Goodbye, Blue Dress

Goodbye, blue American Apparel Double U-Neck Cotton Spandex Jersey Dress. You were always a little too tight and never stopped sliding up my thighs. But inexplicably I reached for you time and time again, and somehow you became my most loyal friend. Looking back now I can't believe how many nights we shared, and how vividly I remember.

Though under a sweater or blouse you passed for ordinary, you were the sleaziest dress I ever owned. Perhaps it was your hidden sleaze that helped me become my sleaziest self. For that notion, blue dress, I will honor you always.

I wore you under my big yellow sweater in the white-hot nucleus of my youth, living on moyashi and whiskey as I swam the streets of Tokyo. 

I wore you to Ni-Chome under a black-and-white tartan top that didn't look good with anything else. That night I got so drunk I failed to take a restroom selfie and took a nap in a parking lot. I never wore that top again. 

I wore you under a flea market cape on a date with an arrogant music exec who took me to an expensive bar and talked about himself for hours.

On Halloween night in 2010 I had no plans, and I wore you with maroon tights, black pumps, and a gray sweatshirt slashed at the collar. We went shopping in Shibuya and smoking in Shinjuku, where I befriended the enigmatic gutter host named Junkie Kou. 

So many years. So many memories. 

And then one day last week I wore you to a cafe in NYC and realized your shoulders had lost their shape. Inching up my thighs was one thing, but flopping down my arms? I knew it was time. You've reached your end, my wonderful, sleazy blue dress. I will remember you always.

Not everyone can live forever.

Here Comes the Sun

I'm ready, are you?

WINTERTIME

Early November.


Late November.

My mom got me this fake fur coat. It's the darkest dark chocolate color and so warm and I wore it for the first time last night and I fucking love it. This photo doesn't do justice, but I rocked my world so hard with this outfit. It was so comfortable, striking, and fun to walk in. I got these boots from Hanjiro in Kichijoji for only about $11. They are simple and perfect.


It's winter. It's my last winter in Japan, actually. But I can see Mt. Fuji from my house.

She's BLUFFING

I took a picture with my phone today! I have 7 days left in Oregon. Look, I'm wearing sneakers. Usually I feel weird in sneakers and in white but I am making an exception for these. I think white Keds make a girl's calves look pretty. I wore these with a little black floral dress and a redwood-colored sweater. But I like this picture because it makes me look like a little yuppie with a seaside summer home.

Ameyoko

I love marketplaces. SO MUCH. So I've been meaning to go to Ameyoko, the street near Ueno Station that served as a black market after World War II, for like three years. Ah three years. TIME!

It's along and under the Yamanote tracks between Ueno and Okachimachi stations. Things I like besides markets: train tracks, bridges, places under train tracks and bridges, alleyways, stray cats near garbage cans at night. I also like tin-can stoves so I'm basically a hobo.

Ameyoko wasn't tons of excitement but it had cool side streets and alleys and roughnecks eating noodles outdoors!

And that kind of old 70s/80s Tokyo vibe that I sometimes run into on the east side of the city. Like in Koiwa.

Yeah!

Some stuff is cheap here. Big packs of dried fruit, big packs of nori, octopus legs, hairbrushes...

...beans... Heads UP, anyone who's thinking of moving to Japan, beans be fuckin pricey.

etc.

Ten buxx for shoez

Rickety tables, ramen, stray cat, brick road, the city still loves me.

Ahhh before I go home I have to be a yankii superstar for one day.

This Old Sweater

I am not a fan of cropped leggings AT ALL and this photo shows me they are not doing my rather shapely legs any favors but I still dig this today. My 90s brown lace-up ankle boots were the killer but I was too lazy to get them in a photo. P.S. this picture is exactly what I feel like lately.

Let's go shopping!

Blurry fitting room photos, oh, the pleasure's all mine.

Hey, you have tits? Have fun shopping in Japan, NOT. Ewww. Crack-cleavage is not my style. Japan, I have a hard time feeling good when your size M tops turn me into this. It's not like they're fucking huge! I'm a C cup (C+?) and I can't buy bras here. Sucks. Moving on.

I fell in love with these floral, do we call them jumpsuits? -- the moment they started popping up in early spring, but just as predicted they are now the official girls' Tokyo uniform. I don't care if somebody else is wearing what I'm wearing but it can get out of hand here. Like everyone's on the same massive dance team. Still, I like these enough to try some on. The problem is that they kind of all follow the same few patterns, and if the waistline/drawstring/belt doesn't suit your height/torso, you get a big saggy ass. There are a lot of big saggy asses in Tokyo at the moment. I took a picture of mine but the world's polluted enough.

For some reason the short versions are more flexible. This one has a drawstring waist that I can cinch right above my hips with no, you know, unfortunate shortage of fabric in the crotch area. And nooo, I do not recommend accessorizing these with glasses, my eyes are itchy today shut up.

