Kôenji, Tokyo

I thought it'd not really make sense to write a very short guide to my favorite spots in Seoul, but not to my favorite spots in Tokyo at all. That said, I really like to quote my friend when I talk about Tokyo, who stated "Tokyo is the mecca of things to do", which is absolutely and 100% and totally and superduperhypermegaoverload true. I haven't gotten around enough yet even now, and looking back, I should've explore a lot, lot more.

So to start off this little something that maybe can act as a little guide to you somehow someday, I had thought about starting with the obvious, the big gun areas that most have probably already heard about. Or should have heard about, because they are dreams come true. Kinda.

But I'm gonna start with something else.

Kôenji 高円寺, on the JR-Chûô-Sôbu-line to the North-West.

I only discovered this area maybe a month ago or so, and was instantly hooked. We went to a cozy, original café for lunch there (Dogberry), had tea and delicious afternoon-tea-time-snacks at Gclef, and strolled along the rows of extremely good looking eatery spots and countless vintage-stores. I came back to Kôenji a while ago to explore those vintage stores a bit more thoroughly, and it's safe to say that Vintage-lovers will get their fair share here. I'm not much of a great fan of vintage, but it didn't go unnoticed that each store in Kôenji has its special flair of its own, which makes shopping there truly enchanting, and exciting.

Here is a little collection of pictures from one vintage store in Kôenji, which fascinated me with its styling on its mannequins, because this here is really so typically Street Fashion Japanese, but well executed.

I love the veil in the two left pictures in the lower row. In the two pictures to the right, you can see bits of the Spank!-shop of which I'd read about at Hayley's (haha, I translated a German TV-documentary about it for her - u remember that, Hayley?). I love the shop! It is an accumulation of all things a 12-14 year old girl in the eighties would have had, and had totally wanted, to be one of the "cool girls", complete with games, toys, and a TV that airs original 80ies-superhero-cartoons. It's truly amazing stuff!

You know, in Tokyo really, really amazing things can be hidden in upper or basement floors of worn down buildings that look like office- or apartment-buildings that never had given the impression to house anything worth of note. Simply, it's not always easy to unearth all those little gems, and it takes time. However, Kôenji is full of such charming and lovingly put together shops that tagging around Kôenji makes happy enough without looking for much, and all Kôenji itself feels like a gem.

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T w i t t e r

Loves Change

Stephie from Fashion Nation and Stephie says finally came over again from Singapore! I already had the pleasure to meet her before in summer, and she promised to come back to me, and did keep her word!

She was also so nice to bring me a very effective hair-growing-potion from a Chinese witch doctor who lives across the street of her, and told me to drink it before I go to sleep. I drank it and got up like this today:

! ! !

Those Chinese witch doctors! Damnnn, they're good! I love having long hair (first time in my life ever), even tho I still have to chuckle seeing me with it.

It's Not Yet Too Late

Those inside of the US can simply text "Haiti" to 90999 to donate 10$. But anywhere else, online donations are also really, really easy and quick!

http://www.redcross.org

Make Up Looks

The A Magazine cover look is my absolute favorite. Will pay my red cream eye shadow pot some more attention. However, the brows in this are perfection as well. Like a Japanese tusche drawing. And do you see the glossy-ness on Natalie Portman's lids? I want that!

Marine

I've always been magically drawn to stripes in black/navy and white ever since I could shop on my own. But it also resulted in overloading, so I suddenly stopped buying them, even tho I always, always want them still! Now I don't own any, so it's just right that I finally got me a good marine style striped shirt. It can't be too hard.

Sloppy Collages

The leggings are velvet. Yes, velvet! And I find myself unable to make it visible in the pictures. In general, taking outfit pictures in Tokyo just never worked out. My room's too small and has weird lighting. Outside, I never find a good moment.

Resorting to making sloppy collages. It's obviously also part of my procrastination program.

I Am Honey

Sure thing, this blog is the blog of the cool Asian chicks.

Har har!

From Japan to Taiwan.

I was just hanging with my Taiwanese and Japanese friends in my room, and we touched upon the topic of how much Taiwanese love camwhoring. And boy! yes! They obviously do.

But anyway, to demonstrate what she meant is how I also came across I Am Honey.

Can't give any infos on her, just that she obviously is from Taiwan and is working in a shop called Screaming. Other than that, I think the pics speak for themselves.

Ayamo

In Japan, the teen to early twenties, not editorial magazines always use the same set of models each time for each issue. This is for the girls who read the mags to find someone who they can identify with, and thus they will turn to the magazine to see what their favorite model is wearing and how. I think that's a nice approach actually. I find myself having a couple of favorite models in some magazines too.

In Zipper, in particular, I really love Ayamo.

In the most recent February issue she has two-colored hair!!!! OMG! How cool IS that?

The third picture is from Drop Snap from a while ago.

She just has this punky, slouchy look I always liked ever since high school, and with which I started off into being a style and clothing fanatist.

Vika Gazinskaya

Young designer Vika Gazinskaya is top target for street style hunter for over more than a year now. I was stunned by how many pictures my images.google.com-search yielded. She can do it both, fierce, and modern romantic, and she does both extremely well. Her amazing sharp short hair helps! The following is but a fracture of her style images, and my favorites.