Tokyo Photo Diary: Christmas in Shinjuku

If you're only in Tokyo for a short time & haven't much time to visit the numerous shrines & temples, the Hie shrine in the business-district of Akasaka is well worth getting off the metro for.  Whilst you won't be able to run through the tori gates Memoirs of a Geisha-style (that's at the Inari Shrine in Kyoto), it's still a gorgeous place for photos.

Tokyo Photo Diary: Ginza

Twenty photos to sum up day two: exploring Ginza (or more like spending hours in Uniqlo...), people-watching, stumbling upon Dover Street Market (where I could definitely do some serious Comme Des Garcons damage before we leave), Christmas Eve at Tokyo Sky Tree town (then promptly missing ticket sales for the Sky Tree itself), and finally checking out the Don Quixote branch just across the road from our hotel - everything you could ever need (including some hilarious costumes).

Tokyo Photo Diary: Day 1 Makeovers

メリークリスマス!

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas filled with much love & thanksgiving!  Simon & I are definitely making use of the ample festive-themed delights here in Tokyo, and had a stunner of a Christmas abroad - albeit, the only downside was it was lacking family & friends on the actual day!

Nonetheless, that hasn't stopped us from having a ball of a time over here in Tokyo.  I'm a couple of days behind in terms of photos, but will trickle out the posts for your prolonged enjoyment. 

Outfit Plans: Christmas

It's Christmas tomorrow (hurrah!) & I'm going to attempt to defy the floral-dress trend that seems to fill my 23 years of Christmases so far.  There's nothing wrong with pretty dresses, but there's also nothing wrong with a change.  Not to mention it's going to be a cool 27 degrees, so a sun dress isn't mandated.

Some pics to prove you can be festive sans florals.

all photos from tumblr, none our own

What are the odds I'm still going to wear a floral dress?  

Merry Christmas to you all.  We'll be back posting in a few days.  Off the computer now.

xx S 

Street Style: Sandrine

Taking a street-style break over Christmas & New Year's (with a fitting Japanese-post-frenzy replacement), but before the short hiatus here is Sandrine in her gorgeous Summery playsuit!  

Street Style: Kaitlyn

The lady sporting this bright ensemble is none other than Kaitlyn Gregory - my favourite entrant from this year's WA Miss Universe heats & the most bubbly shop assistant you'll find along Times Square Claremont!

Street Style: Maddie

What you can't see from this angle is that her accessories are dead-on: Celine mini-like tote & Comme des Garcons Converse sneakers!

Outfit: Kaleidoscope

The question how do you plan an outfit? is not exactly keeping-you-up-at-night material, but once you've found the answer it does make getting dressed much easier.  A fool-proof method I use is to base your outfit around one multi coloured piece of clothing that you love (e.g. this Ginger & Smart silk top) and go from there!  I mean, you can trust a designer like that to choose good colours, so why not go with their flow? ;)

Sadly there's no pic of the back of the top... it has a HOOD!!

Ginger & Smart top

Leather pencil skirt

DIY tassel earrings

Witchery sandals

Le Specs Runaways sunnies

I wore this for lunch at Bread In Common (see yesterday's post) with my ladehs.

xx S

Street Style: Paige

This is Eleanor's (from yesterday's street style post) sister.  Two gorgeous girls in one family - with style to boot!

Eat Out: Bread In Common

Second to potatoes, S & I really really love bread.  So with Sinead in tow, we disregarded the travel-time to Freo to get to Bread In Common, one of the new trendehhh places to get fed.  Channelling the warehouse vibe like Gordon Street Garage, long share-tables fill the cavernous restaurant & fresh juices & smoothies are served up in mason jar mugs for a hefty price tag.  We could make ten times the quantity of juice/smoothies for the price we forked out, but then again, an experience is an experience - and we don't like to go thirsty.  At least they tasted alright.

In true filthy hipster style, we all ordered the quinoa bircher (yes, you can all collectively shudder).  It was, however, surprisingly tasty and filling - loaded with coconut, chia seeds, shredded apple, berries, & nectarine.  I'll be trying my hand at making my own to save me the trek to Fremantle, but for those who live nearer that way, it was definitely worth it.

Of course we couldn't leave without trying the bread, which was accompanied by some hazelnut dukkah & olive oil.  The bread was good, which is a sigh of relief since it would otherwise be very embarrassing given the eatery's namesake.  I bet we'll be ordering more next time we visit!

Bread In Common
43 Pakenham St. Fremantle
Open daily, no reservations available

T

Street Style: Eleanor

Doesn't she just remind you of a mid-2000s Mischa Barton? 

