Blogger of the week on Lulu Letty!

A big thanks to the very lovely and talented Maria for featuring me! I'm very flattered!

9.23.2009 Mid-Century Victorian

Dress: Isaac Mizrahi for Target, cream top: Net, earrings: Night market stall, necklace: Totus Mel on Etsy, bag: Earth Tree (地球樹), a fair trade store in Taipei, shoes: Green Pine from Sogo

This is definitely one for my "backdrops that looked better in real life than in the photo" file. Whoops! I do like, however, that the white chain link fence kind of echoes my cream blouse... which is actually not a blouse, but a bolero I purchased on impulse from Net, Taiwan's version of Forever 21 and H&M, and that honestly looks better layered under something else instead of over. I think I got the black eyelet dress just before I moved here. The bodice is really weird... it seems like it was designed for someone who is not only very busty, but also has very well-developed shoulder muscles. Does anyone else have that fit problem with Target dresses? I took in the straps a bit but still wasn't happy with how wide the neckline was or the idea of having to do alterations on a lined dress... until I figured, why not just shove a another piece of clothing underneath it and call it a jumper? Haha! If only all life's little problems were that easy to solve.

My favorite part of this outfit is definitely my Totus Mel Vive La Reine tatted necklace. Her stuff is really amazing! I taught myself how to tat in high school by following instructions in a book and it took me FOREVER to figure out how to do the little "pop" for each knot (if only YouTube had existed back then!). In my opinion, tatting is one of the coolest needlecrafts out there and I am amazed at the amount of work that went into my necklace. My earrings are little wooden discs with flowers lasercut into them that I purchased from the night market.

In between all the lace and the silhouette of the dress, I think my outfit is kind of a mash up between 1950s sundresses and Victorian style flourishes. A bit random, but I'm happy with it -- especially since I pulled it together from a couple things that were being neglected in my closet!

我覺得這個洋裝有把1950年代跟維多利亞時代的風格混起來.

Just Fudge it

One of my biggest weaknesses is Japanese fashion magazines. I find that quite a few of them have the kind of vintage/girly aesthetic that I go weak in the knees for, and that is hard to find in English-language fashion magazines (aside from Lula and Frankie). I know that I am not alone in my love for Fudge magazine. Clever Nettle recently posted some scans from the August 2009 Fudge, but had trouble finding the current issue. I totally feel the hard-to-find international magazine pain. There are a ton of publications I can't find in Taipei -- Bust, Frankie, The New Yorker style issues -- but for some reason the distribution companies manage to import every gossip mag ever published in Britain and the United States. Seriously!?! Does anyone in Taiwan care about the Gosselins or hold their breath every week for the latest Life & Style... a Life & Style that costs the equivalent of US$7?

Anyway, here are some of my favorite looks from the latest Fudge.

I really love the second from last photo. The more I look at the outfit, the more interesting it seems. I'm taken with the juxtaposition of the furry, bulky, slightly rough-looking sweater and the summery dress. The second image is from a spread on how to style all-black outfits and the first is almost the same as the cover image. I love how Fudge throws disparate influences together: the 1940s, the circus, Japanese pop art, Commes des Garcons, etc.

Another great Japanese publication is So-En, one of the country's oldest style magazines. So-En's aesthetic is a bit more contemporary than Fudge's, but a lot of spreads still derive their inspiration from vintage clothing and styling. I'll be sure to share some of my favorite looks from So-En!