BOOTS USA

Fluxus jacket, American Apparel shirt, vintage Levis, bracelet, bolo and boots.

I picked up these boots on one of my shopping trips to Little Tokyo in LA at a shop called Kimski Makes. I was instantly taken by these boots because, well, I'm not sure I can think of a less cheesy way of saying "I love America" without saying "I love America", but I do. Because once you get past the George Bushes' and Westboro Baptist Churches, there are some really brilliant and beautiful things about the home of the free.

I love the red, white, and blue American iconography and I think the composition of those colors on these boots works really well, since the dominant color is navy and the red and white stripes are left for subtle detail flashing and to be mostly your secret. I personally like wearing them with a lousy pair of jeans because they give the most banal look a shot in the arm. Not that you couldn't get flashy with these and tap into your inner Evel Knievel.

This time I styled them with a few more American things, such as a bolo and blue jeans, paired with some Lou Reed sensibility left over with the chipped black nail polish from my last post.



Thought I'd take some shots with the Ray-Bans. I hardly ever wear sunglasses aside from driving - I mean I try to where them during the collective 20 minutes I'm outside a week. I guess they're not really my thing, I do like to channel Warhol or Debbie Harry every now and then though.



-Cruz

TENEMENT FUNSTER

Antique military coat, American Apparel scarf, Jean Paul Gaultier button-up, Levi's jeans, vintage boots

Thought I'd trot out my calvary jacket for a spin while the weather was cold enough - no one wants to be sweating, on top of crazy, in an antique wool military coat.
This time around (in case you'd like to know more about the jacket, here's a link to the original post), I was mostly inspired by all of the major players who have shaped my personal style over the years: Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, David Bowie, just to name a few, and, believe it or not, myself. I was looking at older pictures of myself with smudged kohl eyes and chipped nails and thought it'd be fun to take another crack at it (I was the most awkwardly glamorous 14-year-old you ever saw).

There's some carnaby-mod influences thrown in - I picked the clunky shoes to weigh the look down and I'm always up for draping my venomously acid green scarf over anything. The shirt is a Jean Paul Gaultier from the early 90s I got from Out of Vogue. I thought the shirt would be perfect to wear with this jacket- I plan to wear it a lot this summer so you'll definitely see more of it.




This picture reminds me of a sassy gesture that Mick Jagger might make on stage, the acid green and red remind me of his costume from the Stones' infamous Altamont show.



Just got back from LACMA on a school field trip - I'm inspired as I am exhausted!

-Cruz