Frugal Fashionista Doesn’t Care About Underpaid Workers
Ok, I know it’s very tough not to shop for something that’s made in China or some other Third World country…but how insulting and disrespectful can you be?
I read this appalling article online from the Toronto Star about how we’re in dire economic times, and that it was time to look for some cheap fashion.
What’s the most insulting part of the article was this:
Funny thing, though, this looming recession. As bad it gets, economists and retail anaylsts predict this one will be different from years past. We’ll have never looked so good. The recent explosion of “fast fashion” has retailers like Joe Fresh, Wal-Mart and H&M in a race to introduce trendy and basic apparel for less and less. Thank you, China, Vietnam, India, Cambodia.
Seriously? Have you no shame? I was waiting to read about a worker who’s working 10 cents an hour and how fast fashion is an epidemic we should try to avoid not encourage! You would think that very last phrase was sarcastic. It wasn’t. It was seriously thanking them as the rest of the article dives on how to shop for 5 outfits for less than $100.
I do consciously think about the stuff I buy, and I feel guilty when I buy something made in China, but it’s because of this that I spend much less. Sure I may tout the opening of a store here and there and touring high end places like Chanel, but I am not encouraging in any way to purchase ANYTHING. Sure the purchasing is left to your discretion, it’s your money, do what you want as long as you know what you’re going into. But to blatantly tell people “Hey I know this thing’s made from Cambodia and that workers suffer, but I get to save me some dollars cause times are ‘hard’ over here.” Give me a break.
I find this article to be heartless. Shame on you Toronto Star.
Summer Time N’ The Pooch
Since I gave my blog a little dry spell on Montreal Fashion, I’ll catch up in today’s post 
Although I’m not a big fan of beauty products, and I’m sure you’ve already read it from the newspapers, but Sephora just opened two stores in Fairview Pointe-Claire Mall and Promenade St-Bruno. Why the mega french beauty store hasn’t opened one in downtown Montreal always boils down to the same problem: lack of space. Downtown isn’t very big, competition is fierce, and rent for space is high. I personally think that if the city wants to attract more commercial vendors, they will need to rethink their urban planning a little (like maybe work on making more commercial skyscrapers instead of just limiting the merchandise with tiny buildings).
Over at the Rockland Centre, La Senza is being relaunched with a “new store concept” a couple of weeks ago. The newly refurbished store is now 5000 sq. ft of bras and panties. If you’re not already aware, La Senza also sells Victoria’s Secret beauty line - my spidey senses tell me that lingerie mogul Victoria’s Secret made a pact with La Senza instead of outright overtaking it.
If you head on out to the Eaton Center, you might have noticed a spankin’ brand new store called “Little Burgundy” carrying over 80 brands of shoes and bags with a dash of cupcakes. According to Creativity Montreal, there’ll be a second store opening on Ste-Catherine this summer, is it open yet I haven’t checked, but you can scoot your bunbuns over to the Eaton Center to get a taste.
Lastly, I attended what was called a Crave Party thrown by several indie brands in Montreal at the Just for Laughs Museum. A laid back party of cupcakes, foods, drinks, raffles and goodie bags, I invited my friend along since some of the Aqua Di Lara swimsuits were on sale. Sadly, I didn’t purchase a swimsuit, they’re just really way too fancy despite having subtle colors, but is there such a thing as too sexy while being covered up? How does that work? And I’m not talking about ultimate boobie and butt exposure here, I’m talking about one piece suits tastefully covering all the necessities plentifully, yet a peep of a stomach skin here make a huge difference.
I’m not a fan of small dogs, but damn does that look cute.
I came across one booth full of dog apparels from a store called Poochey Couture. And it has the latest fashion trends for dogs, from “sushi poochie” squeaky toys to Juicy Couture for dogs (I kid you not). You may think it tacky to dress your dog, but from the album pictures of some model dogs, honestly some of those argyle sweaters look really cute! As a pet lover, you might want to check this place out, it’s amazing what people will buy for their pets. Eventhough I don’t own a pet…my boyfriend does, and it was really tempting to buy a cute raincoat for a yorkshire terrier…really tempting.
