Keeping The Faith

YE GODS it's been a long time since I posted (and the interval between posts just seems to get longer and longer...paper submissions at this time of year absolutely suck). But I'm back for now if anyone still cares, and Paloma Faith is a much, much more interesting topic of blog discussion than my boring life. It's not as if prettily retro-styled singers are entirely a novelty on the music scene * coughKatyannoyingPerrycough*, but the reason Ms Faith piques my interest, besides her admittedly fantastic dress sense (one cannot help but love the way she wears her stage clothes - with love and fun in equal measure- if you need proof, look no further than the pictures), is the fact that her music really is amazing, and that is not something I say lightly. I'm guessing a whole pile of UK people probably know who she is already, since one of her songs was apparently featured in a recent anti-alcohol campaign and she's been doing live shows for ages, but I do hope she gets an album out soon- this stuff (do watch the video at the end of the post) is awesome, and I want it on my iTunes.

http://www.myspace.com/palomafaith

PS: It's a little odd to realise she played an emo girl in the St Trinian's movie too...

images from Google Search. Not mine!

Again, another set of events for which I don't quite have words. It's not as if India isn't used to terrorist attacks, and this isn't even the first time this year that we've had them, but it makes me sick every time, and it needs to stop. This is the third time this year that bombs have gone off, or attacks happened, in places where my friends or I would almost certainly have been, had we been in the cities in question at the time. And to top off one of the worst weeks ever, someone I know- one of the sweetest, kindest girls in a place where people like that were rare- has died (not in the attacks). I'm about ready for November to end, really.

I'm sorry to turn this into a quasi-diary entry, but Nonsense on Stilettos will be back on the fashion jabbering, and soon. I've just got a few exams to get out of the way first..

...I can't find the words to think of a vaguely smart-sounding title for this (and I know I'm WAY late), but- to all the lovely American fash-bloggers out there that I've been lucky enough to read and know, especially those who were old enough to vote (including WendyB, ENC, Rumi, Karla, Ambika, Lulu, Rhiannon, Dreamecho and The Clothes Horse)- congratulations! I hope you guys like your new President-elect :).

picture from lastnightsparty. I thought it seemed apt, a non-American fashion-connected person being in it and all.

Tagged, I Am

A Dreamer tagged me a clear two weeks ago, but a combination of travel, Internet deprivation and laziness prevented me from actually doing the tag till just now...so here goes, if anyone actually wants to know(and sorry for the delay!).

4 things I did today:

1. Trimmed my fringe.

2. Ate three cough drops and an orange (and other things, but the first three were an attempt to cure my cough/cold).

3. Realised I haven't worn a skirt in almost a week (v. unusual for me)

4. Stared at my bookshelf for half an hour before choosing one of my roommate's books to curl up with.

4 things on my to-do list:

1. Clean room

2. Get laptop cleaned of viruses.

3. Look for my dictionary.

4. Stop feeling like a tubercular corpse-to-be.

4 guiltiest pleasures:

1. My seamed black fishnet tights (they're not quite the slutwear they sound like).

2. Living out of a suitcase.

3. Livejournal.

4. Storing old text messages from people I'm particularly fond of, and opening them to read when I feel like it.

4 random facts about me:

1. I have a rotten memory for names, but an excellent one for birthdays (sometimes leading to situations like me realising that today is someone's birthday...but not knowing just whose birthday it is).

2. I've lost approximately one pair of (fat,black) glasses a year since I was sixteen. Last week, I managed to lose Pair No. 8 (or was it 9?) within three days of delivery- a new record, even for me.

3. I hate being photographed. Hate it.

4. One of my DIY skirt projects (pink, brocade) has been lying unfinished since APRIL. Oh, the shame...

I now tag (only if you want to do it, please)

Yumiko of Trials and Tribulations-Yumiko

Spot The Resemblance, Yet Again.

Hair and makeup at Christian Dior SS09 (boring rich-girl clothes, awesome hair+makeup)

Yuuko, the Witch of Dimensions in xxxHolic, Volume 4.

This isn't the first time I've thought it, but if CLAMP ever took to offering styling services/designing clothes for real girls and not just manga ones, I'd probably be first in line among the screaming fangirls to get them. I love me a nice wardrobe... even a two-dimensional one.

