Fashion Start-Up in the Silicon Valley

Scrolling through fashion blogs and reading updates from the front row seats at New York, Paris, and London's fashion weeks has always left me feeling at once excited and, admittedly, a little bitter. There's always the lingering thought of "Why couldn't I have been born in a metropolis instead this suffocating town of geeks and engineers?"

I know, I know, this is real snooty of me ... for a great part of my high school life I daydreamed of escaping  to London, New York, or Hong Kong to be surrounded with the huge selection of big designer retailers and hidden-gem boutiques and well-dressed people. I've sort of grown out of that stage... well as I've said, the sentiment lingers.

And here I am, smiling sadly whilst petting these images of Christopher Kane's show
Image from www.manrepeller.com 

But recent pondering has given me new insight and hope that the Silicon Valley can and most likely will see a fashion industry burgeon in its coming years. Is it so hard to believe? I think the signs are already here. Prada's Miu Miu has recently opened up it's first location in the Bay Area, choosing San Jose over San Francisco, and Prada itself is following suit with a store right next door. Luxury brands are looking to set foot in the Bay Area, and with good reason. The Silicon Valley, being the world's technological boom town, is home to many rich folk, and with more dollars to flaunt, people will be more inclined to focus on what they wear. Not only that, but the Valley is the Mesopotamia of starter-ups and business ventures. People are always looking to make the next big thing, and I can very well see brands sprout to meet the market demand for higher fashion. 

Google Glass + DvF

Crumple and Fold

The Bao Bao, by Issey Miyake, is a bag I really want to try crumpling up. I can't say this of other bags I've seen or own, and I think that's what makes this design so appealing - it's a geometric work of art doubling as a tote you could presumably (but may not want to) use as a shopping bag. The particular design in the pic below is coming out this Friday in Japan. I really wish I could get my hands on one - the chameleon bag apparently shines all arrays of unicorn colors when viewed at different angles. Beautiful.

On the topic of Issey Miyake, I was instantly reminded of his Pleats Please collection when I saw this two piece on DisneyRollerGirl's site:

Image from www.disneyrollergirl.net

The piece is designed by Yi Xie, a graduate from London College of Fashion. Excuse my fawning, but this was an eye-opener. A simple silhouette given depth in the strategic placement of colors and direction of the pleats was modern, yet soft and feminine at the same time. Up close the fabric is clean-cut geometry, but taken as an ensemble, the pleats form an almost organic shape that resembles a tulip, or maybe some tropical bird. 

Image from www.disneyrollergirl.com

Kangaroo Fondue

Okay I'm sorry for the food post, and while this is primarily a fashion blog, I just wanted to share with you my experience of eating kangaroo meat at La Fondue. I've heard that down under kangaroos are about as rare as cows are in America, and that it is a norm to eat kangaroo meat, but being a sheltered Asian-American, kangaroo meat is exotic to my taste buds (kangaroo, kangaroo, kangaroo... the more you say it the less it sounds like a word). Anyways La Fondue is a pretty popular restaurant in downtown Saratoga, and is very reputable on Yelp, so me and the family decided to try something different instead of going to our usual dinner haunts. I apologize for the lighting of these photos in advance - the place is pretty dim.

We had a three course meal, starting with a salad that was... eh, a salad. Then we had a 4 cheese champagne fondue that you dip bread and veggies in. Oh god the cheese was gooooood. I really wanted to keep the whole bowl of it to dip everything and anything in, but I had to watch the waiters whisk it away to set our entrees. Curse fancy dining etiquette.

So out came our entrees - a platter of lobster, jumbo shrimp, crab claws, and filet mignon, and another platter of swiss chicken, swordfish, wild boar, kangaroo, filet mignon, and japonais prawn, and boiling pot of lobster bisque. It was a colorful and intimidating sight.

Kangaroo meat.

Color coord skewers

The kangaroo meat was chewy, and had a kind of rough texture. Taste-wise, I can't compare it to anything else I've eaten.... I know, not very helpful, but I'm no food connoisseur.

Of course we had chocolate fondue for desert. We were given two platters of ice cream puffs, snickers, flute wafers, fruits, krispie balls, cheesecake balls, sweet bread and marshmallows. The fondue itself was dark chocolate with hazelnut and mascarpone. Heaven.

Service was great (our waiter spent 10 minutes whipping the cheese), food was interesting, the chocolate fondue is what I'll consider coming back for. Total bill for four, brace yourselves: $427. I could have bought myself a pair of Miu Mius.

CANDY

The Furla Candy Bag satisfies my fetishes for PVC, doctor bags, and see through things. I wish I had gotten a hold of one when the sparkly edition from the AW 12 collection went on sale...

But apparently, for this season's collection Furla has come out with a mini Candy Bag with gradient colors. Hopefully, a smaller bag means a smaller price tag, so I'm vigilantly keeping watch over the Furla website for the new collection. Plus, the gradient looks awesome.

Image from Stylebubble.co.uk

Checking Furla's website, I found this monstrosity,The Opera Bag, with this statement attached:

“Opera” is the result of an all-italian journey through art, creativity and innovation. As emblem of the performance “Candy-brissima” realized by Sissi, Opera reveals the philosophy of the artist, who sees fashion as a perpetual blend of personal emotions. (x)

 I really wish I had the guts to tote this around...

