And a gown of white lace...

     Well, no fresh outfit of the day recently, since aside from an evening hanging out at a friend's place, I've spent the days since the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear worries began nestled in my apartment, clad in my pajamas, reading chick lit (what?? it's my guilty pleasure), and playing video games (okay, maybe I have more than one guilty pleasure).
     Things in Tokyo and at work are not quite back to normal, everything and anything seems to be operating on a limited scale (though getting significantly better each day). We haven't really left our immediate neighborhood at all, but tomorrow if things keep improving we will prob run some important errands and eat out for lunch (soup curry yet again haha, hopefully this time WITHOUT the earthquake). And then on Thursday it's back to work and wearing my photo-worthy clothes, so OOTD will resume this week for sure. Amazingly, some things are still reliable as ever here in Tokyo, such as the delivery/postal services. I had ordered the amazing Golden Bubbles pencil skirt from J.Crew (can't believe it was only like $50... the original price was practically three times that!) a week or so ago, and it arrived promptly on time this morning. Though the delivery guy scared the beejesus out of us when he thundered up the stairwell at like 9am and pounded on our door without calling out that he was making a delivery (which is standard practice in Japan).  I LOVE it, but was surprised to find that waist on the 6 was a tiny bit big on me, so I guess this means that J. Crew skirts run big? I had expected a snugger fit, but nope. Which is fine by me, since I plan to tuck a turtleneck in and the rest of the skirt is rather form fitting, so it's a good balance.
     This hermetic life has also led me to browse all of our favorite on-line retailers...just looking, I promise! No buying. So many lovely things out there though...sigh.

J. Crew's Lady Lace popover and Beaumont Blazer

     Lace, lace, everywhere, and I'm certainly not complaining. This trend has been around since last fall and is still going strong, albeit in a gauzier spring-friendly form. I'm loving that lace popover top, and the blazer really is quite lovely (though the pictures are horrid, the back shot was the only decent one), especially the scalloped hem. I wish the waist was a bit more fitted (though I think it's unbuttoned in the pic, which might be the problem) and that the body and sleeves were a touch longer.

Anthro Back Porch and Wispy Cirrus blouses

     Anthro is also offering up some lace lovelies... the Back Porch top looks awesome, very slimming and streamlined with the hidden snap placket. I wish the sleeves were either puffed and short or sleek and long, though. I really hate 3/4 arms, I know everyone else digs them, but not me. So same goes for the gorgeous Wispy Cirrus blouse (how perfect is that shade of blue?), looks like both the arms and the hem would be too short for me. Maybe it's a good thing, though, or else I may have been tempted to actually buy them! If I DID fall off the wagon and pull the trigger, however, it would've been on this beauty from Modcloth...

ModCloth Blooms in the Sky cardigan

If and when it goes on sale, I'll be there, chomping at the retail bit. You betcha.
     And if anyone knows what song the title of this post is lifted from, gold star! Hint: it was sung by both Donovan and Joan Baez way back in the 60s.

Ode to Hair (and dropping some major change on it)

     Oh it's that time again...the time when you cannot postpone going to the hair salon any longer. Most of you know what I'm talking about...when those roots can no longer be concealed with clever hairstyles or deceptive headbands. Whether you color your hair, or, as in my case, perm/relax it, you are essentially a slave to your hair. You can push back or even forgo the much-needed touch-up appointments, but eventually you have an unforgiving run-in with a mirror and, with a resigned sigh, concede defeat.
     It's especially annoying in my case, since I have to contend with both a full fringe that after 2 1/2 months practically obscures my eyes AND a Japanese straight perm. A straight perm is amazing, it gives even the curliest heads of hair a sleek but not limp or dead straight look. But when it starts to noticeably grow out (usually within 2 or 3 months) it can be a major pain. I used to push it for 5 months, but I usually had to employ a ponytail and an armada of bobby pins to keep it under control. And now with the fringe and shorter bob, forget it! My bangs start to puff out annoyingly by the 2 month mark, so I usually have to trek to the salon for a 3-4 hour $200 session every other paycheck. And sadly, it is that time again.

