Wearability.us

There's something to be said about Tokyo style.

Perhaps the most astonishing were the men's hairstyles. The amount of product needed to accomplish any one of the looks (see group picture), and the time it must take to pull it off (not to mention, the gall to tell a hairdresser, "I want to look like an anime character but still have movement in my hair!").  Oh, and then the balls to walk out of the house looking like that!?  Hat tip to you Japanese men... well done!

The flair with which men also accessorized was quite possibly the most shocking.  Here I go on about a manbag/murse that looks pretty much like a briefcase, but in Japan men carry bags that would make most American women look like old ladies (no offense, ladies... these men are just that over the top).

But my favoritest thing to watch for in Japan was footwear. Sneakers specifically. Did you know that Adidas, Nike, and Asics (aka Onitsuka Tiger) make specific shoes just for the Japanese market?  No joke. Not only that - not every store has the same inventory. You can go to a store that carries stuff in Shinjuku and take the train over to Harujuku and that store has a style that the other stores don't have yet.  Crazy. And most amazing, Ferrari and Porsche design limited edition sneakers. Who knew?  

The Japanese did, that's for sure.  It's no wonder that so many designers find inspiration here. I did my best to try to catch a few moments a la the Sartorialist but my Japanese is not good enough to ask for people's names, and by the time I noticed someone with great style, they'd already be about 20 feet away from me.  So enjoy these hip-shot candids... I tried my best!

It was news to me when I discovered I'd been misusing the word 'plaid' (the actual cloth) when I really meant to say 'tartan' (the pattern).  In the same way, when you really think about it, most people use the terms 'gingham,' 'buffalo plaid' and even 'checks' interchangeably. They all sort of refer to this square-ish, plaid-ish pattern consisting of just two colors.  The only distinction I could make was that people seem to use 'gingham' when the pattern of squares is small, as with Dorothy's famous blue gingham dress, and buffalo plaid when the pattern is large, as in a flannel lumberjack's shirt.

Dictionaries and wikipedia are not much help; they say gingham is a type of cloth that's usually woven in a checked pattern, and buffalo plaid is simply defined as "a broad checkered plaid pattern usually of two colors."  Which is to say, they are practically the same thing.  And yet they're not!

But let's get down to the interesting stuff, which is the fact that this pattern, especially in black-and-white, has been popping up everywhere.  

I was only moved to blog about it when I saw the beautiful way designer Christopher Kane applied the pattern in his Spring 2010 collection. The cuts, the silhouettes, the drape of the fabric, they are all gorgeously and daringly executed.  But what really makes Kane's collection interesting to me is that he cut the fabric on a bias, so the pattern falls diagonally instead of up-and-down.  I've never seen buffalo plaid (or gingham, as most people are referring to Kane's dresses) so graceful, so ethereal.  It's an interesting juxtaposition of luxuriously delicate fabric and really down-to-earth practicality.  

Of course, I don't expect to afford the real thing so I went off in search of some suitable plaid/gingham dresses that could substitute.  Here's what I found, though I have to say only a couple of them even come close to Christopher Kane's frocks (Scottish designer Zoe Watt's Brass Label being one of them- discovered on fashion-stylist.net). Also included some fun accessories featuring the buffalo plaid pattern, from a blanket to slippers to an adorable dog vest.

Clothing: 1. Brass Label collection 2. 80spurple.com 3. Forever 21 4. ModCloth 5. Small Earth Vintage 6. Oasis 7. Philip Lim 8. Tambukiki on eBay 9. Urban Outfitters 10. Marks & Spencer 11. kensiegirl 12. American Eagle 13. Forever 21 14. Gap 15. Paul Smith 16. Hot Topic hoodie 17. PixieMarket coat 18. Plastic Island sweater cardigan

Accessories: 1. Old Navy umbrella2. Urban Outfitters throw blanket. 3-4. Aeropostale bikini top and bottom 5. Anthropologie bra 6. Etsy dog vest 7. Forever 21 hi-tops  8. Forever 21 slippers

So the idea is this: earlier this year, LACMA auctioned off a large portion of its rare and historical textile collection.  It just so happened that most of the pieces were in relatively poor condition and otherwise unwanted.

Along comes this artist, Robert Fontenot, who buys up 50 of the pieces, ranging from Uzbekystani and Honduran woven fabrics to Korean wedding dresses.  He proceeds to find new uses for the unwanted items by deconstructing and then re-imagining them into different incarnations, and documenting the process on his blog, RecyleLACMA.

Now, I am not talking mere vests, that foul Americanization of the word.  Though people might assume that vests and waistcoats are interchangeable, I beg to differ.  While a vest, to me, is any old thing with no sleeves worn over something else, waistcoats involve some must-haves:

1. Tailoring: Lapels, darts, seams, interfacing. This means that a waistcoat must never be made of any shapeless sweater-like knit material!
2. Buttons or some other closure of some kind. Again, it is not something you can just pull over your head like any common vest.  It requires patience!  Class! Preferably of the double-breasted sort!
3. Some interesting detail: Okay, this is just my personal opinion, but it's one thing to wear something that looks like it belongs as part of a three-piece suit.  It's another thing to wear a stand-alone waistcoat that makes a statement all on its own!