Archives for 2009

Bando Tamasburo, male kabuki legend, by Kishin Shinoyama

TI loved this feature on male kabuki legend Bando Tamasburo-and Shinoyama's photography is incredible.

This is from the Paradis summer 08 issue-I was so, so, so excited to get my hands on a copy last time I was in New York. It's my favorite magazine.

"For 38 years, Kishin Shinoyama has been taking photographs of Bando Tamasburo, a living ledgend of kabuki theatre. In 1970, the author and nationalist ritual suicide, Yukio Mishima, said of this 'onnagata'-a male actor who specialises in female roles, but doesn't play them exclusively: "The onnagata is the flower of Kabuki, and although the great elders are essential in this field, if there were no young actors, none of these flowers in bud, kabuki would not survive. Nowadays, even though we would like to cultivate such flowers, there is no soil for this purpose and we can only impaitiently wait for a miracle. Now our paitience has been rewarded. Tamasaburo is a young onnagata whose elegance and delicacy call to mind the working of ivory. He is the living proof of the vitality of kabuki." Kishin Shinoyama, himself a master of the photographic medium, spoke to Paradis about his singular rapport with Bando Tamasburo."

Click below to see more scans of the pictures and to read the interview with Kishin Shinoyama discussing Tamasburo.

Fashion

Jul 11, 200935 Comments

Holt Renfrew Windows-& back from Tokyo!

I am very honored to have been featured in the fashion-blogger window display unveiled at Holt Renfrew last Friday-thanks so much to John Gerhardt, HR's creative director, for organizing this-all of the windows look amazing! I wish I lived in Canada so I could see them in real life.

Thank you so much to the kind readers who sent in photos of the windows-including K at Such Fun Things, Tricia Campbell, who even posted videos of all of the windows. Check them out at her blog.

Other windows include The Sartorialist, Jak & Jil, Garance Dore, Bryan Boy, and Anita Clarke. What a privilege to be featured among my favorite blogs-thank you again Holt Renfew for paying tribute to bloggers!

I'm back from Tokyo-it feels AMAZING to be back.

I really appreciate all of the feedback from my readers during my stay in Tokyo-I am so pleased to hear so many of you guys enjoyed it's photo documentation!

Some parting images from Japan (wearing this insane top & cardigan I bought from Fur Fur)

If this post is brief, its because I'm preparing for a cookout with my friends and family tonight…I missed them so much while I was gone!

xo Jane

Fashion

Jul 10, 2009116 Comments

Last few days in Tokyo

Sorry for the slowdown in updates recently…

As promised, we took Nao to the aquarium.

And spent the rest of the day hanging out in cafes and shooting around town.

Found a totally random place called 'Bess' that sold stuff like this…the place was huge…my mom and I were mesmerized by it.

Have enjoyed seeing the cool architecture here…

Went to a beautiful park…the cutest kids in the world were there.

And dogs too!

I only have two more days left in Tokyo now. I am so ready to come home. I miss my family, my friends, my dogs, my own room….I've been so out of sorts the last couple of days because I am homesick.

Not that I don't love it here….:)

xo Jane

Fashion

Jul 6, 2009151 Comments

Hanging Out with Nao

First things first, a big thank you to the reader who reccomended Brown Rice Cafe to me-it's my new favorite. I've grabbed lunch there the past two days with my mom.

An exciting find right next to Brown Rice Cafe was the Crayon House-a kids book and toy store, which also has an organic cafe downstairs.

The kids books there were sooo cute…wish I could read them.

I'd like to know what this book was about…can't read japanese but I'm pretty sure the title is Satan Rides the Big Queef.

Loved this one about a kindly furry turd monster.

Upstairs at the Crayon House was the toy floor(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Mom and I were wanting to bring all of these cool toys home and then we saw this big siamese kitty……

and suddenly kitty was the only thing that mattered to us. We were getting so lonely without our pets, this kitty was the perfect solution. It was immediately decided that the kitty would be our constant companion.

