*blog request* URBAN STYLE

i received a request from the lovely V (vida verbatim) recently to do a blog feature on urban style and thought “hmm…. this sounds fun!” it’s clearly evident with a mere glance at my blog (or facebook page, or tumblr, or shop, or…) that i am beyond in love with Japanese street styles and the like, so this little assignment is kinda exciting.

the evolution of hip hop fashion has always, unsurprisingly, been linked to the music of the era. this is true for many genres of music and the subsequent tribes that follow, but in the research i did for this piece i found something very interesting: the tribes are mixing.

just add swag.
photo courtesy of sh0rtz co.

while this is not absolute and hip hop will always have its distinctions, there seems to be a lot of crossover happening in urban fashion, especially, but not limited to, females. things that were once punk (studs, spikes, mohawks) are now easily found in mainstream hip hop thanks to the influence of stars like rihanna and nicki minaj. ok, let’s play with some ideas.

yeah.. i drew this. <3

the current typical “hipster” silhouette of highwaisted cutoffs and a crop top is undeniably hood with the addition of a few accessories. doorknockers and thick gold chains circa 1980’s, a baseball cap and oversized flannel shirt worn open circa 1990’s. throw in some big kicks and boom: you’re like a left eye “lisa” lopes for the new generation. sounds easy huh? it is! ;)

ok, let’s try something a little different. take a super oversized jersey (chosen based on the number and team if you’re so inclined, or the color like i would, haha), belt it at your natural waist, add thick tights and some sick bootie wedges and whatever jewelry you want. toss on a fur trimmed bomber jacket and there you have it: a cute and girly take on urban style that’s perfect for winter.

ruki from the GazettE, making an
unflattering face, but you get the idea.
he's cute huh? ;)

heh. ruki's shoe.

this crossover trend goes both ways actually, with more hip hop style being incorporated into the hipster and rocker tribes as well, and not just with women. male artists like john mayer (sometimes and ew kinda, sorry) and RUKI from the japanese band the GazettE (my favorite!!><), both total rocker boys, tend to throw little hip hop flares into their own style which, in my opinion, makes it just that: their style.

i can’t stress enough that fashion should ALWAYS be and extension of yourself, even when you are trying to be someone different. that sounds weird, but what i mean is that even though we all may have times where we want to dress completely different than we usually do, want to become a different person so to speak, it should always reflect ourselves somehow. otherwise you’re gonna be that girl at the party in the corner of the room tugging at the hem of her dress or screwing with her hair all night wishing she’d just been a little more herself… you know?

 btw, new FRUiTS feature coming soon! i lamely missed the september issue, but i have the october one in hand and will be showing the best looks (in my skewed vision) soon!! XxxXchi

my picks from FRUiTS... from last month. sigh.

got my sparkling water and my “lovesong” by the cure. time to write. moving on.

ok so this post is late. ms. lamey mc lamerson over here has been really busy doing nothing in particular (watching anime, getting prepared to start school, watching 1970’s Japanese exploitation films… the usual), so she was far too busy to write a piece on her favorite looks in the august issue of FRUiTS. gomen nasai.

storytime now: i waltz into kinokuniya bookstore totally jazzed that i am gonna buy the latest FRUiTS, and a little nervous as to whether they will still have any in stock since i wasn’t able to make it over that way for a while. much to my delight, there it was in all of its street fashion-y glory, one single issue waiting for me to take it home. but something was… off. not wrong, but different. the mag was considerably smaller, the cover was glossy, the binding no longer stapled. yes, FRUiTS has redesigned.

caught me off guard for a sec there, but naturally the inside is still filled with the cutting edge styles its famous for. a lot of what my sister and i like to call tumblr fashion is super popular on the streets of harajuku now; cutoffs, printed tights still, spiked creepers, spike and rosette headbands. not that i don’t dig it, but the things that stood out to me were a little different.

 the first outfit to catch my eye was a totally cute decora style. it seems the decora are a dying tribe, so i was stoked to see such a cute and considerable wearable decora ensemble! her overall shorts are adorable, and extra yay for her panda shoes. <3

ok. pink buzzed hair and feathers. this girl is already epic from just her head to her shoulders. the leggings? oi to the awesome.

