Stylish Thought

Maybe it’s the tense feeling of being back to work after a glorious 3 day weekend but I’ve been feeling in constraints lately and what better way to express my bound feelings that with hardcore buckles and tie up footwear. The Chloe Sevingy/Opening Ceremony buckle boots are a bit out of my reach at $625, but any of these will easily satisfy my need for tough hardware and multi-straps.

1. Matiko Vaughn Wedges 2. Nine West Usman gladiators 3. DV Buckle by Dolce Vita 4. Surface to Air Buckle Wedges

Which shoe are you buckling over?

It’s no secret that I am an Ebay addict. I stalk items for days, creating bidding frenzies in my mind and discovering amazing sellers in the process. One such Ebay seller, whom I’ve been stalking for the past 6 months is Bustown Modern.  “Vintage Fashion from Timeless to Trashy” is precisely what Bustown Modern specializes in. On any given day Bustown will have a 50s Balenciaga-esque funnel coat and a 90s ditsy floral romper.  The range of vintage is spectacular, but bid quickly and fast, because Bustown Modern pieces are competitively fought for and with good reason.  Bustown also occassionally has mid-century furniture pieces.

Here are a few vintage piece I have my eye on (and watching in MyEbay. btw… loving the model’s afro)

Ethnic Indian Jumpsuit- Ends in 6 Days/ Vintage 60s Pink Slip Dress- Ends in 6 days

80s Sequin Tuexdo Jacket-Ends in 6 Days/ 80s Button Front Floral Dress- Ends in 6 Days

Isn’t Bustown Modern just divine? Check out their Ebay listings for amazing and great condition vintage

I’m much more loungewear than streetwear, but having grown up in a pretty urban (read: ghetto) area there is still a bit of street in me. Which could explain my recent interest in female streetwear labels. Heavy on tee-shirts with artistic and urban slant, sneakers, bright colors and pattens and tough girl chic, the best part about these lines is that they are designed for women by women with spunk and attitude . While I don’t plan on buying any neon Reeboks anytime soon, these lines have me fiending for the streetchic in me.

Hellz Bellz

Married to the Mob

Dimepiece

I’m loving the badass styling and slogans on the tees. Are you loving these fierce female-run streetwear labels?

The recent Met Gala has the world abuzz with models, not that the world needed the Gala to solidify what it already knows; the fashion industry and the world is obsessed with models. Naomi, Cindy, Kate, Twiggy, Gisele, Agyness; we love them, we love to loathe them and better yet we love to look at them. With fashion regressing to all things 90′s (90210, scrunchies, Tori Spelling) it’s only fitting that the status of fashion models come back to the forefront, not that the conservation ever ended.

Every generation has its totem of beauty; the 60s was the intro of models as cult personalities, the 80s to 90s the era of the SUPERmodel, the 90s enter Kate the Waif and the diverse model is au courant. While models are integral to fashion, they sell the fantasy and lifestyle, is fashion and the world overstating the reach that models have? The Met Gala touted “Models as Muse.” Sure Kate Moss inspires legions of wannabes, but are models really inspiring the forward movement of fashion or simply glorified hanger-ons?

There is no denying that models are important selling tools in an industry based on making money. Beautiful women, wearing beautiful clothing in beautiful locations is a winning advertising strategy that is continuing to bring the fashion industry billions of dollars. No argument there. They inspire consumers to buy an Italian leather bag, a 1,200 dollar dress and hell if Kate Moss wore underpants as a topper, you bet your last dollar there would be tons of panty-ridden impersonators. Fashion sticks with a winning horse and models are championship thoroughbreds.

We love watching beautiful women strutting on the catwalk and designers know this. If Susan Boyle’s mole looked as good as Cindy Crawford’s she would be a cover girl not the leggy brunette. Sadly this is not the case. Models are muses but it is us that they are really inspiring; directly and indirectly. It’s the fashion lovers and consumers that continue to churn the model wheel and as long as we stalk La Moss, google Gisele and agonize over Agy’s hair, the industry will continue to serve us a piping hot platter of beautiful by-products.

What are your thoughts on models? Are you influenced by, envious or ambivalent toward them?

While Philadelphia isn’t particulary known for it’s fashion scene (we do have a small one btw) it is known for its restuarant scene. So it seems fitting that local streetwear and sneaker boutique Abakus Takeout paired their love of fresh kicks with Chinese Takeout. Open a little less than a year, brothers Ky (high school friend) and Rick Cao along with friend Jackson decided to bring their love of authentic sneakers and streetwear to Philly. The store is tricked out like a Chinatown takeout restaurant complete with fryer section (with t-shirts, jackets) meat locker (dressing room) menu signs (sneakers) and plastic ducks in the windown hanging alongside tennis shoes. There are even condiment bottles filled with yellow and red shoe laces. Talk about running with a theme.
 

While Abakus is mainly a sneaker haven for sneak freaks and has tons of male streetwear labels, they also have a selection of female street lines like Married to the Mob and Hellz Bellz. On my last trip there I picked up to t-shirts from both lines. Check out their blog and online shop.

Abakus Takeout
227 N. 10th Street Philadelphia, PA 19107
Tel. (215) 351-7978

As each year passes and I become another year older my list of things to do seem longer and the time to do it in seems less and less. I’m not talking about an ordinary grocery list, more a list of things to accomplish, life’s must-do list, the ultimate Live Life List. I’m a notorious list keeper, so it’s only fitting that I develop a list of things I want to do before I leave this world.

Having a “Must-Do” list helps define the parameters of things that I would like to achieve. It is by no means static, constantly changing as my priorities change and I experience new things, but it’s always a reference point for what I have accomplished and what I have yet to do. It’s a measuring guide for how far my life has come and how far it has to go. My list is extremely long, so I’ll only share 10.

1. Live in a foreign country for an extended period of time
2. Write a novel (very typical, but I swear I’ve wanted to do this since I was 5)
3. Donate all my clothes and sew my entire wardrobe myself
4. Go skydiving
5. Speak another language- fluently
6. DJ a party
7. Start a magazine (another long-held dream)
8. Be financially independent
9. Take a cross-country road trip
10. Be happy

This list is by no means comprehensive but is some of the things that I aspire to achieve before I die. Some are silly and doable, others take a lot more discipline and some I know I may never achieve them, but the dreaming is enough.

Do you have a “Live Life” list? What’s on it?