We've only just picked out a name for the kitty: her name is Nao.

Went back to Brown Rice Cafe yesterday-with Nao in tow.

Nao likes to ride in my mom's Prada bag.

Yesterday I wore a men's tee from Urban Outfitters, a skirt from a japanese label I can't seem to remember, Natalia Brilli amp cord neckalce and Nolex watch, and Martin Margiela cowboy boots.

Mom wears Hysteric Glamour jeans, Nakkna dress, and orange flip flops

Did some shooting in Harjuku again yesterday-it's nice to shoot here because no one ever says 'no' to having their picture taken.

We've found that Nao causes a scene wherever she goes…it's hilarious, people cannot keep their shit together when they see this cat!! Flocks of old ladies were attacking us yesterday…a chorus of 'kawaiiiiiiiiiiiiiii's followed Nao wherever she went. A group of girls even started doing a totally hysterical imitation of Nao's floppy arms when we were walking down the street with her.

Nao and I posed for a streetstyle blog.

Nao has made many friends since we freed her from the Crayon House.

Keiko from Anniversaire Cafe with Nao.

Here is Kohta again, posing with Nao!

It's raining again today-I think my mom and I are going to take Nao to the aquarium. C ya later.

Fashion

Jul 1, 2009229 Comments

MANIACAL ABOUT MANIAC

During our short day in LA, my mom and I discovered a japanese line we had never heard about at Maxfields-we pried the sales associates to tell us about it, but no one seemed to know much. They had only a very small selection. We first fell in love with the cropped bell-bottom frayed jeans we both bought-their tags said ‘LGB’.

Later we found the most breathtaking leather jacket tucked away in the back of the store: layers of beautifully distressed leather, exagerated sleeves & assymetric cut, tiny little skull buttons….and an arrangment of peacock feathers going down the lapel. Very rock & roll but at the same time completely ethereal. We were told that this jacket was made under a label that was in the same group as LGB-that the group as a whole was called ‘Maniac’.

My mom and I totally flipped out over that jacket…it was hard to leave the store without it. But I told myself that I would make it my mission to find out more about ‘Maniac’ and ‘LGB’ when we were in Tokyo.

Easier said than done-Maniac’s amazing stores are unknown to even some of the most shop-savvy Tokyoites. They don’t advertise and they don’t allow their clothing to be photographed for magazines. It took some snooping-had to find out what the hell ‘LGB’ stood for (Le Grand Bleu as it turns out) and I got a little confused by the three store locations when I finally DID manage to find out where/what they were.

So if I have understood correctly, the ‘Maniac Corporation’ consists of their two lines: Le Grand Bleu (LGB) and If Six Was Nine. The lines are extremely similar, but LGB focuses mainly on denim. If Six Was Nine is all amazing rock n roll pieces-menswear and womenswear.

The three stores that the Maniac corp owns are Bedrock in Omotesando Hills, Le Grand Bleu in Azabudai, and Circus in Daikanyama.

All of the stores are very different. I can’t even begin to describe to you how amazing the stores themselves are. I wish I could take pictures but it is strictly foridden in all of their stores.

Bedrock is probably the most impressive: to get to Bedrock, you have to go through a little backdoor in a cafe in Omotesando hills. That cafe would be the Forbidden Fruit cafe, which has great vegetarian curry by the way.

Bedrock is competely out of this world-without a doubt the most memorable shopping experience I have ever had. It’s like you’ve left Tokyo and stepped into the world’s coolest post-apocolyptic fall-out shelter. It’s worth the trip just to see the store itself. There is an amazing gigantic terrarium in the back of the store too.

This is the Forbidden Fruit Cafe-go down an ominous flight of stairs to enter Bedrock.

This is the sign outside of Le Grand Bleu-the storefront is a great cafe.

Side door

The food there is *really* tasty.

Like I said, the stores themselves transcend verbal description. The only thing I can tell you is that if you’re ever in Tokyo, you HAVE to go.