Outfit: Cult Crop

Say hello to my new favourite jeans - these Nobody Cult Crop skinnies.  The perfect length for shorties like me, and just the right amount of the French-Voguette-vibe to distract you from my mask tan, thanks to a day of scuba diving.  Team the crop skinnies with a pointy pump and throw on any top - the polished bottom-half gives plenty of leeway with whatever you've donned on the cephalic end!

Fedora from some Cambodian pharmacy

General pants striped tee

Nobody Denim cult crop skinnies

MNG suede pumps

Le Specs sunglasses

Alushia Sanchia ring

Country Road bag

T

Street Style: Alicia

Spotted Alicia from a mile away and had to take her photo!

Just quietly, there are many days in which I wish I had tight curly hair.

Eat out: Marie Antoinette #2

Perth has suddenly changed from mildly Summery weather to full on boiling (we're talking over 35) and barring ice cubes and watermelon, there is nothing better to eat in the toasty weather than ice cream.  If you're a P-town local and haven't tried Marie Antoinette Cafe Glacier in Cottesloe, now's the time, I say!

Previous post here about Marie Antoinette.  It was just so good T had to take me back.

If you didn't already know, tea goes so well with ice cream.  Be sure to try their French Breakfast pot of tea.

xx S&T

Street Style: Natasha

Jiva Stemmata: What They Wore

"What should I wear?" are the words on anyone's lips when they get an invitation.  So, in the wake of Friday night's event we thought we'd do a post about what everyone wore instead of the usual bombardment of what we wore.  Fashion & creative events are great because they're the perfect place to try out something a bit crazier than usual or basically to wear whatever ridiculous thing you have been hiding away.  Although I suppose that lies in second place to the guy carrying fruit platters galore that we shamelessly stalked throughout the night...

S Wore:
Gorman skirt
Op shopped everlast tank & silver pumps
Marcs bag borrowed from T
Necklace borrowed from my lil sis who hopefully won't read this & see that I stole her necklace


T Wore:
Nobody Beau jeans from Peachy
Sass & Bide cardigan 
Country Road singlet
COS necklace from S
MNG suede pumps
DIY Leather Lunch Bag 

xx S&T

Street Style: Jaime

Japan Winter Packing Guide

In one week exactly I'll be on a plane with Simon, jetting over to Tokyo!  I'm keen to not look like a total daggy tourist this time, so here is my proposed packing plan (which will also make it tres easier to get my stuff together, as I know I'll be chucking things into my suitcase at the nth hour as per usual).  With a relatively dry, mild Winter (compared to other countries, NOT Perth), it's quite easy to pack for Japan when you're not going snowboarding or out into the snowy areas.  Not shown below are thermals - an absolute must.  Spend more on these and you won't be cursing yourself later!

My packing list:

Outerwear: MNG coat, Witchery fur coat, Topshop leather jacket
Knitwear: Country road grey jumper, Trenery white jumper, Polo Ralph Lauren navy jumper, Uniqlo knit dress
Mid-layers: Country Road white silk shirt, General Pants denim shirt
Bottoms: leggings, Nobody Cult skinnies in "Addict" blue & black, Axara leather trousers
Footwear: Nike Free Trains & Sky Hi dunks, Acne Pistols in chestnut
Leather goods: Marc by Marc Jacobs bag, gloves
Accessories: Asos earmuffs, Topshop snood, Country Road fur scarf, navy eBay beanie, Asos beanie
Eyewear: RayBan Clubmasters, Karen Walker Numer 1s
Potential extras (not shown): Mimco scarf, Lyla & Bo wool felt fedora, Nobody boyfriend jeans


I'll report back with what went well & what didn't after my trip!

T

Street Style: Poppy

Hey plebs, bow down to the ultimate Queen of print-mixing.

Jiva Stemmata: ECU Contemporary Fashion Grad Event

Jiva meaning a living being or the immortal essence of a living thing that survives physical death

Stemmata meaning a scroll recording the genealogy of an ancient Roman family (amongst other meanings)

A confusingly spooky title for a definitely mysterious showcase of what the ECU contemporary fashion graduants have been working towards in the last few years.  Words cannot really do justice to the talent on display, so you'll just have to have a look at the photos, but all we can say is that seems the students have remained true to the idea of working through their degree as artists as opposed to members of the fashion industry.  

Click through for photos of both the Spectrum Project Space full of works-in-progress, inspirational artworks, some trendily clad Perthians and of course, the actual show!