Two weeks ago, still presentable, but now, it's time to throw in the towel.

     It's expensive, time-consuming, and temporary, but is it worth it? Many (saner) people will answer with a resounding no, but I'm one of those vain fools who would say yes. It may suck sitting in a chair for hours on end growing hungrier by the minute (though it is a nice excuse to read all of those trashy mags I could never buy in Tokyo myself...$12 for an imported US Weekly??? Don't think so) and having to endure 3 shampoos and conditioning treatments throughout the perming process can wreck havoc on your neck, but nothing beats the feeling of stepping out with a shiny and healthy head of perfectly groomed hair. So indulgent and excessive it may be, but hey, I gots to do me.

Salon Fresh

A few weeks later, with some more volume but still in decent shape

J.Crew Meets the Gap...and they really hit it off!

     Microsoft vs. Apple, Coke vs. Pepsi, Laduree vs. Pierre Herme... every iconic company has its equally iconic rival. In most cases their branding and products are quite distinct from each other, which is reflected in the fact that the majority of consumers strongly prefer one over the other (personally, Apple, Coke, and Laduree, in case you were wondering).
     But in a few cases, I honestly can't tell the rivals apart, at least not very well. For many years that was true for me when I considered J. Crew and the Gap. Their stores kinda looked the same (even smelled the same, if I remember correctly), their products/branding seemed to echo each other, and they both courted the same demographic.
    This, of course, was before, Gap's surprising and awkward slide into the apparel abyss roughly a decade ago, when all they seemed to sell was baggy, boring, and more boring. Gap's loss of direction allowed J. Crew to break away from their older cousin and carve out a new, hip, fashion-forward identity. They eagerly gave Gap's adrift customers a port in the storm, a port so welcoming that most of us never looked back and even gave up shopping at the Gap altogether. Almost overnight, J. Crew became the darling of the higher-end mall fashion scene while Gap was left out in the cold, for good reason.
     Recently, however, Gap has been clawing its way back into our good graces, revamping its stores and image and, most importantly, producing modern, unique, and covetable pieces. A few posts down I mentioned their silk peony skirt, which I recently saw in a store (it was GORGEOUS)...believe me when I say I'm counting down the minutes until payday. And before that, I wore their metallic tweed skirt (which is sadly no longer on their website) in an OOTD post, which is hands down my favorite skirt of all time. I wore it again yesterday and had about 3 people rave about it and demand to know where I bought it:

Tuxedo/ruffle placket cardigan (J. Crew), metallic tweed skirt (Gap), dark heather grey tights (Kutsushitaya Japan)

Accessories by Tiffany&Co. and mayglobe Japan. This cut-glass necklace is probably my number one  favorite...and I have a ton of necklaces.

Can you tell that I really love this outfit?

     I had previously worn the skirt with a pale pink cardigan and sheer hose/nude pumps; the skirt itself has a navy base, with white, beige, and sparkly silver thread running through it. What's great about the skirt is that the light threads reflect and complement the color of whatever top you decide to wear with it, so in my last outfit, the skirt glinted a blush pink. In this case, I paired it with a white cardigan and dark grey tights, so the skirt took on a cooler whitish/silver cast.  Love it!
     Lastly, a quick shout-out to my awesome Mom who usually acts as my own personal logistics expert by forwarding any online purchases to me here in Tokyo. This J. Crew cardigan was in the last batch, along with the rust Traversa cardigan (which I'm so excited to wear later this week). I forget the exact name of the cardigan, but I know it's occasionally known as the "tuxedo cardigan." Unfortunately, a number of other J. Crew cardigans also go by that label, so I  have no idea how to track down its official name. But whatever it's called, it's amazing. I LOVE J. Crew cardigans; they're super soft and there's no button pulling whatsoever. As you can see in the pictures, I buttoned it up all the way, which I usually don't do because most cardigans make me look boxy or top-heavy (damn you, 34Cs!) if fully buttoned, but not J. Crew. I don't know how they do it, but it works.

