oops.

so... i lost half of my bikini while on a road trip vacation in portland (the top half. it happens!). while tragic (i LOVED my insight suit!!), there's a happy ending: it gives me an excuse to buy another!

i've been in love with this little fangy guy for some time. how cute is he!? lucky me, scored it for half price too! see y'all at the beach. hell-o summer!

◘ insight 'pluto pup' swimsuit, $40

just a trim, please!

back in design school i was all about great prints on fabric. now, i'm more into taking solid fabrics and dressing them up with great trims. here are three of my favorites i've found recently!there's a line of 'project runway' brand trims that skew more towards a more young, trend-driven designer/sewer, and it includes the single-sided zipper trim above. this is an AWESOME find, as before, i had to buy zippers (expensive!) and tear them apart.. and even then, the result was usually messy and not continuous. it's hard not to notice that zippers are super-huge right now. my favorite use of them was at 3.1 philip lim's spring/summer 2009 show and in this YSL clutch. i love how they came out so delicate in spite of the relatively 'rough' zips used!the metal triangle trim has a balmain-ish feel to it that i like. unfortunately it's $15/yard, so instead of putting it all over a skirt, i used it sparingly as neckline trim on a dress (proper pictures may come later, if i ever get to wear it out!). and as far as the stretch sequins... that'll be fun for either a headband, or (if i'm brave enough) stocking hold-ups! ☺

any fashion sewers out there??

more pretty dresses. sigh.

even though my everyday style is basically jeans and tee shirts, lately all my mind's been yearning for are pretty, girly, frilly party dresses. i meant to write about this store JJ on capitol hill (in seattle) months ago, and now it's out of business and gone. whoops! the selection was quite scarce but two dresses in the window made my heart drop (in a good way!).
both are by australian label sretsis, the work of parsons grad pim sukhahuta and her two sisters, from their a/w 08 collection (told you i was late in writing this). it's hard to tell, but the dress above at right is a silk print with owls all over it. OWLS. it's so amazing i can't even stand it.

i'm also in love with her digitally printed tunics. ruffles, tiers, lace, jersey, prints of wildlife that are reminiscent of the retarded animal shirts i wore in elementary school. need i gush more??? i would love this collection if i was blind. even the models & styling are spot-on to my taste.
without even meaning to i stumbled across a dress that's basically a direct recreation of the lace frock! who knew? adorable!
check out more (including their new collections) at the official sretsis site!

(sorry for the extra-long gap between postings. disrupting [but minor--phew] health issues have kept me away for a minute. i'm back though! thanks for the patience. ♥)

f*#king sewing!!!

let's be honest: it's rare the designer who enjoys sewing. big-name designers don't sew at all, but small fries like me obviously have to do it themselves. while i don't exactly despise sewing, it certainly comes with its own set of frustrations. everyday i spend sewing, i have at least one moment where i throw everything on the floor and say "I HATE THIS AND I'M GOING TO MAJOR IN ENGLISH!!" just recently i had a little incident that nearly made me give up for the rest of the day. seeing the seamstresses at chanel's haute couture house having trouble getting everything right (on probably my favorite chanel collection) and dreading what karl will design next made me laugh a bit and feel a lot better. while i'm not working at the chanel couture level... this shit is still hard!

ffwd to ~2:25 to get right to it! also: i love their tiny chanel sewing pouches!! can i get one!?

and to those of you who don't sew... you have no idea...

holy cute!!

the weirdest thing happened late last night. i totally fell into a black hole. i was browsing stuff on polyvore and all of a sudden i was some incredible japanese website that had the most adorable shit EVER. i took japanese back in high school but still had NO idea what anything said. nonetheless, cute is universal and it confirmed what i already knew: the japanese are better (than americans) at EVERYTHING. hello, do we have tee shirts that say "dangerous vacation" in a studded bleeding font? how about "peep a doodle" on tie-dye? a prince-like "MADLY IN LOVE WITH U" gym tee!??! i have no idea what all this engrish is supposed to mean, but it totally want to 'add scremies' in my closet.


lately i've been obsessed with ballerina-esque, soft tulle/chiffon ruffles on EVERYTHING. luckily this bermuda triangle website had no shortage of lovely skirts and dresses that are so cute and girly (something i'm not really) that i would totally change out of my everyday jeans AND shave my legs if i had these. sigh.


i wish i had exact URLs for everything but it was a right-click-save-as frenzy. there's so much on here that i want to buy or re-make or just admire. just don't stay up until 4 AM doing it like i did (the shame).

☻ http://my-fashion.jp
☺ http://eruca.jp

close, but not quite..

hmmm, wonder where they got the inspiration for this little number?

► 'sassy kitten' dress (lol), $62 at lulus.com
► luella spring/summer 2009 collection

i'm still not over this, pt 2.

for girls who can't get enough chloe (and what girl can?): the elusive chloe studded boots are still covetable after being out for quite a while. they cut a bit deep at $1,245, so either you cop the topshop version, which are pretty cute regardless of its knock-off status..

OR! get creative with your own pair of boots and bedazzle(‼) them with some gold hot-fix pearl studs (144 for $4!). hot-fix crystals and studs are my current obsession. no surprise there, considering i love anything bright, shiny, or sparkly. now i can add some sparkle farkle onto practically ANYTHING. god help me.

▲ topshop 'aztec' boots, $160

(large pic of chloe boots heisted from jak & jil!)