Fun Cropped Jackets

For something more trendy and fun this season (even though they will be dated after a season and will probably not quite as versatile), here are a few suggestions: Bold Colors: Adds instant oomph! This electric blue (right) is especially hot this season! (Both: Anthropologie) Plaid: Yes, plaid is still hot. Plus, it fits right into the Christmas mood! Here we have the more classic cut crop by J Crew (left) and a more edgy crop by LAMB (right). I especially like the wide plaid on the J Crew jacket. More Plaid: For something a little bit more subtle, versatile and less festive I am loving these two plaid crops from Vince (left) and Marc by Marc Jacobs (right). Patent: Well they are everywhere for shoes, so why not for cropped jackets? Yes, it may look like a raincoat, but styled by this way by Robert Rodriguez (left), its a very chic raincoat. And I just thought I'd throw in this crop by Ella Moss (right) even though its not patent just because I think the design looks so smart, simple and CUTE! Metallic: The perfect cover over your party outfit! I LOVE these two by Walter (left) and Express (right). The color and print is subtle and versatile, but the material gives it an extra shine that lends it a more night-time feel.

Image Sources: J Crew, Shopbop, Anthropologie, Express and Saks Fifth

I Dream of a Lifestyle Involving Many Cocktail Dresses I: Marc by Marc Jacobs

Since the SS06 season, I haven't really been loving Marc's collections. The colours were sort of murky and unflattering, and some of the pieces looked more fit for a country bumpkin than a chic city girl. But this FW and Resort season, the Marc dresses seem to have really hit all the right notes.

This tiered hemline dress was the first dress that caught my eye this season. I love the hemline layers. The design combines 60's style (mini dress) with a hint of 20's style (the details concentrated at the bottom). It's cute and very modern -perfect for events like dresses-up house parties.

These two dresses are so cute and classy. Imagine yourself going out to a fancy dinner in winter, wearing stockings with platform heels. Fabulous scene huh?

While these two dresses won't flatter short people at all, I like how the designs are good to go from day to night.

For day, you can layer a long-sleeve t-shirt/ sweater and leggings underneath the dress. And for night, wear the dress by itself (in a hopefully warm venue.)

For office parties, this long-sleeve silk dress can take you from the office to the party without looking inappropriate but still chic.

Contrast these two dresses -the black dress is another office party dress choice, while the vibrant pink dress is great for any holiday/ beachy parties if you're spending your holidays at some beach resort.

For something very party-perfect, this black sequined dress and silver dress is sparkly and oh-so-trendy.

If you want a dramatic flair to your dresses, these two dresses are 'omg, so cute!' (As overheard by two girls exclaiming at Neiman Marcus in LA last August.) I'm not sure how practical they are though. They look like dresses that can only be worn to events once or twice.

The Nix Check Halter dress looks versatile enought for many occasions, (think from bars and clubs to restaurants and house parties), and can be worn many times. I'm definitely keeping my eye out for this dress.

These dresses are the other two I'm looking out for. I love how chic, classy and cute the sleeveless dress (left) looks. And the red dress has a nice flattering A-line silhouette with the purple silk tie high up the waist. Plus it's nice to be in a colourful dress that doesn't look like it's from the 80's.

Image credits: www.shopbop.com, www.saksfifthavenue.com, http://www.net-a-porter.com/, http://www.style.com/

Crocheted Mouse

pattern modified from Happy Hooker book

Deanne is...

I wondered only recently...

At what point did I begin to refer to myself as if I were a third party when speaking to others? A habit I thought was reserved purely for mothers and rock stars, I have caught myself lately saying things like "Miss Tonking is cold" when speaking to my students, or "Miss Tonking is going to lunch now, be back in 10 minutes". A quick scan of my body language while doing so revealed, thankfully that I have not yet started to point to my own nose while making such statements.

I once watched a 60 minutes interview with Billy Ray Cyrus in which he referred to himself only as Billy Ray. "Billy Ray does what Billy Ray wants" "No one tells Billy Ray what to do". Outwardly I am sure I would have scoffed at his behavior but I am beginning to think that internally I admired old Billy R.

