Tuesday, September 2, 2008

That tank

Tri-Blend Racerback tank by American Apparel, TR308 and retails at $19. Expensive in my opinion. You can get one for cheaper at the American Apparel warehouse store in downtown LA or make something like it yourself from old soft shirts. I have the one shown above, but salvaged the one I'm wearing below from an old shirt. I'm on the left.
It's pretty simple. Cut off all hems: sleeves, bottom, neck. Cut lower on neckline and the back into a slight racerback form as shown below.

Simple, right? Remember, the material has to be thinner. Don't use a Hanes Beefy-T that you got for free at a charity walk-a-thon. Tri-blend obviously works great, but so does 100% cotton if sheer or worn in. For those who don't know, tri-blend is typically a cotton, poly, and rayon blend that gives a shirt the whole vintage look and feel. I wear my loose tanks with a Calvin Klein bralette.

hello everyone

This is me:
1) I love clothes (and shoes)
2) I am tiny
3) I shop for my guy friends
4) I hate spending a lot of money

I can't really call myself a couture afficianado (and I hate the word "fashionista") because, well, I've never bought anything couture for myself. I love thesartorialist.blogspot.com and fashiontoast.blogspot.com, but I can't pull off anything that is shown on fashion toast (I am lacking 10 inches in height and negative mass). Elle, InStyle, Marie Claire, bla bla are great, but there is no way I could ever afford (or willingly procure guilt-free) anything in there. Sometimes, I still find the choices in teen zines to be too pricey for me. Vogue is obviously out of the question. And, in case you are wondering, Teen Vogue is the best for practical women's fashion. For guys, GQ is awesome.


Anyway, towering at 5 feet flat and hovering around a constant 90 lbs, I've had trouble wearing things that I like, but simply can't. Examples listed below:

Bottoms:
  • I can't do skinny jeans. My legs are too short.
  • Miniskirts don't work on me. Same reason. They end up being unattractively un-mini.

Shoes:

  • I can't ever find shoes that fit (size 5 womens are a dying species).
  • I refuse to wear flats, unless they are flip flops or sneakers (both of which I never wear "out"). I don't need more help looking more juvenile than I already physically present myself.
Tops:
  • When I turned 22, I refused to stop buying kids' clothing, albeit considerably cheaper.
  • I'm Asian, so anything yellow (lemon, banana, buttercream, sunshine, etc.) just doesn't work. Yellow is hardly ever the new black, so I guess I've been fortunate thus far.
  • I don't have a particularly short torso, even though I have short legs. This is tricky.
Tim Gunn, who is awesome, always says fashion is all about wearing clothes that make you look good. Did we consider the fact that I am unemployed? I did! I typically refuse to spend over $10 for a shirt, $20 for bottoms (or $50 for jeans), $30 for dresses, and $50 for shoes.

When it comes down to it, the majority of my wardrobe is acquired from Urban Oufitters, H&M, American Apparel, and Forever21. I'm not particularly proud of it, it's just an observation I've noticed. The rest of it is misc.: thrift stores, dept. store sale racks, hand-me-downs, stores from other countries, etc. For me, American Apparel and Urban Outfitters at retail prices are expensive. I used to work at AA; that's why I have so much of their clothing. In college, I lived across the Urban Outfitters bargain basement. I am telling you: I am cheap.

Anyway, be on the lookout for future postings on ideas, thoughts, suggestions.

On my last blog, someone told me to go (expletive) kill myself because I am a waste of human life and space. Hopefully, I'll make more friends on this one.