James Perse | Frivolous Universe

THE 45th PARALLEL: Dressing between the North Pole and the Equator

By: Kim Philley

08-05-2013

All winter I ruminated on the past like a dog rolling over in something dead.

Tentative mountains springs teach us that there is a boundary zone between the old life and the new. Snow clings on peaks. Lupine blossoms in the sage when it’s still cold enough for fox fur.

In a sage forest the witch casts her spell.

That some people will die before we can see where they came from.

April in Hailey, Idaho. You can rock in the red chair on the front porch of the house Ezra Pound was born in.

The Parallel is an imaginary line, invoked by signage. On one side we are closer to Helsinki, on the other side, Kuala Lumpur.

In May we test the mountain roads. They are almost passable.

And spring arrives like a Cymbalta ad, full of hyperbolic promises.

turquoise sweatshirt: James Perse; teal green jeans: Russian Market, Phnom Penh; wool hat: Calvin Klein; Thai silk top: vintage; turtle amulet: Amulet Market, Bangkok; black cargo pants: Paige; black coat: Made in the Ukraine; Spanish riding boots: Frye; fox fur collared coat: charity shop, London

Screen shot from lat34north.com:

Photography: Ned Evett

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FU MEETS ASIA STREET STYLE: Faux Chantilly Lace from a Bangkok Street Stall and Boise Moonstone

By: Kim Philley

30-01-2012

Kim

A large part of Bangkok is, to quote Beck, shopping malls coming out of the walls. And then there are the street stalls. And then there’s Nana Chen.

Lady Luck, happenstance, lot, pluck, providence–whatever you choose to call it, my first Friday night in Bangkok I got lost in a freight elevator with Nana Chen. Nana is a Saigon/Bangkok-based photographer with an exceptional eye for portraiture. She has a fashion blog called Asia Street Style (ASS). I blog for Frivolous Universe (FU). If that isn’t a match made in a stalled freight elevator, I don’t know what is.

On Sunday, to initiate me into the city of cheap thrills, Nana trotted out her collection of subtly-slutty faux-lace: tiny, tatted Matador jackets, Chantilly-esque trenchcoats, and ultra-feminine DayGlo ballerina-necked cotton tops. Turns out she had purchased them all for a pittance–150 Thai Baht or under $5 USD–at her local Silom street stall.

I love the detailing on this top–so much romance for under five dollars! And all I had to do was slip it over my James Perse tank top and my thrifted skirt by Maria Bianca Nero. Nana styled my lacy top for this photoshoot and posted three of these photos yesterday on Asia Street Style. These peekaboo cotton tops get snapped up fast in Bangkok–Pepto-Bismol pink was the only color left when we reached Nana’s favorite clothing stall. The fact that I was already wearing matching Cece ballet flats by J. Crew? Kismet.

This is my Idaho grandmother’s moonstone necklace. Every now and then it sheds a moonstone like a seven-year-old loses teeth. Despite their translucence, I always manage to find the lost moonstone. Perhaps if I sleep with one under my pillow, the Lime Fairy will come . . . .

My handbag is Dooney & Bourke, and it’s getting dirty. I could take it to one of Bangkok’s hi-so bag spas for a good shampoo, but I’d rather save my baht for cheap, glorious street clothes. By the way, the above photo is what you look like when, in the Bangkok heat, you reach full-wilt.

And this is what you look like when you recover! It’s hot here and life moves fast. Sometimes you just have to trust where you are and who you’re with.

To find the faux-lace clothing stall: Take BTS to Sala Deang. Exit 2. Walk along Silom until you reach the junction with Convent. Bring a little baht.

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ONE NIGHT IN BANGOK: Michelle Obama, Ladyboys, Thai fashion, Thakoon, & a rendezvous with the Moon

By: Kim Philley

17-01-2012

Kim

Cocktails al fresco & the best view in Bangkok: The rooftop Moon Bar at the Banyan Tree hotel

There’s nothing quite like a few days spent riding Bangkok’s Sky Train to make one feel fatally frumpy. Along Sukhumvit Road, women wear scarlett-soled Christian Louboutins to commute to work, only to stuff them into their Bottega Veneta bags when they arrive at the office, swapping heels out for bunny slippers. Even Bangkok men are so well turned out—bespoke jackets, saddle oxfords, sometimes a Rockabilly pompadour shellacked to the top of their foreheads—that I’ve begun stroking my chin for signs of insidious stubble. Adding insult to injury are Thailand’s glamazon ladyboys, many of whom do a far better job of impersonating a woman than I do:

Verklempt ladyboys at the world’s premiere transgender beauty pageant,
Miss Tiffany’s Universe in Pattaya, Thailand

With such, err, stiff competition and so little time (I started a new job yesterday and thus far am exhausted and morbidly lonely), I’ve decided nothing–and I do mean nothing–I brought to wear in Bangkok is worthy of a photo-op. Until I can a) Make an auteur friend who will take hammy fashion shots of me once a week (and that is a friend indeed) + b) Hit the weekend markets and Chiclet-sized Thai boutiques at places like Terminal 21 and Siam Discovery Center, I’ll be pilfering my Bangkok archives for today’s blog:

Top: ZARA

Sunglasses: Christian Dior

Gold Ganesh necklace: Bangkok’s Chinatown

Thailand has one of the most innovative, up-and-coming fashion scenes in all of Asia. I’ll be exploring young Thai designers in upcoming posts, but for now let me lead with a (fashion savvy) household name: Thakoon Panichgul (ฐากูร พานิชกุล). A Thai-American, Thakoon was raised in Thailand and Omaha, Nebraska, and is a favorite of our fashion-forward First Lady’s.

Thakoon has a genius for acid-flashback patterns, but there are some patterns that just shouldn’t be mixed (Michelle Obama should ask herself every morning, Does this go with American Flag?)

Thakoon Pre-Spring 2012

Another rule of Southeast Asian fashion: you can never be too rich or too girly-girl. (Although you can be too thin. But thanks to the night food vendors on Soi 38 that offer spicy papaya salad, pad thai, tom yum, et al, I may soon have my ass back.) Here I am at Bangkok’s Dusit Palace Park looking gag-me-with-a-spoon girly. I hope this outfit inoculated me and I’ll never have to sport a boob-bow again.

Minnie Mouse called: she wants her look back

Leotard top (yes, crotch-snaps and all): ZARA

Umbrella: 7-Eleven

Thakoon Pre-Spring 2012

Sabai Sabai! I love the man with the sausage pancakes

T-shirt: James Perse

Skirt: ZARA

Jeweled sandals: Phnom Penh

Thakoon Pre-Spring 2012

My favorite man in Bangkok: ‘Marco Polo’ at Wat Pho

Stay tuned next Tuesday for photos of me in a ladyboy-slaying new Thai getup, which I will challenge myself to find for under 1,000 Thai Baht ($30 US)!

Photos by Marcus Aurelius

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THE 45th PARALLEL: Dressing between the North Pole and the Equator

FU MEETS ASIA STREET STYLE: Faux Chantilly Lace from a Bangkok Street Stall and Boise Moonstone

ONE NIGHT IN BANGOK: Michelle Obama, Ladyboys, Thai fashion, Thakoon, & a rendezvous with the Moon

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