[shorts story] fresh to death

photos Fareine Benz // shirt Thomas Dean (previously seen on my tote bag here!) // shorts China // cuff 3.3 mall Sanlitun // shoes Ash Italia // jacket Ike's Underground (seen here)

This week I wanted to do something a bit unexpected, so I got to thinking about b-boy style and hip-hop influences. I found I had the perfect combination of items to do an outfit post for the final installment in my shorts storiez, in which I finally showcase that gigundo cross I blogged about here. I wouldn't wear this look everywhere, everyday, but I did wear it to Barnes & Noble. Sneakers/trainers what have you are rather de rigeur and pants seem to be getting looser and baggier (a lá Aaliyah?), so expect to see some new silhouettes on the blog (i.e., today, right now.) While Pharrell and André 3000 are two of my top fashion icons, the inspiration for this look is rooted in the outsized personalities of K-Pop. Korean rappers/singers G-Dragon and TOP embody a new kind of urban aesthetic that fuses American b-boy style with Japanese street style. Well, I don't know how "new" it is, per se, but I've been getting more familiar with it recently and am intrigued by their personas and, let's be real, wanna bang them (or should I say smang them?) like any good groupie. Some style examples, including GD and TOP, below...

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STOCKHOLM STATE OF MIND

Today's outfit is tried and true *fruitpunchery - I'm wearing vintage and an article (or two) of women's clothing. The knit beanie I picked up on a day trip to Lucerne - ordinarily it's a challenge to pull off, but for this ensemble it's the perfect finishing touch, the piece that elevates the outfit from an exercise in layering monochromatic textures to my perfect outfit for some imaginary farmer's market hopping in Sweden. The sweater is a J.Crew number I'd relegated to pajama time until I was able to shrink it in my parent's dryer and my new Comme des Garçons SHIRT polyamide shirt looks incredible layered underneath. (Stop by Vintage Vixen to see if you can find any other CDG gems [you can't, I took them all.])

My friend, local artist Thomas Dean, made the tote. The design is a riff on the D.C. flag. Dean created the various prints by scanning in and blowing up black and white illustrations from a 1970's school primer - what?! You can visit his Etsy shop to see more of his awesome work. Then, of course, we have the pants! These are vegan leather ladies' pants I found on sale at Urban Outfitters. What does "vegan leather" mean, exactly? That they're polyurethane, which I Googled, and apparently it is eco-friendly. Unless I misread the internet - there were like, so many words. I paired them with my Ash Italia sneakers, also from UO...also ladies...but actually leather. Nobody's perfect.

Inspiration for the look from my Tomgirl board on Pinterest:

As you can see, my top half is a nod to blogger Jeanne Damas' sweater + long teesh combo while my bottom half is a quite literal boy-terpretation of Alessandra Ambrosio's street style, all topped off with a sportcoat. Now, I don't wanna start sh*t with an Angel, but I might look better in my faux-leather pants. Just throwing that out there. The look also simulates the crop top trend and incorporates the long shirt silhouette seen at Carven, and I kept the shirt collar tucked in because I felt that was the Alexa Chung-y thing to do, duh.

all outfit photos courtesy photographer (and blog reader) Joel Codiamat - thanks, Joel, for being the newest *fruitpunch contributor!