they take shoe making classes in Japan too!

Wiksten posted about a Japanese store called cotton which has a blog.

Me being Japanese and all I was excited to see there was a blog to the clothing store.

Me trying to learn Japanese and all I've decided to read the blog even though that takes me like forever.

One of the posts was about a shoe making class.

Me writing on this blog and all about wanting to learn how to make shoes, I thought it was fate that this blog posted about making shoes.

Me spending so much time translating it and all I thought I'd give you a bit about what the post is all about: taking a shoe making class... and working hard on it.

Something about the snugness

Is he a girl or a boy?

I don't like the rest of his outfit, but the snug leather jacket is why I am posting this picture. There's something about how snug it is.

Found via The Sartorialist for men's fashion week. The link is a bit strange on my computer.

digital polaroid photos

Polaroid film may be gone, but there is always capturing the style digitally.

When I saw polaroids on blogs I thought it was some kind of setting on photoshop. Sally Jane Vintage uses it a lot. I think it's kitschy if you can do it digitally and not as cool as, say, using polaroids 7 years ago. That's right 7, because those were the days.

What would be cool is if they make some kind of application that makes pictures look HOLGA-like.

Now, I know through the froginette makes things blog post that it's a free application that you can download here.

I love it when I find out the secrets!

more leather jacket goodness

ALANIS leather jacket by Soia & Kyo, $390

Soia & Kyo has not exhorbantly priced leather jackets that are 100% leather.
not sure what eggplant looks like in real life.

why are they less than $400, I'm a little suspicious.

are they made well?

how will I ever know?

Found via door sixteen.

work in-progress

I have been making some progress with my sewing project. I think that a shirt in-progress sometimes looks a lot nicer than the actual shirt. You've got contrasting basting stitches, the rough edges and the possibility of perfection in something not yet complete. It'll probably be a while before I finish this project because things will start to get busy for me. Perhaps if there is a cold weekend in the near future where I can't do anything but sew. Until then, above is my work in progress.


I cut the seam allowance 1/4" because that is how the shirt was sewn. It's the first time I'm working with such a small amount of wiggle room. I usually have 1/2" or even 1". The seams are raw so I put some finishing tape to hide my open seams. I hope it won't itch later. I guess we'll see.

The Choosy Beggar

This guy (the choosy beggar) has good taste and goes to every sample sale imaginable. He has pictures to show for it. It makes me wish he was a girl with his impeccable taste in various brands. Or makes me wish I could wear menswear - or had a machine that made menswear fit me.

See, he actually goes to these things, which is so helpful.

Found via racked.com, another blog that follows sample sales. Racked quotes the choosy beggar all the time for updates about sales. I think Racked is a big machine while the choosy beggar is a solo operation.

Search for a leather jacket

John Varvatos for Converse, $695 at 80spurple.com

I've never owned a leather jacket.
I'm really not a leather jacket kind of girl.

I've also never had that much $$ to drop on something non-essential (as opposed to a winter jacket, those are essential).

BUT... this being a blog and all about the subtle wardrobe, just because I can't buy it doesn't mean I can't post about it.

I am going to try to collect different leather jackets out there in the market.
Let the leather jacket image collection begin!

I feel like I know what I want, it's just a matter of finding it out there.
It's a bit frustrating that I have to just wait until the one I want is designed, manufactured, marketed, and sold. And if there is the off chance that the leather jacket I imagine has materialized, there's a slim chance that it's in my price range for non-essential goods.

Designers control what I wear. wtf.

I love John Varvatos' mens collection, and am happy to see that he's designing for women through converse.