multiple shoe personality disorder

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Although my shoe game is nowhere near Jane's, I have my own little comfy niche in the fashion blogging world when it comes to tacky stripper shoes. I am the guru of shady shoe situations and have amassed most of my favorite and well worn shoes through stripper shoe webstores, sex stores and actual stripper recommendations.

Shoes are usually the only thing I bother splurging on, mostly because I've had bad memories with vintage shoes at a cheap price so I'm forced to go for new shoes. I'm a really picky shoe person though. I don't like buying knockoffs, and it befuddles me when knockoffs cost almost as much as the actual shoe they're ripping off from (COUGH I CAN NAME A FEW POPULARBLOG!SHOEBRANDS THAT ARE KNOWN FOR THIS, COUGH) so usually I don't even bother. I do obsess over shoes on a daily basis though, and that one pair of Stella McCartney's Kate Lanphear wore?? Those were the first thing I ever saved up from fashion wise I think. I finally got like $550, JUST enough to buy a pair online, but they sold out of my size the day before. Those shoes are cursed I think because every time I have enough money for them some circumstance prevents me from getting them. OH WELL SO WHAT WHO CARES sobs I will die alone without those shoes and my life will be incomplete



Anyway I got these in the mail (finally) a few hours ago. I've been wanting a pair of creepers for almost as long as I've wanted Rocking Horse shoes -- which I still don't have, sadly -- and at 4 in the morning two weeks ago I stumbled upon this shady sex store shoe warehouse outlet website with horrible design and questionable customer service and was like, "I don't care if the reviews for the website suck I want them give them to me I don't care if they are too small they are perfect and cheap give them NOW" and so I got them and immediately passed out on my keyboard.

Oh, did I mention they were 20 dollars including shipping????????? HAHAHAHA! And luckily they fit perfectly.



My gramma got me a pair of Dorothy slippers when I was about nine or so but they were too small so I never got to wear them. I'd spend a good hour trying to curl my feet enough to be able to put them on but it never happened. I've wanted a pair of ones that fit me for ages, and these are them. Got them at a costume store in the sexy costume section for like, $30? I've gotta spray them with gloss or something so the glitter doesn't fall off though.



What I really dig about these is that they're clear. As in, CLEAR PLASTIC! It's great. I wanted a super versatile pair of creepers and these are it. One day you can be schoolgirl marmy like the above and the next you can wear cat socks and it gives off a whole 'nother vibe.



The heel is about four inches or so, I don't remember. I only like high heels... I've never been into kitten heels because they do nothing for me except make me trip a lot and make my calves look even shorter than they are. Not a good look because I'm barely 5 ft 2.



Necessary terrible gif of me clicking my heels together poorly is necessary. You can't tell but I am actually wearing knee high lace rights and a ruffly garter..... with my highschool sweatshirt because I'm the boss.



DEVASTATINGLY AWESOME, AREN'T THEY? I am wearing them with some tights I got from Elizabeth awhile ago, they're from We Love Colors. I love We Love Colors, I need more stuff from them.



The quality of the shoes is definitely nothing to write home about, but I think I prefer them kind of funky and trashy looking than if they were high quality leather or something because I'd be afraid of ruining them. I have been waiting for these shoes to arrive so I can debut my amazeballs lolita dress I got in early December off of ebay. FUTURE OUTFIT POST FEATURING BOTH ITEMS IS IMMINENT, I PROMISE YOU.

Anyway thats it! I was feelin' chatty today as you can tell. Hopefully you enjoyed my ramblings anyway? Much love.

Arabelle

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waiting for the new year.

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cashmere cardigan from neighbors, necklaces all thrifted or gifts, goodwill blouse, cheap monday jeans, marshalls shoes, daddy's hat.

With my evil mastermind skills, I can make a relatively nice, sunny winter day into a depressing photo or five (as seen above). Today consisted of prancing about in a silk dress made of keffiyehs and then changing into this to go to the doctors. I've been reading To Kill a Mockingbird and The Sound and The Fury all day, watching Iolanthe on VHS, and eating health foods I got from an Indian store. I want to become an honorary Indian just for the food. Also, I have also come to the realization I am kind of, maybe, perhaps, a hipster. Uh.

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oopsydoops.