Japan: Luxury all around
As I stepped outside of the Ginza station, I felt like I was Dorothy stepping into a strange land that didn’t quite look or feel normal. For one thing, the streets, though still relatively “crowded,” were voided of young teenagers and 20-something women. I passed by many a men and women clad in expensive business suits and skirt suits. Something told me I wasn’t quite in Kansas anymore.
After some maneuvering in crossing a few streets, I ended up in front of the Mikimoto Boutique, to my knowledge at the time, the 7 story building was THE Mikimoto store, home of the pearled wonders. It was beautiful, impressive, glistening white and silver, so luxurious, I was in another world. I was greeted by 2 young and refined saleswomen.
Mikimoto Boutique International
As I soon found out, this wasn’t Mikimoto’s headquarters as I had thought. The jewelry was cheaper in price (affordable stuff at $400 to $1500 a pop) and I was too shy to ask where the rest of the collection was since what they had here was only a minute amount of what I’ve seen on their official website. Instead, the other floors contained pens, plates, purses, fans, all of the utmost quality and care in presentation. Saleswomen on the other floors wore gloves to clean and adjust objects to make them look just right. Nonetheless, I was impressed by the quality of service and care of such a fine jewelry store.
It’s my mother’s dream to own Mikimoto pearls. And she has yet to fail on taste that’s for sure.
Mikimoto Headquarters
While walking on the main Ginza avenue, I saw Mikimoto’s Headquarters and sure enough, it’s breathtaking window display of cherry sized pearls with a $20,000 price tag made it too intimidating for me to step inside. I could see behind the tinted glass windows that sales women and men were peering out like lionesses guarding their pray. Way too scary.
I think the next time I visit Mikimoto, it’ll be with my mother, and several credit cards.
Cartier, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Chanel
I think I got Ginza and neighboring district Omotesando confused as I was expecting glittering crystal-like buildings in unique architectural designs…instead in Ginza I was met with run of the mill glass fronts with some mildly (but not entirely exciting) interesting exteriors. Mind you, the Chanel store still made for a pretty visual treat with it’s graphic black stripes, or LV’s checkered effect making it look like a 3D puzzle, but the stores were square, they were all glass…not the architectural wonders I had imagined from reading Deluxe. Cartier’s building stood out the most with it’s golden cage and trademark vibrant red framing the doorway, even if I did found the structure to be tacky in the end.
Hermès 10-story building of square glass blocks almost made for an imposing (but not quite as chic) structure. I was too wowed by its display cases outside and peering through the door only for a few seconds to see wealthy women inside fawning over Birkin bags and silk scarves.
Chanel - Premiere service
I was brave enough to step into Chanel, a 6 story building of which the general public had access to 4 very large floors. Not even 2 minutes inside, I see a Japanese worker (in uniform of course) passing swiftly to buff and clean the marble floor with a swiffer - erasing all foot print marks we’ve left behind. Of the dozen or so staffers, we were all greeted with “Irasshaimase!” with a slight bow. The store felt like a museum, with Chanel’s Summer 2008 Americana collection sprawled on several mannequins. Floor after floor was filled with all things Chanel. Upon walking up the 2nd floor were followed by 2 staff people, upon arriving 2 more staffers stopped and bowed deeply pausing for more than 5 seconds before they went on their way. I felt like a non-deserving Queen as I was only a college student with a meager salary. I felt their eyes on me, sizing me up despite their politeness, I was as uncomfortable as I was fascinated.
I figured in such a high end store we weren’t allowed to take pictures, so I took a picture of the only place I was allowed to take a picture of: the elevator.
With interlocking double C’s.
