Style Bubble

The Whole MA Hog

I'm feeling a little like Louis Theroux (documentarian who throws into odd/bizarre situations and is constantly perplexed) during my stay in Miami.  Culture shock would be an understatement.  I've seen a whole new meaning to the term 'dressed-up' and alas, there's not image evidence but let's just say that going out in Miami involves a lot of hardship outfit-wise... 

Which got me thinking that if a normal night out has corsets, hotpants, feathers, sequins and 8-inch platform shoes going on then what will Halloween entail?  Passing by Ricky's Costumes on Lincoln Road, this Marie Antoinette display caught my eye.  In the UK, putting on a rubber mask and maybe a bedsheet with a headhole cut out, are considered making an effort but it seems people here are far more geared up to don a full-on costume.  I've always secretly wanted to participate in an 18th century-style masquerade ball.  Since Halloween is a on a much bigger scale here than anywhere else, I'm wondering who is hosting a Coppola-esque 18th century party complete with Siouxsie and the Banshees/Bow Wow Wow soundtrack and decadent over-styled costumes...  and could I possibly live out my costume ball fantasy? 

The coat and not much else

I may be known as the queen of layering (or layered mess to some but doing the pared-down thing is not something I deter from either.  Yes, the t-shirt and jeans thing doesn't come easy to me but I also know when things can fly solo without too much fuss.  When I saw this oversized vintage Lanvin wool jacket on eBay, I had this odd idea of wearing it as a dress with opaque black tights and not much else.  The sloping, structured shoulders of the jacket nods towards the current season as does the cerise pink.  But as an overcoat, it would have added too much 80's bulk.  So buttoned up, it's an easy dresscoat with nothing much needed except some killer shoes.

(Excuse the glum face and awful hair...this should really be worn with a angular expression and a high-as-can-be pony tail....not when you've just got up at 5 to leg it for a flight)

In this case, they really are killer int he sense that if I had ninja skills and hi-kicked somebody in the face, that would not be a pretty sight.  Yes, they are those Victoria Secrets hoof boots that are most delectable when on but i'll be honest and say that my feet are pretty much shattered if I walk down the high street.  They're for those times when I can afford Addison Lee (cab company) and going somewhere with hopefully a couch.

Lost in Browsing

After my shortlived immersion in Tokyo style, I continued by doing what I used to do to procrastinate from writing my history essays at uni - browse on Japanese online stores, knowing that I could never buy any of the stuff and also getting much satisfaction out of converting Yen into Pounds on XE.com as the figure would shrink dramatically.  Nuan+ is something I stumbled on (I never know HOW I get to these places... I just get there...somehow...).  I can't really be very detailed about everything as I just go about clicking on the left handside list of labels, a lot of which I'm not familiar with and then see what turns up.  My knowledge of Kanji (Chinese) characters only gets me so far on sites like these.

Some labels like Frapbois, Johanna Ho and Theatre Products are familiar to me from shopping in Hong Kong but it's basically bags of fun just clicking about on random things and seeing something that REALLY catches you without having a label/name tagging it.  Through Nuan+, I discovered labels that I probably won't find much decent info on but to know it's existence is good enough - Full Nelson, Hisui, Carlife and Recipier are all tickling my fancy as you can see in the collages. 

Why, might you ask, have I backed the images with Hong Kong skyscrapers?  Surfing on sites like Nuan+ REALLY stokes up the desire to go fleeing back to Hong Kong on a shopping trip pronto.  It's been less than a year but more like a lifetime to me.

I guess using Crescent Shop's exorbitant shipping service (they buy things on Japanese online sites and ship stuff overseas to ppl...for a PREMIUM price!) could work.  Or harassing my Japanese flatmate to help me procure some of this stuff may be a better option.