thing this season, but people have a tendency to overdo it. I would recommend going with a more subtle shade of yellow rather than the canary, like mustard, which is way classier and works on more skin tones. Also, finding good accessories in yellow is a good way to enjoy this trend but also have pieces you can draw from in the seasons to come. For example, you can go the Gossip Girl route and get some yellow tights or a clutch. Personally, I’m into yellow wedges for just a little pop without looking like a walking dandelion. 

The original Sgt. Pepper jackets

3) Trend: Fringe

Verdict: WHY?

D.I.P. Take: I have a thing against suede. I think it’s only acceptable in the form of really cute boots. FRINGY SUEDE JACKETS ARE ICKY. As are fringy suede boots, purses, neckwear, belts. I’m sorry, I just can’t get behind the whole cowgirl look. Then there’s the whole cut-up fringed t-shirt thing…not into it. If you MUST indulge this trend, I would only go the route of retro evening wear. The only problem with this is there is a time and place for a flapper dress, and it sure as hell isn’t every day wear. My recessionista solution? An awesome Sgt. Pepper style jacket with the fringy tasseled shoulder pads. How could you go wrong?

Chictopia Event!!!

Woo! I’m so excited for this event because FOR ONCE, its not in LA or New York or, you know, somewhere I’m not. 

Event: Chictopia clothing swap at Dolores Park, SF! Saturday, July 25th from 2pm to 5pm. Check out the details here. 

Sounds like a winner, because I love Chictopia, I love clothing, I love Saturdays and uh, July…and I love Dolores Park even though its like, hipster central. Anyone going?