Monday, November 2, 2009

How to be this Scrappy

Flea Market in Meiji Park, every other Sunday afternoon. Of course I'm into flea markets. This is the best budget thrifting in Tokyo that I know of. I got two of my favorite dresses there for 50 yen each. Last time I spent a bit much. I got this cape for 700 yen which is outrageous but I haggled it down from 1,000 and I love it, so. The boots were 500. This was also the day I got midnight military confetti for 100 yen. My leg looks PUMPED in this photo!

HEARTBREAK! I have been looking for teacups like these since I saw them in In the Mood for Love a few years ago. I was soooo excited but! they were 8,000 yen (US$80 or whatever) EACH. What! I hate accidentally falling in love with expensive things.

This is my favorite old blue dress. My late great-grandmother's neighbor of 50 years gave it to me. The neighbor's younger sister made it herself in the 60s. It's a simple pattern but it's eye-catching somehow. It shimmers gold and silver. It's so old and worn that it's about as strong as tissue. I've mended it four times and now I try not to wear it much. I used to think this dress had magical powers because every time I wore it I'd have a legendary night. I wonder what it went through before I owned it.

I usually don't buy new clothes because I'm poor and I hate low-quality things. I can buy well-made, beautiful, unique things used. Plus I love the look of things from the 1950s-1970s. When I buy well-loved party clothes and shoes from those times, it's fun to imagine what kind of girl wore them and to picture the rooms she was in and what her nightlife was like. After I'm old or dead I hope my favorite clothes are absorbed into the vintage orbit and wild girls of the future have epic nights in my dresses and shoes. All over the world!

8 comments:

selena said...

Rad. I love to buy used stuff too. So much of my stuff is hand-me-down, or thrifted, or found in a dumpster. I have an ugly green sweater kind of like your yellow sweater that you posted awhile back that I found in the trash and I LOVE. Now I just need to learn how to sew better so I can actually fix shit that could have another go-round.

Beth Roeser said...

ME TOO! when i imagine being able to sew it's kind of like an animated psychedelic sequence where i fly through a rainbow sky surrounded by all the clothes of my dreams.

what IS it about big old ugly castoff sweaters that is so dangerously lovable? glad you feel it too.

David said...

Your posts are so interesting. You are a really good writer.

Beth Roeser said...

david, thanks! i really appreciate your nice comments.

Unknown said...

My favorite one of those sweaters even has someone else's name embroidered on the front and I STILL wear it even though everyone thinks I'm cracked out for doing so. That thing is the best sweater in all existence as far as I'm concerned.

Great blog! Just random passerby and have enjoyed reading your posts. :)

Anonymous said...

Are they Fire-King teacups?

Beth Roeser said...

anonymous - no idea. they were absolutely beautiful. i found some pretty good lookalikes the other day for 1100 each new, so i'm pretty stoked, but the ones in that picture and the ones in ITMFL are much more delicate and beautiful.

Beth Roeser said...

andrea - my favorite thing to wear for a year in college was this long-sleeved grey cotton shirt that i got at a $2 bag sale, it said "critters club" with the name "cody" embroidered underneath in neon-green thread. it was obviously once some elementary school kid's shirt. i loved it so much. i had a fauxhawk that year and i'd wear it with a tight sports bra underneath and boys jeans and pretend i was a small young man, that is a bit off probably.