In addition to LGB and If Six Was Nine, their stores carry Ann Demeulemeester, Rick Owens, Givenchy, Lanvin, and John Galliano to name a few.

These big-name labels paled in comparison to what Maniac had to offer.

My mom and I decided that while we are in Tokyo, we only want to shop at Maniac’s stores-the pieces we’ve purchased are now our favorite things in our closets.

I’ll just shut the fuck up about how much I love this label now!! Let me show you a couple of the things I’ve come away with.

Wearing a raw silk charcoal caridgan by LGB, wax coated python-embosses tie-dye pants by If Six Was Nine, double layered tank top by LGB, Martin Margiela python clutch, Martin Margiela wooden clogs, and Yohji Yamamoto hat.

Here is what my mom wore yesterday.

The LGB bondage pouch pants-this is a men’s pant.

Worn with vintage sequin jacket, Stella Mccartney mesh sandals, Ralph Lauren belt, Topshop tee

These are men’s tie-dyed jeans. Mom is wearing them with a vintage jacket, vintage belt, and stella Mccartney mesh sandals.

I got this one-sleeved cream leather jacket for myself.

If Six Was Nine leather jacket worn with LGB bondage pouch pants (mine are womens jeans), LGB double layered tank, and Givenchy cowboy booties.

I have more Maniac things to show you-I think mom and I are going to run over their today to pick up some pieces for her.

Please do visit their website-they have some pictures of some of their collection but they don’t do them justice at all, in my humble opinion.

I am so happy that I’ve come back from Tokyo with something that I truly love and am totally excited about-finding out about LGB and If Six Was Nine made this whole trip very special.

I would love to find out more about this somewhat mysterious label-the language barrier has made it difficult to ask the sales associates questions, but I do know *who* the designer is. He was eating lunch in the cafe the first time we visited. I’ll try to find out more info before I leave!

Fashion

Jun 28, 2009

TOKYO UPDATE

I've been having a blast here in Tokyo, but probably my favorite thing to do is to slum around Omotesando taking people's pictures. It's very relaxing. Sadly my pictures don't always turn out well because of the high-speed traffic in this area-it's hard to stop and ask for photos. But I like the candid-ness of these shots. Be sure to check out my mom's blog for her shots too!

Here is my mom, people-watching & ready to snap.

I had to stop and ask this guy for a picture-doesn't he look incredible? What an amazing face too!

From behind.

The dogs here are soooo cute. This morning I saw a poodle with a heart shaved onto its back, and a Mickey-Mouse head shaved onto its hip. True story. Didn't have my camera though :(

I miss my dogs at home so much.

This was the cutest couple in the world…I snapped a picture of the woman, she was so beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful…LOL..this is Kohta, our waiter at Anniversarie Cafe. Kohta told us he got his nice tan from surfing in Chiba. I think my mom actually told Kohta that he was the cutest waiter in the world. Like, those were her exact words. Dios mio.

This is a picture my mom took from the first wedding we saw at Anniversarie Cafe. The first time we went to Anniversarie Cafe, we didn't know that they held weddings there. It was a big surprise when suddenly a huge wedding party filled the outdoor cafe and a beautiful bride and groom walked right past us. Brought a tear or two (okay, or 30…) to our eyes.

Some people asked how my hair extensions went….well, I kind of chickened out. I was sitting in the salon waiting for my appointment, and I was checking out all the chicks around me getting these long weaves put in, and then I realized that I wouldn't be able to throw my hair in a sloppy bun without my weave showing. Um, no thanks!! I think when I do crazy hair color, I'm just gonna die a big chunk pink. For the time being, I just got the ends of my hair bleached out. It's not a super noticeable change.

There is a really pretty garden next to our hotel. Very peaceful.

Wearing Henrik Vibskov Dress & LGB pants, with a Margiela clutch (borrowing from mom) & Stella Mccartney mesh sandals.

I'm off to find some dinner…I haven't been very adventurous with the food here…I know I'm missing out, but it is a little bit more difficult when you are vegetarian, though I know there are so many delicious veggie dishes out there. I'll try to scout some out tonight.

