Double Fisting

 

athe vanessa bruno blazer, apc sweatshirt, warby parker glasses, clare vivier bag, chanel lipstick in gabrielle

Boba guys jasmine milk tea and classic milk tea with tapioca balls.

 

Maas and Stacks Fall/Winter 2011 lookbook with some of my favorite musicians and favorite gentlemen with gentle souls, Johan and Jordan from Tres Lingerie and Dion from Late Young. Lookin good boys!

This store is essentially what I would want in a men's store, edited down to just the best stuff. White Mountaineering. Crisp Band shirts that aren't too literal or boring, Masterpiece bags, and some of the best fabrics money can buy. Right now they have a great holiday pop up shop from OK store in LA.

This is our Haus

This is my friend Sheela's new track, remixed by no other then electro legend Legowelt. The track is set to one of my favorite movies too, Hausu, so it's double the trouble for me.

Last time I saw her, we were in the middle of a packed dance floor talking about the latest tracks she just finished up when a douche bag interrupted us by saying "so are you two gonna talk all night?" He continued to hit on the both of us. Even though his approach was ALL WRONG, I don't blame him. Sheela is brains, beauty (she looks like a model) and a walking power house of creativity.

Check out her other track, XOSARDONYX

XOSARDONYX by xosar

Old Man

I've always had a strong affection for an old man with a good uniform. There is an army of thin, elderly Chinese men, sitting cross-legged in the park. At 7-730 in the morning they do Tai Chi in front of the De Young Museum with their wives and friends. They all wear crisply ironed, white short-sleeve shirts with navy chinos, gold buckled belts and worn, but recently polished shoes. Sometimes they wear a fedora. Most have a cane. They all lived their youth in the 60s.

I like that they smile when I walk by. Maybe I look like their grand kids or maybe I look like a girl they used to date back in 1961. Whatever it is, they make my day and I make theirs.

I really like Bill Cunningham's uniform. Blue street sweeper shirt from Paris, khaki chinos and orthopedic shoes. It is so no-nonsense and you know he knows more about fashion then you could ever learn in one lifetime. He doesn't need to be on trend.

He has definitely inspired me to wear more blue too.

Finally had the chance to see the new documentary on him and it was so unbelievably good. It  is about real, honest, positive fashion journalism. Everyone in the audience cheered with me like we were at a baseball game. All we wanted to do was hug the man. 

Olga

Just caught Bumble and Bumble's interview with Olga Nazarova, one half of my favorite denim line, Thvm Atelier. I love how well they captured her well-spoken intelligence, her personal, genderless style and her delicate Russian beauty in the light shining into her studio space.

LA, I Like You, Part 1

I used to be one of those San Franciscans would would talk about how much I hate Los Angeles. Then I realized it's actually an awesome place to visit. And I mean visit.

Now this is no Blue Bottle Coffee or Four Barrel, but there is nothing better in LA to make me feel more welcome then perfect 80 degree weather, an iced soy latte and the Times.

On Saturday, I also got to be involved with a video collaboration with Flaunt Magazine and Sirocco Research Labs. This is director Jimmy Marble's inspiration board at his studio. He and his team are the nicest, most professional people I've ever come across.

Since we were nearby, I stopped by Thvm Atelier's new studio space. It is an unmarked warehouse space tucked away in what seems like the middle of nowhere. Michael said that head designer Brian has always had the ability of making a place that you would think was completely uninhabitable into something special and beautiful (this is a view from the "fitting room"). Too bad my camera was dying and Bianca had to close up shop when we got there. I would have taken more shots. I fortunately did walk away with the best pair of hi-rise black jeans I've ever had.

With what little time we had to shop, we decided to go to Mohawk General Store in Silverlake. This place is a favorite. All the clothing and jewelry (from lines like Rodebjer, APC Madras and Black Crane) were completely affordable and the housewares and home decor were exactly our taste (pristine vintage headphones, acid house prints and vintage guitar-picking stools). They were even playing one of my favorite songs from Mulatu Astatke while we were shopping.