Adams Extraordinaire

Obesity Can Kill / L'obésité tue

Balloons/Les Ballons

Steve Adams's work is something I've been a fan of for a while (the picture in this post is one of his), and it's a bit hard not to be a fan, to be honest- the appeal of his work lies in the fact that his pretty, gritty artwork isn't just lovely to look at, it's also more often than not bitingly clever (I think I can safely say no one who's picked up a newspaper in the last three weeks will fail to appreciate it). Which isn't surprising, considering that the publications he's contributed to include the Wall Street Journal and the Harvard Business Review...do check out more of his work at his site, it's well worth a look.

Government Generosity/Générosité gouvernementale?

What's Hiding Behind That Smile?/Que cache ce sourire?

Running for Coverage/À couvert!

All pictures from adamsillustration.com

Models And All..

Fifteen days is a long time to be MIA from a blog especially during Fashion Week (no point me trying to say anything about it, others do that better and at least this time, I'd rather wait till it's nearly over before putting out opinions- I'm no Suzy Menkes or Susie Bubble, after all).
I don't know how many people reading this remember this picture. It was the foldout flap of Vogue India's first cover, which featured two actual models as opposed to Bollywood heroines, and somehow the Photoshop that was so liberally used on it didn't quite manage to make one of the models, Lakshmi Menon, look quite as blank or dead as the other people on the cover.
She ended up opening Givenchy's couture show and featuring in their campaign for this season, which looks rather fantastically cool (and it's nice to see her getting more attention, though it's kind of odd to see someone who's been on jewellery adverts all over Bangalore for half a decade getting called a newbie to modelling like I've seen in some posts on TFS). But the news that she'd been picked for an editorial in Paris Vogue was what got me really happy...pictures follow. (the rest of the shoot featured Yasmin Warsame, but I don't have the time to upload the rest of the pics).

This feels a bit like they got their inspiration from M.I.A...

And this one above reminds me of Susie Bubble's sheer trousers..

Cuteness, Of The Non-Clothes Kind

It might sound slightly berserk to be yammering on about non-fashion things in the middle of New York Fashion Week, but it would be criminal of me not to share the absolute cuteness that is Chii's Sweet Home, a manga by Konami Kanata about a lost kitten who gets picked up and adopted by a young family, whose attempts to feed, bathe, entertain, immunise, toilet-train and conceal Chii (the last being necessary thanks to a building prohibition on keeping pets), all seen from the PoV of a kitten, are about fifteen kinds of adorable and howl-inducingly funny, not to mention a must-read for anyone who's ever had a cat (and seriously, go have a look at it. You wouldn't want to make the kitty cry, would you?)

picture copyright of Konami Kanata, from doki-doki.

Spot The Resemblance.

Rodarte, AW08-09
reminds me of

I can't believe I didn't point it out the last time around, but given that Rodarte did cite Japanese horror movies and slasher flicks as inspiration, the comparison isn't too far off the mark...

painting by Fuco Ueda, A Demand 1 (2002).

I'm not sure how many people reading this have already heard of the fuss created over the Vogue India editorial that featured poor people as models for designer accessories, and the reason I haven't posted about it for so long was simply because I wanted to get a few thoughts in order.

First things first- irrespective of the idea behind the shoot, why on earth did it take nearly a month for anyone to notice it? The editorial ran in the August issue of Vogue, and nothing was heard about it till the very end of the month. If it was really such an utter outrage, I'm rather sceptical of the idea that someone wouldn't have caught on and complained sooner.