denim on ripped denim. simplicity that sounds like it should suck, but obviously doesn’t. i adore this look for its total lack of trendy.

ok, the whole effect of this look is weirdly entrancing to me. the basic appeal of the top moving down to the cute high waisted shorts with the really cool texture to the-OH MY GOD THOSE TIGHTS RULE!! i loooooove these tights for some reason. they give her whole look impact, and her shoes are pretty wicked too.

andy warhol would eat this girl alive with a grin if he was alive today. then he’d paint her portrait. she’s so factory it isn’t funny. adore her pink shoes with an otherwise monochromatic look.

well, that’s it for the looks that really got me this time around…the new issue should be out soon so hopefully i’ll actually write about it when i get it, not a month later. oh, btw! FRUiTS has added little trading cards to the magazine now! random! and full of yay!!

until next time,

XxxXchi

x my style anthology x

i like fashion. well i guess i better, otherwise this fashion blog will really suck.
so i recently told my sister a little fashion story from when i was in the 4th grade, which kinda got me thinking, "when did the whole fashion thing start for me?"
funny enough i wasn't allowed to pick out my own clothes for school until i was about 11. my mom liked me in pretty dresses and cute leggings-tshirt-cardigan ensembles, so thats what i wore all through grades k-4th. i didn't like it much, but i will always appreciate the fact that my mom wanted me to look good. she always made sure i did. <3

anyway, here goes nothing... my style over the past 16 years:


4th grade: obsessed with the babysitters club, i find an immediate idol in claudia kishi. convinced that i would look just like her, i have my first real fashion moment when my mom lets me pick my own outfit for a field trip. floral bodysuit, hunter green tights, faded denim frayed cutoffs, and hiking boots. i'm sure there was some sort of jewelry involved, though i can't remember for sure. i died for that outfit. <3

you know, fictional or not,claudia had a style all her own and really she was quite ahead of her time. many of her ensembles could be plucked right from the pages of FRUiTS magazaine, which i guess was an early sign as to what styles i would favor as an adult.

5th grade: clueless infiltrates my brain. i attend 5th grade looking like an under-aged extra on the set in jumpers, short skirts, knee highs and little platform loafers as often as possible. an outfit i distinctly remember included a light pink sweater, a little rose print mini skirt, black platform mary janes, and white knee high socks... trust me, it was way cute.

i also went through a little gypsy-hippie phase. long sweeping skirts in floral and tribal prints, frayed short shorts, and i remember having this really trippy macrame top with bell sleeves in rainbow colors with hearts, etc... so psychedelic.  

6th-8th grade: i was 12 in 1998. so i'd say that my style at this point was much the same as any other girl my age. the spice girls. delia*s. alloy. bright colors. baggy pants. shiny, sparkly, glittery, metallic-y fabric. big space-age platforms (mine were white wedged-style sneakers from sketchers; best christmas gift ever, thank you mom!). *cough* backstreet boys tshirts. *cough*
by the time 8th grade ended in 2000 the whole space-age thing kinda died down... i guess thats how it goes when you reach the "space-age" and nothing happens...

9th grade: its all about rock and roll. the outfit that stands out the most in my memory looked something like this: black cap-sleeve babydoll tshirt with goldenrod contrast stitching and a screen print of a guitar on it, tight black flared jeans with silver (yes, silver) snake print, black chunky platform lace-up loafers with a "piercing" by the laces, and (at least for the beginning of freshman year) blue streaks. it was a good year. ;3

10th grade: i got my nose pierced the summer before 10th grade and was feeling really original. not many people my age had nose piercings yet, but it became super popular soon after... meh.
around this point i started getting into "punk rock". but of course when you don't have the internet at home to learn more about something new and your only "punk rock" inspiration is hot topic..." punk rock" style consists of plaid skirts and black tank tops, any outfit containing a combo of the colors pink and black, and tough looking gunmetal-toned jewelry. i tried.
toward the end of my sophomore year avril lavigne realesed her first album. i bought it. there were many more outfits containing the above mentioned elements. oi.