Seibu - High end grocery shopping
Now this may seem a little fanatic going into a high end grocery store in a high end department store like Seibu in Ikebukuro. But Japanese people take the high quality very seriously. Previously in Nagano, my host told me that high end grocery stores do not allow you to approach fruits and vegetables at a certain distance as they’re trying to keep the food at a certain room temperature. If you stand too close, your body heat will affect the surrounding temperatures thus accelerating the process of spoiling the food. No pictures with flashes are allowed as the flash from the camera will also affect the food temperature. Think of it as being in a museum of “look but don’t touch” policy.
Well, entering Seibu was pretty much like that. There were temperature charts updated every hour recording what temperature the food was kept “5C…4C…4C…5C..” In Japan, there is no such thing as rummaging through the mounds of oranges and strawberries, trying to pick the best of the bunch. No. Here, it is pre-picked so that all foods are exactly the same shape, same size, same color. It’s like picking among plastic food, where everything is identical except everything is real. It’s a real time saver, but at the same time, you sort of wonder where all the “imperfect” foods go.
That melon better be good!
And a high end grocery store wouldn’t be high end if you didn’t put a hefty price tag on it. Perfectly round, big green/red apples were worth $7-$10 a pop. A small watermelon, $52.50. A box of 12 big round cherries, $200. Honey melon, $150. Sorry, I didn’t see any square watermelons. The prices were staggering if not perplexing. Of course they’re all perfectly wrapped in their plastic containers or foam nets. There are even chefs at individual food stalls all quietly preparing and wrapping the delicacies. There was maybe 2-3 shoppers in the entire store.
I’d say only shop at Seibu’s grocery store if you’re willing to fork out a pricy gift! Or else, save your cash, go to those food souvenir shops at Tokyo or Ueno stations, they’re good and they’re cheap!
Image credit: melon picture by tobze
Japan: A World of Contrast
I’ll spare you all the detailed novelties of Japan, as this isn’t really the place to talk about hi-tech toilets, high quality convenience stores and shinkansen sushi bars. However, I can attest that all of these were highly entertaining!
Instead, there will be musings on Japanese fashion. I’ve been to 3 different cities, but honestly, the fashion styles varied vary little in between. I’d probably say Tokyo would have more subvarieties, but overall the fashion statements are the same. And forgive me if I don’t have any personal photos, many stores didn’t allow us to take pictures.
Converse Nation
For hip young 18yr old girls to cool-laid back 30 yr old men, the pair to have at the moment is the Converse. 1 out of every 10 young person I came across had on one of the ubiquitous pair in all shades and colors. American fashion has spawned a following of simplicity: jeans, tshirt, dress shirt…you know, what you see every day in North America. Compared to Japanese fashion, American fashion is deceptively simple and fuss-free. And for the moment, whatever’s American is pretty cool for the younger generation. They even opened American themed stores in Harajuku.
Playboy dominates school girl sock industry
Another general staple of Japan are the gangs of school girls in plaid miniskirts and sailor tops. What’s also peculiar are their love for knee high socks bearing small embroidered logos. A popular one is none other than the Playboy bunny logo cutely embroidered in shades of light pink on navy blues. I have a Korean friend who used to own a pair, she said even in Korea Playboy logo-ed socks were the norm.
But I mean…do they even know what Playboy is??
A side note: There is a certain type of fondness for nonsense English proverbs, and that to many Japanese hold no particular meaning when sporting what North Americans would think offensive.
A prime example is the Spread Beaver tshirt below. The Engrish.com website explains it quite well.
T-shirt reads: “Spread Beaver: Showing The Vaginal Area”
50yr old business men bearing cutesy cellphone straps
A fine business suit (most likely Armani) is required for any well-respected corporate office worker. Having seen thousands of them in the daily train commutes, I hadn’t noticed anything special about them until one man whipped out his cellphone with a few dangling phone straps. Now, in North America, men here have a tendency to be pretty alpha male, and you’d never find a business man with a cellphone strap of any kind much less one with bells and whistles. But for Asians, it’s normal to own something like a Hello Kitty phone strap. Such a small detail, but makes a world of difference.