Secondly, I've seen the editorial (but I didn't buy the issue thanks to the people they put on the cover) and truth be told, the problem isn't with the images themselves- the people who are featured as models are much more front and central, for lack of a better term, than models usually are on a fashion shoot. And truthfully, on first sight it didn't even look like an accessories shoot at all- I wouldn't have known what the things being modelled were if Vogue hadn't used text to indicate them, it looks like they're just there by accident and happen to be expensive. Fashion magazines do worse than this all the time, if one really wants to talk about the ethical issues behind using poor people as the subjects of fashion photography- what about all the 'background' locals on fashion shoots set in 'exotic' places? Vogue India's not the only magazine to do it.
Which brings me to my next point- the text. Which is the single most problematic part of the entire thing. Magazines often choose not to name their models on the page, but in a situation where I know most of the models' names that doesn't really anonymise them too much. Choosing to use actual people in a shoot and then not naming them- but using the text to name the accessories, loud and clear (well, of course, since it's an accessories shoot) was just plain wrong, IMHO. I get that it's all about the advertisers, and in one way it's a score for Vogue India because the images are much more interesting than anything else I've ever seen from them, but it could have had a lot more meaning if they'd, I don't know, done a short interview with each of the people being photographed? I know I'd much rather read that than yet another gushy puff piece about some socialite with X private jets. I've criticised Vogue India often enough in the past, but really, they could have done so much better. And Priya Tanna's (the editor-in-chief) response doesn't make it any better, really.
Lastly, about the opinions being quoted in the New York Times article in the link. I understand fully well that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but having seen Kanika Gahlaut's column in the Mail Today and her book, I'd take the opinions of a wannabe third-rate chick-lit author with a large pinch of salt- she's about as bad as Liz Jones in the Daily Mail. Her writings about fashion, as far as I've seen, have tended to spew venom on the field (sure, we know it's silly and takes itself a bit too seriously at times, but outright condemnation is a bit much, hmm?), and really, if you want to see a sample of the kind of things the lady writes, look no further than this place- it might be of particular interest to girl bloggers. And if anyone wants to talk more about India's new economy and the fact that Vogue even exists here, mail me.
image from the New York Times

When Odd Resemblances Strike

Frilled Lizard, on a rock somewhere wearing its own skin

Jourdan Dunn, on the cover of POP wearing Prada.

Of course, one could also say the headdress on the cover looks a tiny bit like a Queen Amidala costume, but the lizard was what first came to mind for me.

Foot Fetishist, Stop Emailing Me Please

I apologise to everyone else for not updating in so long (things have been a bit busy this end), but opening up the blog's inbox for the first time in three weeks led me straight to this gem:

______

hi, id love to hear more about your stocking feet sometime

telboy92@yahoo.co.uk
_________

I'm well aware that a clear twenty-five percent of the Google searches that lead people here come from the words 'stocking tops', 'stockings' or some permutation thereof, but this is the second time I've been hit up with a query like this, and by the same person too, so please will some kind blogger let me know if you've also been getting messages like this (which will lead me to put it down to spam waves) or if it's just me being a freak magnet in cyberspace? Either way, the stupidity is really quite funny.

Thank you all very much

Blue Floppy Hat

Comme Again..

So, pictures of the Comme des Garçons for H&M line are out (they have been for a while, plus there's an interview with Rei Kawakubo in this month's issue of W), and I must say, it doesn't look bad at all- and it most definitely does look more Comme-ish than anything in the LV collaboration. The pictures below probably make the clothes look less than spectacular, and there is the odd item that does look more H&M than Comme (e.g. button-down shirts and a trenchcoat, (though the polka-dot shirts remind me ever so slightly of Comme's AW08 collection), it still has a fairly recognisable influence of Rei Kawakubo about it. And truth be told, a lot of potentially-interesting details don't seem to be too clear in the pics below- is that a hint of deconstruction I see on what looks like a skirt in Picture #3 below?- though methinks the drop-crotch shorts and side-fastened jacket in the pic above and white shirts with sleeve detailing in Picture #2 below, the zippered jacket in Picture #3, and the tailed tuxedo-style jacket in Picture #4, and last but not least, the frilly Goth Loli-style dress in Picture #1, just below, would make for intriguing additions to most wardrobes (though the last is a matter of my personal taste, and everyone might not agree).
It's a pity there's no H&M in this country- I'd have loved to see the clothes up close, and the line is set to be carried only in a few stores (reportedly at a higher price point than previous tie-up collections, and, unlike what was reported in April, it doesn't feature children's clothing since the designer shot that idea down)- but as a collaboration between one of the most left-of-centre designers I've ever known of and a brand like H&M, it certainly is an achievement.