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Oops, my social life made me actually forget about the blog for awhile. Forget! I mean gosh! Skating and bitching about how there are no cute gays in all of Jersey for Jaime to hit on (OK, kidding, he is far too anal to hit on anyone but the mirror) in the food court takes up a lot of my time. Also B&W2 is the most addicting shit ever. I quite enjoy being the center of the universe LITERALLY thank you very much.

I got tights and old old Helmut Lang boots from the neighbors. And more necklaces and gift cards. You?

Mmmm I also spent all the gift cards on foreign magazines. As in $70 bucks worth of mags. Oh, and Faulker. I love me some Faulkner!

Boring update, yayaya. You shall get much more soon! Also, that photoshoot I had sometime in November? Yeah, you'll see it soon. I'm so excited!

Love you x

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kool kat meow

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Hahaha woops haven't posted in awhile huh. I figured I'd show you guys some photos I took a few months ago in the Fall when I went to that vintage trunk show. College has sucked people wise so I haven't been in the mood to blog because I have been busy hating people but poor Fashion Pirates has been neglected for a bit too long. So super long post, here you are! These pictures were taken before I got purple hair again as you can tell.... this is Kat. I got bored with Picnik and got a little too carried away with the editing but I don't think I have the originals anymore so whelp. >_>

This is the only thing I got from the trunk show, this Pendleton cape. Kinda pricey too, it's the most expensive thing I've ever purchased ($150???) But it's wonderful so I don't regret it. 

It's kinda funny how style changes on a day to day basis. I would never wear this outfit now!!!  Bleh. I wasn't feeling very inspired that day to be honest. Lately I have sooo much new (read: new vintage) in my wardrobe from shopping therapy from being home from college I haven't worn any of these items since this outfit. I got new lambskin pants a la Charlotte Gainsbourg, and this amazing lolita dress... ughhh I need to show you guys I'm so excited ughgufhg

Creeper stare in Union Square Park with my hatershadezzz. Omg I'm so obnoxious why do I exist

There was this ridiculous video of me dancing and running around Union Square in my cape, but I have no idea where it went on the memory card. I think my dad deleted it, blargh. Oh well it's not like you guys haven't seen me dance a thousand times before.......... I am an internet dancer. And now I shall show you webcam pics of my new/old hair if you don't follow my tumblr (which you should, because I post there like a million times a day because I have no life)

 This has been my new vibe lately. Pigtails and big purple bows, barbie eyes and shiny and glittery situations. I wouldn't say I dress more girly though, because I still wear long black things and obnoxious awesome things that make me happy. 

Oh I guess you can see how I decorate my dorm. I'm trying to move out of my dorm because I hate everyone there though. Mostly I watch The Addams Family and Pushing Daises and The L Word in my dorm until 3AM so I don't end up throwing people out the window. But look! Pigtails!! Also how pale I am!!!

Now that I'm home for break until Jan 18th I'm soooo much happier. Here is a peek at some new stuff I've gotten lately... bunch of furs and my Yokoo scarf which is well worn and loved and my favorite thing ever. It comes in handy during the cold winter snowpocalypse in New York and Jersey City we have gotten. It's a pretty snowpocalypse though, see my backyard???? I took these pictures from my bedroom window. I was dying to go outside and have a little photoshoot but my backyard door is blocked because of the snow so I can't go out there yet. :( 

It's kind of gorgeous what wind can do to snow, isn't it?

And here is a video I did the other day reviewing some books I've gotten recently that have to do with fashion. I'll put some preview photos from RightyRightyRight in it's own post later this week, maybe like two photos because you really should go buy the magazine.

You can buy the Circus Bookazine from it's website if you are curious about it. I'm so proud of it!! It's something I've been working on my articles for for a long time (I suppose all of my senior year in High School! Jeez.)

Woah, long post. I would have broke it up but I didn't want to wait a couple of days to show you guys. Anyway since you guys now know the gist of my college situation so far (PEOPLE ANNOY ME UGH) what was your college life like?? Suggestions?? I mean I'm thinking of transferring but it'd be nice to hear some funny situations you got into during college or just advice you have for me. Leave a comment!

Belle

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street v.s runway, why harajuku is awesome, why chanel bores me (sorry uncle)

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disclaimer: this is long as hell on the blog, if you really intend to read it, paste it onto Word so you can read it. i can't fix the font on the post because my blog is being a jerk to me. it's a journal excerpt i've just typed up.