Shibuya 109 - Hipper than thou
Walking into this 9 story building is like walking into a nest of swans, while you and your significant other are the ugly (very ugly) ducklings. The latest rage in Tokyo happens here, where it feels like hoards of rainbow bombs devastated each store. It seems like each brand have uncracked the color coordination mystery and have assembled the wackiest shades together yet work fabulously with one another. I have never felt so out of style as I walked in with my pocket tube dress and skinny jeans.
There were myriads of styles ranging from urban rock, with zippers and belts dangling all over the place, to lacey knitted baby doll dresses. Sales girl look like they have popped out of teen fashion magazines with their makeup perfectly in place, their hair teased and coiffed just right, with mile high stilettos and short shorts galore.
The Men’s section was colorful but restrained from the pastel colors and opted for more blacks, reds and navy blues. Stylish 20-something guys here wore 80’s skinny ties, slim fitted leather studded jackets, short sleeved hoodies and graffiti tshirts. My old goth rock self drooled over the numerous wallet chains, and uniquely designed biker rings, while the 30-something metal head salesman with long hair stood politely nearby with hands behind his back.
My biggest and only clothing purchase was a sleeveless hoodie in military green with lots of zippers (but with faux pockets) that I got at Heaven & Earth. One peculiar thing happened. The jacket was a one size fit all in either long or short waisted style. So if you were a bigger girl and couldn’t fit…tough luck, it’s indirectly saying that you’re too fat for this outfit. If you were too tall or too small, well tough luck, there aren’t any other sizes. Bizarre, to say the least.
That’s it for today, tomorrow we’ll have a look in shopping in the high end luxury maven called the Ginza district in Tokyo. I’ll also talk about my observations upon visiting the Chanel store, Mikimoto, as well as having a first hand look at a first class grocery store (which isn’t really fashion, but it’s luxury nonetheless).
Image credits: mcwstar, engrish.com, gizmodo uk, playboy
What is Fashion?
Dear readers (or is nobody reading this anymore?),
I’m not dead! I’m back from my trip to Japan which was amazing! I know I’ve been out of touch with quite a lot of things lately. I’m the sort of person who does a lot of self-reflection and I’ve been wondering for a while of where exactly I wanted to go with my fashion blog. Unlike many fashion blogs, I like to make lengthy observations on things that wouldn’t normally be talked about revolving the fashion industry. I don’t know everything about fashion (who does really?), thus some of my observations may be deja vu, but I like to point out what I see, and as you know, every point of view is different.
But after some time of reflection, I realized that we all want to fit in with our fashion peers in terms of opinions or point of views. And in this industry that highly scrutinizes looks, I’m starting to wonder who’s really right when it comes to taste? What defines fashion sense? Why do we admire famous designers? And if fashion evolves with the times as we are ever changing our political, social, and cultural lifestyles, when are we ever in the “right”? Fashion is only delimited by what we know today but it can quickly change tomorrow, and if you can’t adapt to the new ideas, you’re out of sync. At least, that’s what the billion dollar fashion magazine industry has come to tell you.
My trip to Japan has been my first to Asia and it has opened my eyes. Some may not dig the Japanese street fashions, or the flawless application of work uniforms, or even care much for traditional kimonos. But it’s a clear indication that fashion in any part of the world is defined in its own unique way. I mean Korean women still wear 50’s style dresses and nobody would bat an eyelash.
Fashion is what you make of it. Out of style, in style, whatever. Fashion is boundless. And if I find something ugly or pretty, it doesn’t mean I’m in the wrong. People agree and people disagree, this is how the world works, and this is how the world is. To subject limits to fashion is like trying to contain a firecracker in your hands. You can’t contain it. Fashion magazines are still trying to contain it, but with new technologies, it has runaway and “democratized” itself to the public. I believe the structures of fashion as we once knew, have crumbled. And as my experience in Japan has showed me, when that wall falls, hell breaks loose (in a good way).
In my upcoming (and lengthy) updates on my observations of Japanese fashion, clearly the duality between the structured and unstructured nature of the Japanese should be something to keep an eye on. And perhaps this is why Rei Kawakubo is wholly admired for her work.
Go crazy with fashion.