Somewhat Wide Of The Mark

Is about the only way I can describe the Comme des Garcons collaboration with Louis Vuitton. I hate to open this month's posting with a grumble, but these bags are beyond me- and by that, I don't mean beyond my budget, I mean beyond my understanding. According to nitro:licious and everywhere else, the collection was supposed to be inspired by Rei Kawakubo's memories of 1978, when Louis Vuitton first got to Japan, and the general giddy feeling of having a great store nearby (at least that's the way I interpret it- the last bit, I mean).
To be absolutely truthful, the problem with the Comme-LV collaboration is that there's simply too much LV to it, and not nearly enough Comme (case in point: Bag 1, below. The handles are Comme-ish, but nothing about the rest of the bag is. They're cool handles, handles I wouldn't mind seeing on a bag that is fit to have them, but handles alone do not a good bag make). The bags aren't all heinous as far as shape goes, and I'm sure they'll be very well made, but I can't help thinking it could have been so much cooler without the logo OD (and I admit to being biased against logos, but this really is a bit too much IMO). All in all, to put it bluntly, it's hideous. And not even hideous in a Comme way (which is really the letdown, and more of a letdown because Rei Kawakubo- as I never tire of saying- is one of my fashion heroes). But I'm still optimistic about the H&M collaboration...

Images from nitro:licious.
PS: all comments on the last two posts will be answered tomorrow. I'm sorry to be slack about this, but I am tired..

On Blogging, And The Stoppage Thereof.

Blogging these days isn't exactly free of hiccups along the way (major samples of said hiccups including storms that blow out my Internet cables and, at college, a firewall that won't let me see this blog because evidently, it contains 'forbidden'- read pornographic- material). It's also sometimes tough just to tear my eyes off what feels like the half-zillion other things I do online (thankfully, I'm too old to really be into Facebook etc- being glomped by zombies doesn't bother me) , or to stop reading other blogs long enough to post on my own.

Which brings me to the point of this post really, the point being just how sad it can be when a blog you read shuts down. It's not that I disagree with anyone's right to stop blogging, but it's still downright depressing that no less than four of my favourite blogs have been deleted, discontinued or gone underground in the last two months, or are headed that way in the near future (namely Style Bytes, LibertyLondonGirl, and Mrs Fashion respectively, with LC of Fops and Dandies shutting down soon because she's headed to law school in a matter of weeks). I don't mean to sound whiney or ungrateful, because heaven knows a new job- in LLG's case- and law school- in LC's- are time-consuming things and blogs can be tricky, privacy-wise, but I guess all I really wanted to say is, I miss these blogs rottenly (or I will). One of the best things about having a blog is getting to know other bloggers and their thoughts- if I were to liken the round of blog-visiting and commenting to anything, it would be a series of pretty tea parties (though someone I know compared them to slumber parties, I think a fash-blogger interaction would be slightly more dressed-up). Either way, I'm grateful to Agathe, LLG, Mrs Fashion and LC for letting me in on their take on style, even if it was just for a bit. And if any of them do start writing again, I'd be a very very happy girl indeed...
*header images from Libertylondongirl and Fops and Dandies.

Tit For Tattoo

In times when my blogging mojo deserts me (helped along by the lightning that blew out my Internet cables for nearly a week), the things that get me going again are any of the following:
a) something really interesting to blog about (at least, I think so).
b) sheer annoyance, leading to a rant.
This post probably falls into the latter category, triggered by this article in the Telegraph. (to anyone who doesn't want to be bothered with clicking the link, it's basically a long whine about how tattoos are ugly and disfiguring, and apparently Angelina Jolie's tattoos are a 'violation' of her from the neck down. The article went on and on in the same tone, and I wasn't exactly sure what Becky Pugh, the writer of the article, had against them- until the second page and end of the article, when she revealed that she'd got a tattoo she regretted during her gap year (I presume) in New Zealand.
Very honestly, as a person who's been inked (albeit discreetly) for three years and wanted to be for six years before that, I don't see what the bloody fuss is about. Admittedly, a tattoo requires a good deal of thought beforehand since it's permanent, can be expensive, and will probably remain on your body until you die or fork out a lot of money to have it lasered off . But if I'm the one who chose to get it done, I don't see why some woman who feels bad about her own tattoo because she got it done for what sounds to me like a pretty stupid reason (rebellion? gap-year boredom? seriously?) has the right to call judgement on mine, or to say that I, or any woman who gets a tattoo, is 'blighted' by it. Blighted, my foot.
I suppose tattoos are a strange subject for a fashion blogger to be going on about, and I don't deny that I can and do get annoyed by what seem to me like stupid-looking tattoos or overly ostentatious-for-the-sake-of-it ones, but at the end of the day, it's a choice- just as much as what we choose to wear. It's possible not to agree with another person's choices, or to make them for ourselves in the same situation, but surely condemning them out of hand isn't the way to go? And if our bodies are our own, choosing the clothes we want to wear each day, or the markings we choose to wear permanently- are those really such outlandish, unthinkable concepts? It's food for thought, I say..

