Asian-spiration: East Meets West

en I went to Japan in July, my friend Justine and I went sort of crazy in Harajuku. And by sort of, I mean absolutely INSANE. Amazing place, Harajuku, Tokyo is! It's just... alive and youthful and indulgent. I remember a group of girls were in a particular idol (celebrity) store that we happened to be looking around in, and without really any linguistic understanding (to her credit, Justine is learning and is getting pretty good at Japanese) we gushed over how "kawaii" all of the boys were and all of our respective styles.

One of the best memories I have of Japan was in Kyoto. We got to see a stunning kimono fashion show. I remember turning to Justine and going, "Why can't I be pretty like Japanese ladies?"

While I've always loved Japanese (as well as other Asian) fashions, I've never really had an opportunity to EXPRESS that adoration. However, I found several cute little dresses and accessories in Japan that I wear quite often.

One of my best friends moved this past summer to Shanghai, China for our senior year of high school. And for my birthday, she sent me a gorgeous red scarf as well as a silk satchel and a beautiful little peacock-print notebook. I've gotten so much use out of that scarf, and I'm sure I'll be posting some street shots of that baby soon enough.

For a little Asian-spiration (oh, I kill myself) I've complied a collage of photos which mix eastern and western influences into glamorous and eccentric multi-cultural style.

From the top left (curve around in rows to follow, m'dears): red clutch from 3.1 Phillip Lim runway, coral necklace from Urban Outfitters, Comme des Garçons runway, Dsquared² runway, Marc by Marc Jacobs runway, Vivitar digital camera, streamers from PARTYPARTY by CONFETTISYSTEM, dress by Topshop, Betsey Johnson runway, Vogue Nippon, nautical earrings from Urban Outfitters, Ayumi Hamasaki in Sweet Magazine, Dree Hemingway for Vogue Nippon, Hello Kitty plush from Urban Outfitters, Tao Okamoto in Vogue Nippon, Tomokazu Matsuyama for LeSportsac backpack, cover text from Vogue Nippon, Liu Wen for Vogue China, Claudia Schiffer, blue Timex watch, Dirty Japanese book, Where the Wild Things Are leggings by Mary Meyer for Urban Outfitters and yellow vest (source?).

Photos courtesy of Style.com, UrbanOutfitters.com, Net-a-porter.com, FashionGoneRogue.com, Sweet Magazine and Modelcouture.