Sweet! Now I can stop worrying so much about keeping my legs together!

ENOUGH

I hate winter! I hate being cold and bulky all the time with my bag slipping off my giant wool shoulder and my nose red and runny. I do like this coat Hanako gave me, but winter is such a pain in the ass.

And these days I am not the kind of girl who can stay in and read a book. I need to go out and read a book. Out into the cold! I do have some warm places to go, at least.

This has been my favorite kissaten lately.

So warm, decent coffee, good space to write in. And great toast. Kissaten make toast into an art form. Do you see that I'm drinking cafe au lait? Defeated. I'll be back to black when I'm back in Stumptown.

Dresses

I wanted to go out the other night and found out my ATM card wouldn't work that late on a Sunday. What! I had to come back home and settle for taking photos of myself rolling around in my favorite new flea market dresses. Here are the other two I love.

This one was inexplicably difficult to photograph. It falls just above the knee. 100 yen, adorable! I'm excited because it could be exactly the kind of goth I think I can dig.

I want this amazing 50 yen kinderwhore treasure to work so bad but I am slowly facing the fact that it was made for an A-cup and is sort of not doing me any favors. But it's so potentially versatile! Obviously I bought it thinking Courtney Love, but imagine how much I could charge if I went back to private lessons with salarymen like this:

HAHAHA. Now you know why I haven't starved yet.

One Coin Dress

OBSESSED with this dress I got at the flea market last weekend.

I'll wear this every night as soon as I don't need a coat.

Someone said it looks like a kimono and indeed I don't think I can wear it with my hair up, lest I be accused of cosplay? Not to alienate any readers but yeah, I kind of am cooler than that.

( でしょう ? )

Tokyo Flea Markets

Went flea marketing on Sunday, at Meiji Park and then Yoyogi Park for the first time.

Business was too good! Hanako and I ended up with more stuff than some vendors brought to sell. I got four dresses, a winter coat, a corduroy jacket, a pink sweater, a skirt, and a necklace. I spent like 2,000 yen. The most expensive was the coat for 1,000 yen (something I actually needed for once) and the cheapest was the necklace for 10 yen.


The Meiji Park market has a great garage-sale range of stuff -- junk, antiques, housewares, clothes -- and a lot of it is super cheap, sometimes free. I basically go there to find stuff I like for a buck. I bought the most amazing maxi dress ever for 500 yen and that seemed an extravagant priceat the time. This market is like a 10 minute walk from Sendagaya Station, 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month I think, morning to 4PM.

The Yoyogi Park market is mostly clothes, and trendier vendors. It's a bit pricier on average but you can still find super cheap prices. If you're just visiting Tokyo I'd definitely recommend this one because it's right in Yoyogi Park and you can eat street food and check out the rockabilly dancers and everything. It's a 5 minute walk from Harajuku Station. Not sure if it's every Sunday or the 1st and 3rd Sunday, morning to 4PM.

I'm too used to flea markets and thrifting. I'm usually wearing like $5 worth of clothes at a time. Bum, bum, bumming. I got these shoes for 100 yen a couple weeks ago.


More Flea Market info.

Kimono

Kind of odd, but I just bought a kimono. There are a lot of places in Japan where you can buy old kimono/yukata for 1000JPY or less. Often they're boring or damaged, but I love interesting old prints and fabrics so I check them out sometimes.

I have no idea what to do with this, but it's pretty, and the guy who works at the shop is a fox.

URGENT!

DO HOLIDAY SWEATERS REQUIRE PANTS???

Care Package / Human Nature

My family sent me the best care package ever!

Peanut butter snacks! Taco seasoning!

My favorite face lotion! A necklace!

Vintage sheets!

Peanut butter is not equally adored the world over. Japan has peanut cream but it's much sweeter than typical American peanut butter. Japan also lacks a wide selection of cereal and Mexican food. As for vintage sheets, I love old sheets. Some people find this gross but I love the patterns. And, like, I wash them.

Thrifted clothes!

Japan also lacks garage sales, right? My mom got each of these dresses for 25 cents. There are like 5 more, a slip, and a jumpsuit.

Boooooks! AH, MY NORTON'S IN TIME FOR WINTER!

The box arrived the day after I unexpectedly burst into tears while video chatting with my mom and brother. Guess what, I love living in Japan, and I've never felt more unstable. I'm not the sanest person anyway and I went crazy in Yamagata. Since I've been in Tokyo it's just been nuts. I don't wanna recycle hyperbolic lines about this city but it's definitely a place that will do all kinds of things to you if you let it, and I just have more yes in me than no. I like living this way, but what usually feels like a great project can sometimes look like a huge mess.

I seriously don't have a worry at the moment, though. This package was so thoughtful and well-timed and cheered me right up. Then today I got this email from my mom:

Subject: dare you to be in a bad mood with this song
Body:


Hahaha. ILU Mom.