I was reading the comments in the other post and I'm glad we all share a mutual obsession fascination with asians! I had my Columbia interview some days ago and the dude interviewer (asian, taiwanese, majored in east Asian studies + going into fashion = yeah Columbia I see what you did there, and I'm diggin' that you cared enough to match me with someone I would like! thankksss) and I had a discussion about Harajuku street style. Obviously he had more to say since he, you know, WENT THERE BEFORE (I'm not bitter at all of course not why would I be bitter) and he had some interesting points to make.

1. Harajuku style was a bit odd, because they all dress unique, but they all dress unique the same way. As in, they all dress on the same level of weird.

I don't know. Is it bad I don't care? That I really don't mind that? I have a feeling I would actually really enjoy being surrounded by the people that inspired me and got me into fashion in the first place, but would it wear off after awhile?

It's a bit odd. On one hand, everyone here is really awesome about my style, and though apparently it's too weird for them to do themselves, they support me wholeheartedly. A few days ago the Board of Ed here came in to critique our outfits to see if they were "business interview worthy" and of course I was wearing an absurd(ly me) outfit, and when they started to critique it my entire graduating class gave me a round of applause. 200~ people just clapped for me! Even people I didn't know.

So going from somewhere where I'm different but supported to (hypothetically) going to the place whose style I emulate but probably wouldn't be considered different in... would I like it? When I think about it.... I think I still would.

The thing about fashion for me is that yes: it is a double edged sword. It's all about ~originality, but those who are truly different are always. consistently. ostracized. When Rei and Yohji first showed in Paris, they were freakshows at first -- of course they eventually came to be the powerhouse icons they are today, and basically introduced the entire fashion crowd to androgyny and BLACK -- but they were first considered weird as hell and then considered awesome. Sonia Rykiel and all the designers of the time (along with the majority of critics) complained that the "Japanese designers" weren't considering the body, that the clothes they were making were asexual and weren't molding to the body.

They were right and wrong. The way designers like Chanel, Rykiel, Lanvin, etc design is a completely different way that Rei Kawakubo or Yamamoto or Margiela or Miyake designs. I have a scrapbook of all the Japanese Style articles I've read, and this phrase stood out to me:

Kawakubo's clothes were deliberately designed to look unfinished and worn, defying common sense and challenging notions of perfection. At first she was regarded with revulsion, but this eventually gave way to amazement and admiration (Baudot 1999). Kawakubo (in Ayre 1989:11) says that 'Perfect symmetry is ugly.... I always want to destroy symmetry'... She wants to question the notion of perfection as something positive and beautiful.

And see, that is why I love street style more than runway (of course, besides the Comme collective, and maybe fifteen other designers around the world). Too many designers in my opinion don't try to break any conventions or contribute something truly thoughtful or new to the pool of fashion. They try to reach out to people, but what they want to say isn't something with depth. It's just something flattering to wear, something that makes you feel pretty and confident.

Art!Fashion doesn't aspire to that. It doesn't need to. It speaks for itself; it is its own justification. While other designers have a specific image--a brand concept they adhere to constantly and consistently each collection-- Comme doesn’t. The entire House: TAO, Comme, et all, they all reinvent, rethink, explore new ideas, and no one collection is on the same strand of thought as the previous one. None of it is safe, none of it is predictable. Hell, half the time, very few pieces aren’t actually wearable. And it’s called “Ready to Wear”!

Issey Miyake 1990

Fashion right now feels really homogenized, predictable: safe. I'm beating a dead horse here but honestly, fashion as a whole, as a general being, isn't very interesting at the moment. There are too many wannabe Chanels, too few protégés of the avant garde (that survive the first year, anyway).

So, I’m brought to the question: why do I even claim to love fashion when I dislike, I don’t know 80% of the designers that are famous? Because, when the runway cannot survive, street style is always there to provide new thoughts to chew on, and if you’re lucky/obsessive enough to go through 30-90 street style blogs a week or month, you can see culture in its rawest form. You see it on someone who doesn’t even consider themselves fashionable, you see it on old ladies and drunkards and rebellious teenage schoolgirls and businesswomen. I don’t know if I’m clear enough, but I like street style over actual “runway” because it’s more accessible, more creative, more varied. You don’t have to own a $5000 dress to look amazing, and a lot of Tokyo Street Style snapshots don’t have any designer item in them at all.

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