Local Run

Waking up to gorgeous California weather is a luxury we've been deprived of for the last few weeks of cold gloom. So to appreciate this lovely morning we hopped over to Amor Cafe and Tea in downtown San Jose -  a newly opened, cozy little shop that is perfect for the quick morning pick-me-up or for a relaxing afternoon coffee. The shop is wedged in a prime location near the San Jose Government offices, the MLK Library, and San Jose State University, and has already attracted a loyal following, as indicated by the raving reviews on Yelp. Lisa, the owner of Amor Tea and Cafe, is especially welcoming, and works very hard in hand-making her drinks and confections. The milk tea is brewed from real tea leaves, adding depth and aroma that can't be found in the flat and watery teas from Quickly's or Tapioca Express (they can't even compare).

  If I had the metabolism of a sprouting adolescent and had a higher tolerance for sweets I would have ordered one of every baked item on display. Sadly, I have to choose, so I opted for a Napoleon that appears to be the customer favorite. After taking a bite, I could see why. IT'S SOOOOOO GOOD. Really, it's so fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth-y!!! I finished the entire cake. It was irresistible. And by the time that I left, all of the napoleons were gone...

Lovely, cozy morning experience. I'm returning for more napoleons and definitely trying the fruit flavored boba on my next visit!

Next we ran across to downtown Palo Alto where I ended up finding Empire Vintage Clothing on a side street off the main road. The prices were not so great - it's certainly not a thrift stop - but they were having a buy one sweater get one free sale, and I found a teal sweater with embellishments that was too interesting to pass.The owner of Empire Vintage Clothing, Tiffany, was really nice in allowing me to snap a few pics of the fun and mismatched clothes.

Macaroon pit stop. Lychee, red velvet, green tea, lavender, rose, vanilla, sooooooooo good.

After getting my macaroon fix, I tried using Google maps to find a consignment shop that supposedly still exists. Turns out that it moved long ago.... But, coincidentally, I met fellow Cardinal Fencing Club member, Rita, setting up her new shop at the empty lot! Her business, C is for Craft, is just a bit off of downtown Palo Alto's main road,and is going to be a place where children can take on DIY and crafting projects. Sounds so adorable!

Had a cheery day, running around and seeing people I know setting up shops. It sounds cheesy, but their entrepreneurship is infectious and I'm feeling inspired to pursue my own ventures.

Happy Hat Hunting

It's break, and it's my monthly. I'm in an unsightly state, gorging on yogurt and pistachios in a self-perpetuating cycle, and moping around the house with nothing better to do. At this rate I may start shooting the wall out of sheer boredom.

 So what to do but go online for some retail therapy? I started browsing my usual haunts, and well... that snowballed into a hat hunting spree since that's what my wardrobe is severely lacking. After an hour or so, I finally narrowed my search down to three hats that fit in my budget:

Hat #1: MSGM Floral Hat $115 

Cute right? I've been hunting for a floral cap for a while now since seeing these from Karen Walker previous year's collection:

Sadly I can't seem to find any of these Karen Walker caps for sale online, but the MSGM cap is a nice alternative, albeit a much pricier one (the K.W. cap retailed for $40). Still, I'm a little miffed that I can't get my hands on the pink K.W. hat. The asian-esque flowers and the silky material makes it so much more than a regular old cap...

Hat #2: Comme des Garcons Striped Beanie $64.77

Honestly, I'm surprised to see anything from CDG with this tag. The original price was $130 but it's been slashed down 50%, and apparently, it's vintage. Was very tempted. Not only are black and white stripes the new trend of the season, but also seeing Susie Bubble wear a similar looking Ganryu Hat from Comme des Garcons gave me all sorts of outfit ideas.

Image from Stylebubble.co.uk

Hat #3: Kenzo x New Era $60

These KENZO hats are new additions on the Opening Ceremony website. Love love love the prints on these, and the fact that they are within my budget (unlike all other printed items from Kenzo... Bless these fast-fashion collabs). Going on a tangent here, I found this article against such collaborations pretentious and party-pooping, and I'm grateful to be able to prance around in a Prabal Gurung print that I didn't have to shell out 1k for... Okay back to the hats. So the print sold me in and I ended up ordering the blue, white, black basket-weave cap in a hurry since previous experience tells me that these items sell out pretty fast. Lo and behold, the salmon and green cap with KENZO conspicuously printed on its front is already sold out in all but one size, so if you want in on the other styles you should head on over quick!

Online hat hunting is strangely therapeutic, though it may just be the thrill of impulse buying that will fade once I start considering how to pay for my education. 

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Perspex Perfection

Ohhhh curse my insatiable lust for all things glassy and laser-cut.
It began when I first laid my eyes on Simone Rocha's dreamy floating brogues from her 2011 collection - a whimsical twist on a classic shoe design.

This year, the perspex is back, transforming classic black heels, and brogues, making the models looks like they are literally floating on air.

Insta-classics

So, so good

Or if neon is your thing

And there's also Tatty Devine, with their laser-cut perspex jewelry that's very much affordable and absolutely adorable. Just pop a necklace over a white blouse or chunky sweater to add color and cheer. BTW they're giving us Americans free shipping for a limited time so I would head on over! Me, I'm dreaming of getting this necklace they did as a collaboration with the Tate Museum.

Needless to say, perspex is my ultimate weakness. It's sort of a strange material to use in making things for wear, but I think that it's the surprising versatility and creativity in its employment that makes all things perspex-y perfect.