hello japan: storiito sutai-ru

Let’s not beat around the bamboo – as much as we came to Japan to visit Tokyo’s spanking new Opening Ceremony flagship, and to shoot street trends in Shibuya, we were not paying our departure tax without spying someone in a kimono. (So autumn/winter 1010!)  

As well as paying homage to tradition and its deities, Kyoto is packed with hip young things falling over their fierce lace-up ankle boots for a look at the maiko (apprentice geisha). The city renowned for its holy sites is a shrine to all things stylish. (It is the birthplace of Akira Isogawa, after all.)

 

Nearby ‘modern meropolis’ Osaka is a melting pot of disparate (and often extreme) styles. Kansai’s commercial capital is widely credited with spawning the trends that trickle through to the western high street. It is also home to Esmod and Bunka.

 
The sharp edge of Japans style, however, is in the world’s biggest city – Tokyo. Here the trendy Shibuya district, home to Harajuku, is where the young, beautiful and achingly hip come to be seen.

shoulder pad thai

 

Okay, someone at Fashion Platz has a problem. Her addiction to shoulder pads is affecting other areas of her life. Like the fact that she took seven hours to close her suitcase (apologies to the guy in the apartment opposite – it was the only way). And that the Finnair check-in lady had to call head office to get clearance for a 28kg suitcase. You know it is serty-five degrees in Bangkok, no? But therapy will have to wait, because after 28 gruelling hours in transit (including a few hours’ style-spotting in Helsinki) we are now in shopping heaven. Otherwise known as Bangkok. While we are dying to check out Sretsis, Senada and Kloset (see look book below), we are equally excited about the ‘street labels’ selling for three dollars apiece by the road. The oversized graphic batwing tees would look perfectly at home on the racks of Berlinerklamotten and Fat, and will blend nicely with our jersey-riffic wardrobes. Course there is the small issue of space. One of those blazers might just have to go. 

 

Check back for daily updates on labels we discover and baragins we collect in Asia’s City of Angels. 

warm & fuzzies @ camilla wellton

After lunch in full sun by the water, a show called ‘Coats & Jackets’ was the last thing we felt like going to. But no sooner had we said so than fate intervened, in the form of the most ferocious hailstorm we’ve ever experienced. G-g-g-g-ive u-u-u-u-s s-s-j-j-j-acket-s-s-s.

Lucky, because Camilla Wellton’s outerwear is the best we’ve seen in a long time. Impeccable tailoring and exquisite attention to detail remind us of the days when women dressed up for a day in the city. When wearing the wrong size was a fashion crime. It still is, according to Stockholm-based Wellton, who makes most of her pret-a-porter pieces to measure on request. After all, a stray two centimetres could destroy the architectural aesthetic.

We’re torn between the Flower Queen Jacket, Empire Coat and Kimonoat, all perfect for those days when we need to look super-polished in a heartbeat. Then again, given that they’re made from natural fibres and that 10 per cent of sales goes towards saving the forests,  it would be uncharitable not to buy all three, wouldn’t it?

let’s thrift again

Hi lovelies, how are you? Hope you didn’t have too much trouble finding the place? Not only have we shifted to a blogging platform better suited to our not-so-technical skill level, but we’ve also switched continents… welcome to Berlin! Thank you for all your darling comments on the outfits and sorry if I didn’t get back to you during a schizophraneous last month. Hope this  first little piece of thrifting work from Berlin makes up for it.

We got the idea for sticking the buttons in the wrong holes when someone discovered, moments before the Mongrels In Common Berlin Fashion Week show that they’d spilt sweet & sour sauce down the front of their favourite shirt (tres chic)! A few compliments and bright flashes later we (er, the person) was re-inventing everything in sight – including the dowdy housecoat & mature women’s denim shirt totalling 8 Euro at charity store Humana. But it turns out we’re not such pioneers – misbuttoning is a fixture of this season’s range by designer Irina Rohpeter. Great minds, huh? If you’re in, or coming to Berlin, check out Irina’s range at Styleserver (which, incidentally, is included in our workshops and tours… check those out, too!)

Much love x

P.S. Excuse the toothpaste on the mirror!