SHARKSKIN & SKIRT


vintage sharkskin shirt, a random crystal necklace and tee, vintage Levis and boots

Inspiration into fruition! I scored this skirt at a flea market some time ago, It was being sold with a lot of other sartorial goods from India so I have reason to believe it's from there, but I can't be sure. It reminds me a lot of boro textiles or something that'd turn up hugging the hips of a model walking a Dries Van Noten show. Wearing it this way more grunge than Dries, it seems to have infinite layering potential so expect to see it every-which-way this fall when I build my cozy layered shells.

I've just made the move to the Silverlake neighborhood of LA to go to school for a semester, maybe longer! I'm settling in and there is so much to do, but I will try to keep blog posts as regular as possible. Thanks for reading!


-Cruz

THE BAGGY BLUES

I've been trying on the baggy pants hat lately, a style I've eased into on hot summer afternoons raking the outer limits of my wardrobe for clothes to sweat in. I call it the baggy blues, when it's too hot to wear anything else, just grab a pair of the baggiest jeans you've got! Here's some ways I've been wearing these jeans...



A great wash on these Levis, no front pockets though haha, I'm wearing them with a vintage tee, fur bangles, an A&W root beer pin, and John Varvatos converse.

Here's another pair of jeans I've been wearing...




I like to wear these under my feet, they kind of slither around like two denim slugs. They tend to pick up things along the way - just think of all the things that you're walking over that you're missing by not wearing your pants under your shoes! I've got on a thrifted tee, a vintage watch and vintage Levi's.

Here's the back of the first t-shirt I'm wearing...



These vintage cuffs are a great way to bring together creepy and casual. Picture taken with the help of my pal Tanus Spijek.


-Cruz

MAS PELICULAS

EL MARIACHI



METAL DRAGON KIRYU



KIRYU SOS



(click the pics)


Some more summer movie screen-caps I did, again in the spirit of immortalizing stylish and inspiring moments not widely available frozen on the internet. This time around I did Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi because I've always considered the protagonist to be an iconic figure, he's what I had in mind when I wore a black suit to prom haha.


I also made screen caps of the mighty Kiryu A.K.A Mechagodzilla from two aughties Godzilla films, not fashion or style related whatsoever (Except for the badass Kiryu caps, like, the thing you put on your head, not a screen cap), but I personally envision outfits together in my head within the cold depths of Kiryu's hanger and Tokyo lain to waste.

Really, I just made the screencaps for my own use but I figured I'd go ahead and post em here in case one of you guys wanted to see! Plus, Kiryu's not campy like the 70s Mechagodzilla and not as boring as the 90s Mechagodzilla, so it'd be hard for anyone to take any interest in it besides myself so I figure it's my duty. The screencaps aren't the best quality because I used the bootleg DVDs I bought when I was 12 to make them, but if you're a big enough Godzilla fan to want to see all those screencaps (or make them...) you're probably used to putting up a lot anyway.


-Cruz

PITCH BLACK GARBAGE



Sucking up the sunshine in pitch black garbage while channeling some sort of gothic pauper or jester. I blame those harlequin vibes on the fact that wearing sneakers makes me feel like some kind of nimble pest. In the spirit of nimble pests and spider spun sheer here's a photo of me framed by some bristly critters I doodled...




I didn't start the day with the arrowhead necklace, but bought it in a pact with some friends at an antique store up in Big Bear. I love the two tone colors, it's also pretty sharp, which means you have to make sure you don't fall asleep with it on so you don't stab yourself. Friendship necklaces that double as a weapon are the best!



-Cruz

THIS GARMENT IS MADE OF PURE SHIT



I uprooted this oil slicked, probably flammable, gem out of a clump of secondhand dregs. Rather than bore you with yet another manifesto about my love for garbage I'll just skip along to the moment I realized that the pocket canvas of the shirt would be a perfect place to fasten my 'This Garment is Made of Pure Shit' patch to. I've given the place to place the patch a lot of consideration, in case I put it on something that I couldn't wear somewhere with the word "SHIT" in glaring, red, capital letters stitched to my protoplasm. So I figure anywhere I can get away with wearing an oil slicked shirt I can get away with wearing the word shit.


Mechanic's uniform? Auto enthusiast? Someone who has escaped the clutches of kerosene combustion?




I was going to make a beanie with this mess of knit, but that didn't quite pan out, so I figured I'd adorn the pieces to the cuffs of a pair of cut offs. In the grungy spirit of this post, I should note those cutoffs came about from a friend of mine who was tossing his old pants and I offered to take them instead, not the first time. I'd love to make more of these someday, like in more colors and pairs that are more polished or even sloppier, but for now, as I say, "If it's crap, it can't fail".

-Cruz

SUMMER MOVIE DOUBLE FEATURE AT LEFFFTT HANNNDDDD



ANDREA FELDMAN IN HEAT



INTERMISSION

FEAR AND LOATHING: THE MORNING AFTER




(CLICK IMAGES TO SEE)


While nosing around for some summertime vibes to kick off this summer, I turned to my digital movie library and decided it was high time (and free time, being summer and all) to print screen some stylish cinematic moments and folks, like the tragic Warholian superstar Andrea Feldman (a personal style icon of mine) and the endless style and talent of Wattstax. I've searched everywhere for decent screen caps of these two movies in the past but with no luck, so I figured I'd go ahead and be the one to turn my readers on to them, ruin them for everyone, etc.

I'm going camping next week, I have a post set up for Monday unless it doesn't work then I'll see you when I get back!

-Cruz

WITH ALIEN EYES


Vintage shirt and necklace, American Apparel sweater, Miss Sixty pants, Rubber Duck sneakers

My pal Joe snapped this picture for me the other day. I try to get away with wearing pants in the summertime as much as possible, and if I can nudge in some long-sleeved layers even better. My neighbor's pesky van is still parked within my blogger perimeter so I once again took the opportunity to sneak in some art from Pixiv. Talk about your mixed blessings, it's been pretty fun digitally tearing down my driveway and adding in exotic backdrops.


I picked up this pendant at an antique store while staying with some friends at Big Bear Lake last month. I was really drawn to the texture of the decaying holster. When I look at it, images of a mecha moth emerging from its leather cocoon or leather lichens swallowing an aging tin relic come to mind, but that's probably more a side effect of having an overactive imagination than existing connotation (Which allows me to project HUGE fantasies about anything in my closet, not really that practical, but fun). To me its appeal has nothing to do with being a weapon, if you look at it with alien eyes it's just an interesting sculpted piece.


-Cruz