I question my sanity a number of times a week, so this new language style had me momentarily pondering less about it's normality but more about it's origin. And then it hit me, like a thing that hits suddenly. Facebook! I can pin point the exact moment when I began using my name instead of other overused pronouns , twas the moment I first completed the infamous Facebook status sentence - Deanne is...

Deanne is considering the magnitude of her Facebook enslavement.

Sketchers

I plan to write a bigger chunk about last night's Dr Sketchy's Tokyo event, the final for the year, but I just adore the shots of the sketchers hard at work I had to share!

TOKYOMADE on Facebook (it had to be done!)

[I know, I know sushi zume is looking like a big TM ad right now but I am just mixing all my loves into one big pot at the mo given that it is officially party season and a girl has to spread herself around anyway she can - 'tis the season to get silly!]

Check out our Japanese Street Style group on Facebook where you can discuss your favorite styles from the streets of Tokyo OR click on the TM Facebook logo below to make your way to the new, official TOKYOMADE facebook page, become a fan and be the first to receive giveaway updates and Tokyo fashion reports.



P.S. I am a complete Facebook addict at the moment (can you relate?) I have also created a group called I cut my own hair! so if you are a self-styler be sure to upload your funky hair pics. Let's create the greatest, grooviest hall of hair fame on Facebook!

Kinky Hoots

Tanja Nixx

Classic Cropped Jackets

One of the investments I am looking to do this season is in a classic cropped jacket that I can wear all the time this fall/winter. As my mom loves to point out, jackets are the best investment because they are the first thing people see you in on the streets and you will probably wear it more than whatever you are wearing inside. So I figured that a smart classic cropped jacket would be a good choice- they are versatile and very chic.
The volume and shape of it goes perfectly with this season's silhouettes as witness here on the Alice Ritter(left) and 3.1 Phillip Lim (right) runway. Some of the more classic choices out there are these two from Rachel Pally (left) and Sunner (right). The v-neck blazer-like neckline keeps it classic and the cropped style gives it an extra oomph. Another option are these two jackets with the more enclosed neckline thats more coatlike from Ella Moss (left) and Milly (right). The play on the buttons are so cute!

Grey is also a great color this season that is easy to wear but not too black. These two cropped jackets from FCUK are so adorable. I especially like the high neckline and the bell sleeve of the jacket on the left, which gives it more shape.Something a little more edgy, we have this very stylishly tailored cropped jacket by Helmut Lang (who else?, left) and this printed jacket by Milly (right). I LOVE this jacket. This is my favourite cropped jacket of all because the bold print is still versatile being black and white and the feminine cut of the neckline brings edgy and girly together. It makes a statement and is still very wearable. I can totally see myself living and breathing this cropped jacket this season!

Image Source: Elle, Shopbop and FCUK

The Very Thin Line

When I shop, I usually like to shop with a partner, (and preferably exactly one partner, who has some sense of style and could give helpful opinions.) This is because with clothes, there is sometimes a very thin line between good style and bad style, and it's nice to have an extra input. And sure, an outfit looks really cool when it's worn by a model in an editorial, but most of the time, those artistic background, makeup and lighting just don't echo real life. Take these two as examples:

When I first saw this Kate Moss Top Shop dress I thought, 'Oooh, I really, really like it.' I liked how only the top had sequins (instead of the whole dress,) and that the dress had a bit of an A-line shape to it instead of a huge T-shirt shape (which a lot of sequined dresses seemed have.) It was a glamorous with an edge, but without being too sparkly. I like the chiffon skirt bit because it meant it will swirl around with you when you walk and dance. And so I thought the dress had a good balance of style and trend. But the more I stare at the design, the more I thought of one thing: showgirls. For some reason, the dress really reminded me of dresses that showgirls in cheesy movies would wear in bars, dancing around poles and entertaining sleezy guys.