Thank you Los Angeles for being so good to us.

I don't think I was a very happy child when I was little. I think I was too old for my age. I never played video games. I never asked for toys from my parents. All I wanted to do was read and I was unbearably shy (so shy people in school didn't know what my voice sounded like until they heard me talk months later on the play ground). I think this would have made me really happy as a kid and I think I would have found it funny even then.

Thvm SS11

Uggh. So good.

Have you seen this? Thvm Rag's Tumblr is hands down the best Tumblr I've ever seen in my life.

images via Thvm 

It's a catalog mash up of post-punk, post-modern, russian beauties, samurais and NAKED. A visual assault that for some strange reason leaves a taste of honey and dirt in my mouth. Weird. Only other thing that does is this band which I miss dearly. Must be some kind of mental thing.

Sweet Sixteen

Tonight is my friend Skylar's Sweet Sixteen. No joke. Unfortunately, I can't be in Los Angeles for her insane birthday party where Ariel Pink and a bunch of heavy hitters are playing to celebrate how amazing, intelligent, beautiful and talented she is. She is an inspiration to us all.

So since I can't attend, I'm going to dedicate a bunch of stuff to her as 16-year old me. I'm pretty sure we would have been friends then too. Enjoy.

images via tumblr, thank you, ok, my friends and my computer

Undercover SauerKRAUT

Do fashion people "get" these music references?

I often fantasize that someday, people who like fashion and people who like good music will merge. No more separation of fashion friends and music nerd friends. I know it is possible, but I can't talk about Pheobe Phillo or my love of cutie Kiko Mizuhara with my music buddies over the turntables. I can't listen to anymore Lady Gaga references when I'm hanging out with my best dressed gays. Its like I'm living secret lives.

The two places on earth where tons of regular people know their shit when it comes to music is a) Europe and b) Japan. I always think that Japanese designers and Dutch/English designers are ahead of the game, intellectually speaking. They aren't trying to sell us commercial trends like most brands, and sometimes I get the hint that their collections are like a huge middle finger to designers who are in it to sell pretty. I may or may not be on to something.

Whatever it is, Jun Takahashi listens to a lot of Krautrock and watches a lot of cheese sci-fi films and I like him for that. No, this isn't his best presentation, but it sure put a smile on my face.

Cody

This handsome guy is one of the sweetest, cutest, most intelligent people I know. Any girl would be lucky. He's in both Pearl Harbor and plays guitar in a newish band that my friend Cisco started, Animal Style. They are taking over what was "the Smell legacy" (i.e. No Age/Mika Miko/Abe Vigoda ext.) and blowing everyone's minds down there.

Check them out here and here

Them

Being someone who doesn't really have a huge stock of jeans sitting in the closet, (I own one pair of black ones that are thrown on when I have nothing else to wear) I've had a hard time finding a pair that fits well, looks good and has a simple, clean aesthetic.

That's when I reminded myself of my boyfriend's good friend, Brian Kim.

Brian is a Los Angeles-based designer/musician who used to co-own custom jean shop, Work, in Echo Park. His friend David Hershberger, now designer of Endovanera, was a seamster there and these guys were wheeling out custom jeans with precision tailoring and only the best Japanese denim found.

Now, both of them have recently opened two new shops:

David has Front St, where he sells his Endovanera line, his fabulous lower priced line, Nortwick and other local designers like Himiku and Scout.

It has a kind of classic clean look with a bit of some well styled, old-worldly charm (much like his clothing!)

Neighboring him is Brian's custom and ready-to-wear clothing shop, Them Atelier.

The prices are affordable for most people, starting at $90. And knowing Brian, he would construct a beautiful pair of custom jeans that would fit the contours of anyone's body.

I like the idea of buying something directly from the person who made the clothing and you know it's made with careful craftsmanship, good editing and a lot of heart. Both Brian and David are some of the best dressed, handsome, talented and down-to-earth human beings that I have meet in the Echo Park area. I really believe in their work and seriously recommend stopping by these two stores if you are living in or visiting the Los Angeles area.