Thank you to the people who have left such nice comments during this trip, I really appreciate your support!

I'll try to get to my email sometime soon, sorry for the delayed correspondence.

xo Jane

Fashion Lifestyle Travel

Jun 25, 2009137 Comments

JUN TAKAHASHI’S GRACES

I've been looking forward to visiting the Undercover store here in Tokyo for a long time and checking out the Graces exhibition…I got to go a few days ago and I'm so glad I did. I wish I had been able to take pictures in the store.

Anyone who follows Undercover or Jun Takahashi is familiar with the Graces by now. Doll-making is an avid hobby of Takahashi's now for many years. They appeared prominently in the Spring 09 collection…

"This season Takahashi notes that he was inspired by white, fluffy creatures with luminous eyes called "Graces." These creatures, invented by Takahashi, keep their distance from humans. A secret organization called Gila, he says, has succeeded in breeding and protecting the Graces. Gila also has played a crucial role in fostering a relationship between both the Graces and the human species. To illustrate this notion, Takahashi made dolls (which looked somewhat like a cross between an alien and a monkey with luminous eyes and a light on the tip of their tails), which rested on the shoulders of a few of the mannequins that were set-up in the center of the gallery space."

I have been entranced by these creatures ever since I first saw them…you can't exactly tell if the Graces are peaceful or hostile beings. In some of the photos taken by Katsuhide Morimoto for the Spring 09 collection, humans and Graces exist in peace (a picture of a young girl gazing peacefully at a miniature Grace in what looks like an open-air terrarium) and in some contexts the Graces are monstrous (an image of creatures atop a building shooting beams of light from their lamp-heads at a crowd of terrorized humans below)

These are not my own pictures, so thank you to a few kind people from Flickr who have shared images of the Graces in the various exhibits and windows they have appeared in.

Jun-takahashi-grace-exhibition-00-575x383

Unfortunately I couldn't show all of the photos that I saw in the Undercover store, but if you're in town soon it is definitely worth a look.

Here are some pictures of the Graces in some other exhibitions.

Sometimes Jun Takahashi does live presentations of the doll-making.

Here are some of the beautiful images of the Graces from the issue of A Magazine that Jun Takahashi curated.

I've heard there was an animated film made with the Graces. I'd love to see it some day!

Fashion

Jun 24, 200954 Comments

J. Aldridge by Sea of Shoes for Urban Outfitters.

Hi guys, I'm excited to announce the launch of a capsule collection I did for Urban Outfitters. I'm so grateful to have been given the chance to design what I love (shoes!) and it has been a pleasure to work with UO.

Here is the snippet from the press release.

"Jane Aldridge may be just 17 years old, but the Dallas-based fashion blogger has an impressive global following on her personal style blog, Sea of Shoes. "Ever since I've reached my full shoe size I've been fanatical about collecting shoes," says Aldridge. "That's how my blog got started, as a means of chronicling my addiction to beautiful footwear and the evolution of my personal style," she adds.

The magnetic Texas teen has to wear a school uniform five days a week with a one and a half inch heel rule, but outside of class, flats are the last thing you'll see her wearing. From YSL cage heels and Chanel bow-tie booties to Margiela clogs, Aldridge pairs her favored heels with equally envied outfits. And now, she has found another creative outlet for her passion; designing shoes herself, with the help of Urban Outfitters.

Launching next month, J. Aldridge by Sea of Shoes is a capsule collection of three styles, exclusive to Urban Outfitters. Dramatic knee-high brown leather peep-toe boots feature top-stitched detailing and lacing at the front, black gladiator heels with studs and twin buckle straps, and lace-up, pointy skimmers. "I'm really excited to bring my designs to Urban Outfitters," says Aldridge. "The inspiration for this collection is a mish-mash of some of the elements of my favorite pairs—sort of Victoriana meets gladiator warrior."

Can't wait to get home and try them on!

Fashion

Jun 23, 2009335 Comments

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