Cute As A Button-Down

Over the course of the decade since I hit puberty, I've always been a girl who favoured skirts over trousers. There's hardly a skirt form on earth I haven't worn or won't wear, with the exception of crinkled gypsy skirts*, but it wasn't until a recent wardrobe cleanout that I was reminded of one rather peculiar kind (I say peculiar only because I literally never saw anyone else wearing it) that I'd loved like no one's business at age fourteen- the zip-up/button-down skirt. It wasn't a love that stopped at that age, either- a pale, pink-and-green- flowered denim button-down went to uni with me and got more than a few wears- at least till the year before last, when I accidentally cut it a couple of inches too short for dress-code regulations. It's still around somewhere...and one of my lost cupboard loves was a pale blue Benetton button-down with a wide waistband and shiny silver buttons- I went into a two-hour fit of the sulks when I realised, five years ago, that it was nowhere to be found (kind of an occupational hazard of moving house thrice in a year).

In any case, I've had button-fronted/zip-fronted skirts on the brain for a while now, and no way of getting my fix other than wearing an oversized man's shirt as a skirt- I rather enjoy the puffy-hip effect, and the way the 'hemline' gets slightly uneven...and I can always get my vicarious fix of VFA aka Visible Fastener Action via my favourite source- fashion bloggers! Susie, Dreamecho and The Clothes Horse wear their skirts with the buttons and zips (and what a zip it is, on Dreamecho's awesome Michele Lau number) in very different, though equally stylish, ways. It almost makes me want to get out the scissors and thread for a DIY on one of my existing skirts- I want some buttons to fiddle with- until I remember that my last attempt at sewing has resulted in a pile of stiff pinky-purple brocade completely failing to take the shape of a skirt. Still, I'm happy looking at these girls and the Ellegirl Korea online shop...(for some reason, it has button-down skirts. In a fair few shapes. Just when I want them- only it's a pity I don't understand anything on the page)
*heaven knows why they seem to be a staple of so many college-girl wardrobes in India. They're bloody unflattering, and sloppy to boot- not even in a good sense. Also, it's no fun to wear a straight-line skirt that drags in the dust...

photographs from (L-R) Style Bubble, Dreamecho and The Clothes Horse.

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head- Or Not!

It might be officially summer for the rest of the world, but right where I am, it's been pouring rain for a while- which means only one thing- umbrellas ahoy! My bad habit of losing them means I don't get any but the plainest black ones, but if I were slightly more careful with my possessions (and if I actually knew where they came from! Romeika first posted them, here and here), the three in the pictures below would be top candidates for acquisition by me:

I particularly fancy the idea of scaring people with the cat one, being just juvenile enough for that...though Mary Poppins (the book version, not cheery Julie Andrews) would most certainly disapprove of umbrellas being used for such frivolity. And speaking of frivolity, I rather fancy a parasol too. And I probably fancy them even more after seeing this image off The Sartorialist:

It's a far cry from your average guard against the rain, but with that light behind her and the contrast of the spokes against the rest, it really does look slightly like a halo on a saint..
EDIT: I am so technologically inept, I have no idea at all how a blank post is appearing just below this one- and Blogger isn;t even letting me delete it! Did our latest power cut cause it?

Extra! Extra! Spot The Blogger (Click To Enlarge)

When Rumi of Fashion Toast put up her latest post, about getting featured in Vogue Girl Korea, my first reaction was a big 'w0000t!'. And then I took a slightly closer look at the World Fashion Blogger feature she'd scanned along with her interview, and realised I recognised more than one person on the page besides Rumi herself- not least The Clothes Horse, Rhiannon of Liebemarlene Vintage, and Kirsty of That's Just My Vibe (all circled and named in my MS-Paint messup of Rumi's scan). And I think I'd be sure of the identities of more of them if the pictures were bigger, but it's quite a kick to see people on your blogroll featured in the pages of a magazine, more so when they wear their clothes so amazingly.

PS: Does anyone recognise more of the bloggers on the page? I think I recognise some of the outfits, but can't quite name the blogger (which is embarrassing for me!)

picture from Fashion Toast.
EDIT: As a kind reader pointed out, I named one of the bloggers wrong, so I edited the name out. My bad...