    J. Crew cardis+Gap skirts= a marriage truly made in fashion heaven.

    What do you guys think about J. Crew vs. the Gap? We don't have J. Crew in Japan, so I'd love to hear some better informed opinions!

A Bevy of Baubles

      While most shopping is fun for most people, there are three types of retail therapy that are especially dear to a girl's heart: clothes, jewelry, and bags/shoes. And from those three, there is one that each girl loves just a tiny bit more than the others. For some it's the satisfaction of the heft of a new handbag that perfectly complements their latest peep-toes, for others it's the joy of falling in love with a dress, finding the last of their size on the rack, and zipping it up in the fitting room to find that it looks perfect on them. But as for me, it's all about the jewels. 

     Of course, by jewels I mean cut glass, faux diamonds, and silver rather than gems and platinum, but I love them all the same. I love my clothing collection almost as much, but I think that if I were to lose, say, one of my favorite cardigans, I would be distraught for maybe a day before managing to find another one that was just as amazing-or even better-than the lost article. But losing my favorite faux pearl cluster bracelet or my silver stag-head ring? Unbearable. 

The effortless display that took me like 30 minutes to arrange.

     As for shoes, I admire them from afar, but any girl who has feet bigger than size 9 has long learned to say goodbye to pretty, delicate footwear. I have two pairs of silver ballet flats, two pairs of flat sandals for summer, three pairs of basic low-heeled pumps for work (black, nude, and grey), and two old pairs of the SAME knee-high suede boots (one black, one brown) that I have been desperate to replace for the past two years. In fact, shoe shopping is one retail activity that I truly hate. I hate the disappointment of seeing a gorgeous shoe and finding out that it only goes up to a size 8 even more than I hate the embarrassment of seeing the shops assistant's pitying look when they find out my size (some even insist that I try out a size 10, which, unless it happens to be a very generously cut sandal, just mortifies me further).

     So for me, it's all about the bling, whether or not it's real. The only "real" jewellery I have is my engagement ring, which is just fine by me since I can find more than enough gorgeous costume jewellery here in Tokyo. My favorites come from a few shops in Shinjuku, one of the busiest areas of Tokyo in which millions of people work, eat, and shop. Most pieces cost between 10 and 20 dollars, though a few are between 20 and 30. My #1 favorite costume jeweller is mayglobe (no website, unfortunately, and even if they had one, most Japanese websites are crap anyways), which is actually meant to be named maygrove, but due to the unfortunate local habit of mistaking l for r and v for b, it didn't quite work out. Oh well, mayglobe works fine; at least globe is actually a word! I've seen worse. Waaaaaaaaay worse.

Wardrobe Workhorse: The Pencil Skirt

     In every girl's wardrobe, there are few staples that she couldn't do without. They're not necessarily the most unique or expensive, and they're often pushed to the dim corners of the closet rather than enjoy the pride of place that trendier pieces do. But without them, we'd be lost. They are the wardrobe workhorses, the sartorial Clydesdales and Belgians that jockey for position with the flashier Arabians and Thoroughbreds. Though they often loose the spotlight to their more glamorous cousins, they do most of the heavy lifting and provide the base that allows that damask skirt or cashmere cardigan to shine.
     For most working girls (the variety that keep their clothes ON, that is), the most prized of these workhorses is the simple pencil skirt. As long as it's the right size and length for your frame, you can't go wrong. I only have three basic pencils, one light grey, one darker gray, and one black (which I don't normally wear), all from H&M. Out of my five work days, I probably wear one of the grey versions at least three times. Unique or eye-catching they ain't, but that's all right. That's what the tops are for!
     For example...

Grey pencil skirt (H&M), taupe cardigan with floral appliques (Japanese label anatelier), accessories (Japanese label mayglobe rings, studs, and necklace and Tiffany&Co. engagement ring), sheer stockings and nude pumps (unseen)

Day one...

Grey pencil skirt (H&M), dot-print cardigan (H&M, about 6 years old!), lace mandarin-collar top (Forever 21, recent), faux pearl accessories from Japan and Tiffany&Co. engagement ring, dark grey cabled tights and grey pumps (unseen)

...and Day Two.

Pencil skirts, we salute you.