This is another dress that I was thinking of awhile back (from Top Shop). It's a 50's style dress and it has a slit-like hole at the back. I've never tried or owned such vintage-looking dress before, and was thinking that I lacked stylish, unique dresses. The dress fit well, and the length was just right. But one thing I was debating about was whether the dress was unique in an old-fashioned way, or in a fashion-foward way.

You will notice that the shoulders of the Top Shop dress is really wide and the waist part fits well. Doesn't it just remind you of the Balenciaga SS08 shape? I mean, obviously it's not as structured as Balenciaga's, but it looks like a more casual design of Balenciaga's, doesn't it? But I was also concerned with the print. It's not the most modern print around and could easily be seen as a print that's too 'old' and 'grandmother-y'. On the other hand, if you can carry it off and accessorise well, then you can pull a really fashion-foward outfit together. Thus, the line between fashion-backward and fashion-foward is really really thin.

At the end of the day, I always think the most important thing is what you think of the item yourself. But in my typical shopping mindset, I just can't help thinking of the pros and cons. So anyways, what do you think of the two Top Shop dresses?

Image credits: http://www.topshop.com/, http://www.style.com/

Pose-able Bunny

this little guy has pose-able arms, he was the toughest I've attempted yet. i sewed on the ears and legs backwards initially, which lead to some thread cutting and ripping... sewing it on the machine was really tough due to his small scale... but i learned a lot and i think i've come a long way. ;-)

Midnight Madness

This Thanksgiving I had the quintessential crazy Black Friday experience. In the last few years, I always thought it was a bit of a hoax to get people into the shopping spirit, because having been to Saks and Macy's etc during Black Friday previously, I did not find anything on crazy sale. Turns out I just wasn't shopping at the right place.
This year after Thanksgiving dinner, we went online to check the hours of the nearby outlet in San Diego, Carlsbad Premium Outlets, so we can go the next day- only to find that it was already opened in at Midnight Madness sale that went from 12am-10am! Excited, we quickly hopped onto the car and made our way there at 2am. Once there, we were delighted to find that the place was packed with happy holiday shoppers. It really put us in the holiday spirit!
And the beauty was that things were actually cheap! Things were on sales on top of sales- I bought a Puma cap for only $6! But anyway, some of the highlights of the night: The BCBG store: The sale was crazy. There were dresses for $39! I've never even heard of that. But alas, I didn't find any my size. Two that I was especially interested was these two dresses (above). I thought the plaid one would be a fun dress to wear for Christmas. It was only about $120. But alas, I decided I didn't really have an occasion to wear it anyway and it was a bit too long and poofy for casual wear. I almost bought the lacey one for $200. It fit perfectly and it felt really Blair from Gossip Girl like. I was actually standing in line to buy it (a huge line at that), until I decided that $200 was still kind of expensive and that the dress was a very thin line between being old fashion and Blair-like.
Turns out, it was a good thing I didn't spend that $200, because the money was better spent elsewhere. To be more specific, on a suit from Theory. Yes, you read right. This gorgeous black suit with white stripes above was only $200!!! Since a normal suit from Theory usually costs over $600, I was (still am actually) thrilled over this bargain. It fits really well too! My best buy all day! I wish I had more time at Theory.... everything was an additional 30% off!! In additional, I also got a really cute pajama set from Ralph Lauren, sportswear from Adidas and some presents for family. Overall it was a very productive trip! And yes, as you can see from the pictures, we shopped from 2am to sunrise.

Hmm.... though come to think of it Black Friday is still probably a hoax. Since this is the first time I've been to this outlet, I don't know if the prices really are this cheap only for these few hours or if Black Friday just means the start of the sales season. Oh well. I'm happy with my bargains :)

The Meaning of Life

You're the fish face I adore!

This was made way back in the 80s and although it took me until now to discover it I am almost positive it was the beginning of an intergalactic force that pulled me towards the island of Nippon.
Does it get any cooler than this? I ask you!

These Hoots Are Made For Walking

Ryan Rogers