The Art Of Amy Sol

Wake Up Again, Gomo (2007)

The Clovervine Slumber (2007)

Cloud Blossoms (2006)

Your Meadow, My Ocean Floor (2007)

Blue Bouquet (2008)

Flying Fish (2008)

The Math Book That Never Opened (2007)

Amy Sol's detailed, dreamy manga-influenced artwork isn't what I'd call easy to lay hands on (her prints emerge in limited editions only), but it's most certainly wonderful to look at- the muted colour palette and melancholy Alice-in-Wonderland feel of her paintings, not to mention the quirky animals who accompany her subjects (mostly female, for some reason all the artists whose work I'm loving these days mainly paint girls) are unique and lovely. I suspect they'd be even better in real life, so lucky people in LA should definitely check out her latest exhibit at the Thinkspace Gallery (4210 Santa Monica Blvd Los Angeles) before it closes on July 4th- that is, if you have the time. Which I hope you do. Those who won't be in LA or anywhere near the gallery, however, should very definitely head on over to her site for a look at more of her work, or look at work in progress on her blog.

Hello, Sea Pony (2007)

all images from Amy Sol's website. Not mine!

My Seven Songs Of Summer

A little while ago, I took a tag off The Internet Goddess of Red Lipstick (aka WendyB), to name seven songs I was listening to this spring. The spring bit is rather redundant (my corner of the world has gone past summer and into a very rainy season already), so I think I'll just name seven songs I've been listening to a lot lately:

1. Whatever, by Oasis. Quite simply put, one of the most happy-making songs of all time- I can't believe they didn't put it on an actual album. Oasis, to me, is the musical equivalent of comfort food. And this six-minute plus version is pure brilliance.
2. Running Up That Hill, by Chromatics. The original's brilliant, but as covers go, this one is really quite good. Though the video has about a minute and a half of faff before the song even starts (this doesn't happen on the actual track), so if you're impatient I wouldn't recommend it.

3. Daddy Cool, by Placebo. I love disco music (which is an embarrassing thing to admit to friends), and I love Placebo. And even if you don't like disco, Placebo's Boney M cover is awesome in its own right. The video is kind of crazy, though- I'm fairly sure Placebo didn't make it, but I like it just the same.

4. Summer Wine, by Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra. It's one of my playlist constants, and is going to stay that way for a very long time..
5. Life In Mono, by Mono. I love this one not only because it's unbelievably lovely, but it also happens to be the theme song for one of my favourite films of all time- the 1998 version of Great Expectations. It's been a clear ten years since I first heard it, and my love for it hasn't diminished any..
6. Dark Chariot, by Peer Raben. I can't find anything for it on Youtube except an excerpt from 2046, so no links.
7. Roads, by Portishead. I couldn't find a video for this one, either (and the reason I'm linking videos is because fileden won't upload my files to share). On a side note: I'm so glad to have a new Portishead album, at last...it's been far too long.

The Flowers Bloom For You..

I've always been a big fan of putting random things in my hair - hair ornaments fascinate me no end, and I've said it before. However, the traditional kind (at least in India, and I'm guessing in other places too) aren't easy things to wear despite their beauty, which is why my interest is more than slightly piqued by the fabric creations of Japanese artist Yonuko*. Yonuko's creations are worlds away from your run-of-the mill Alice band, being a take on traditional Japanese hair ornaments or tsumami-kanzashi (she makes them from vintage kimono fabric) that manages to make them look completely wearable but without ever entering the territory of oversimplification or kitsch. And wearable they might be, but ordinary they most certainly are not- the pictures should stand as proof enough of that (I'm actually inspired enough to look up kanzashi tutorials online, despite the fact that I will almost certainly bungle the making of anything like these). But there's much potential in the idea- hair is such an underaccessorised thing these days...

EDIT: To those who like kanzashi and won't be able to get your hands on Yonuko's pieces because you can't figure out how to buy them, I strongly recommend a look at Gochemoche's Etsy shop- she does absolutely lovely kanzashi as combs, snap clips, brooches and even pendants made out of kimono silk.

*just a quick heads-up to everyone who clicks: the site is entirely in Japanese, so it might not be that easy to navigate.

all pics from http://www.a-yarn.com and http://www.himeko-no-kazari.com.