age 16: to be honest, this part of my life is a bit of a blur. i dropped out of high school (hence no more using my grade as a time-frame) and started working a lot... so the fashion i was into at this point is a little fuzzy. i do remember, however, being waaaaaay into surf culture. i wanted to buy a board and attend surf school in la jolla, but it never happened. i bought a guitar instead. win.

age 17-19: again, still a little fuzzy on everything at this point in my life... but i am very clear on two style related things:
1. i got my tongue and lip pierced when i was 17.
2. i discovered real, hard, dirty, offensive-in-the-coolest-way punk rock.

which means i adopted the style of my favorite band at the time, the sex pistols... very 1970's vivienne westwood "seditionaries" era, dirty, diy punk. blacker than black shaggy hair, teased at the crown. red lipstick. ripped fishnets. cheetah print anything. safety pins everywhere. white tshirts with punk song lyrics and messages written in sharpie. a real razor blade on a chain around my neck and the subsequent little cuts on my chest where it would rest.
this was a very solitary time in my life, which seems lonely, but in reality it was kinda awesome. i dressed for nobody but myself. i hate to say i think i'm a bit weak when it comes to peer pressure, and too often i would hold back on doing or wearing certain things for fear of my friends having something to say about it. but i wasn't really around anyone at this point, therefore i dressed for me. and it made me truly, honestly happy. this was a good time.

age 20-22: this is a dark time for chi and fashion. a person cares not for fashion when they barely leave the house. not cool.
however, this was around the time that i started to research more about japanese street fashion. i really liked the whole decora thing.

age 23-now: as i pay closer attention to fashion trends and my own fashion history these days, i am realizing patterns in my personal tastes. my schizophrenic fashion fits have died down in the recent years, leaving in their wake an affinity for clean lines, japanese fashion, statement jewelry, pigtails (lol...), and an enduring love for punk rock reworked for a more grownup look. i love the thrifted look, which caters to layering and the like quite nicely of course.

red and white heart print dress over jeans (not shown),
black zippered sweatshirt, bottlecap necklace, gold and
black bangles, black purse with ruffles and safety pins.
pouty face bathroom pics are total win.

a typical outfit for me these days is very relaxed, always involves jewelry, sometimes involves the above mentioned pigtails, and pretty much always involves layering. a dress over jeans, a zippered sweatshirt, chuck taylors, and a cool necklace? yes. an oversized white tshirt pushed off one shoulder, cuffed jeans, black flipflops, and lots of black jewelry (which is what i am currently wearing)? again, yes. me likey comfy. :3

so thats kinda my whole fashion history in a nutshell... guess we'll see what the next 16 years hold. i'll keep you posted. XxxX

highlights from the latest issue of FRUiTS...

i adore FRUiTS magazine... it is one of the few things in life that causes me to actually respect the use of capitalization (the others would be formal letters and the GazettE ;p). when my sister and i first became interested in japanese street fashion, we were all over the decora look, which is a constant feature in FRUiTS even today. i love flipping through the new issue each month and seeing what everyone here in california is gonna be wearing next... cuz lets face it: we are never gonna beat japanese girls when it comes to fashion.


so i thought i'd flip through and pick out what really struck me as awesome this month. all photo credits go to FRUiTS, and i apologize for the crappy quality... i don't have a scanner, lol... <3

ok, screw saving the best for last, i eat dessert first dude. this is my absolute favorite photo this month. its just epic.
i love the color combination of army green and petal pink- i would neeeeever think to put those two together, but they work so well. and the stripey tights are so cool.... graphic tights and leggings are having a big moment in japan it seems. 

case in point...

oh, look! roadkillers can help you out with the graphic leggings trend with these way cutie cute hearts print longjohns! seriously adorable right?! they are size medium and available here!

yes. i shamelessly plugged my own store. kiss.



another trend that seems to be blowing up both here and in japan is pastels... i fail at pastels so bad. as i described to my cousin the other day, when i wear pastels i look like i'm on my way to an easter lynching. not cool.
however, a lot of success in pulling something off is achieved in how you wear it. super short, nancy spungen-gone-good looks in ice cream hues? perfect. <3