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Girls, boys, girl-boys, boy-girls, and pachyderms — it’s been a difficult week. I just mustered all I could recall of my high school/Phnom Penh-cuss-out French to send this text message to someone I perceived, until moments ago, to be an honorable Frenchman: Je ne suis pas une putain. Pour médiocre boom-boom, je crois Rue Cowboy!

BCBG Maxazria, Frivolous Universe, FU, Kim Philley, street style, elephants, Bangkok, Siam Niramit, Thai street style, Thai fashion

My facial expression pretty much sums up how I feel about the men I meet when I get all gussied up to go out on the town in Bangkok. No offense, Mr. Fancy Elephant, but when I ask you, How was your Thai massage at Wat Pho? “I just want massage do by you,” is not an elegant elephant reply. Please stop it with the sexting.

Who said chivalry is dead? Here’s hoping it’s just frozen in the Greenland ice sheet, it’s DNA soon-to-be-revived by global warming.

Tiff by Tt, Made in Los Angeles, Kim Philley, Bangkok, little black dress, Frivolous Universe

A hot Thai photographer snapped this actual Polaroid of me at The St. Regis Bangkok on Friday night. If I had my Sharpie-druthers, I would hand-caption it, When I was a copywriter in Bangkok . . . To remind myself that all situations are temporary and that my time on earth is fleeting.

This is my go-to little black dress. I bought it off the sales rack at the Boise Macy’s, but the brand is nearly un-Googlable. The label reads tiff by Tt and it’s Made in Los Angeles. Someone is selling one on eBay. And that “Tt” ain’t Trina Turk — not for what I paid. The lace chevron cuts much lower in back, so I’m sorry the St. Regis photographer failed to snap a rearview. As my Twitter-friend Tommy quipped, i’m bringing sexy back. to the store. because it’s broken and i’ve hardly used it and i want my money back.

Thank goodness for good friends. The night, and the St. Regis dress, were redeemed by a good ‘ol Soi Nana crawl with the so-much-fun-they-should-be-illegal Gabi and Skip Yetter and the lovely Miss Eliza Chute. Most tourists visit Nana for the boom-boom. We went for the Thai young coconuts.

And no, salacious Frenchman, that was not a euphemism.

The Dress Below: BCBG Max Azria

Earrings: Lumphini street stall, Bangkok

Bracelet: Wooden snake, Indonesia

Kim Philley in BCBG, Siam Niramit, Bangkok, Frivolous Universe, Thai fashion, asia street style, FU, fashion, little black dress

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Vanessa Boots, Kim Philley, white corset, happycorset.com, Terminal 21, Bangkok, Thai fashion, Asia Street Style, Bangkok street style, Frivolous Universe, FU, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, tutu, Tibetan breastplate

He saw corsets, corsets, corsets, corsets, corsets, corsets, corsets, corsets.

Do you know how to pony?  Like bony maroney.

Do you know how to twist? Well it goes like this, it goes like this:

Marilyn Monroe, Kim Philley, Vanessa Boots, Pedro, corsets, Frivolous Universe, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, FU, fit to be tied, Asia Street Style, Thai fashion, Bangkok fashion, Bangkok street style, Terminal 21 shopping mall, Tokyo floor, www.happycorsets.com

It’s 10pm in Bangkok and, rest assured, I haven’t eaten dinner, I’m blogging from a shopping mall, and I’m rocking a neoprene wrist support on my right mouse-clicker (back in the olden days they called them ‘hands’). The mall rat smack has hit my veins and it sounds a lot like Patti Smith singing horses, horses, horses, horses.

But Bangkok’s new Terminal 21 shopping mall — each floor themed after a different international city — exerts a loopy alchemy. Suddenly I get the feeling I’m being surrounded by corsets, corsets, corsets, corsets!  Perhaps I’m paranoid. Or perhaps Pedro and I have lingered a little too long on the Tokyo floor, home of happycorset.com:

Marilyn Monroe, Kim Philley, Vanessa Boots, Pedro, corsets, Frivolous Universe, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, FU, fit to be tied, Asia Street Style, Thai fashion, Bangkok fashion, Bangkok street style, Terminal 21 shopping mall, Tokyo floor, www.happycorsets.com

My figure has been more Smith than Monroe as of late. All I do is work; my ass is beginning to take the shape of my cheap, sunken office chair. No offense to Patti, but I’m over being a gay man’s muse.

Kim Philley, Patti Smith, Horses, Vanessa Boots, Frivolous Universe, Asia Street Style, street fashion, Terminal 21, Bangkok, Thai fashion

Part of my family’s lore is a story about my great-grandfather wanting to get some sleep after a long day’s work. He stumbled into the bedroom he shared with my great-grandmother. When he saw all his wife’s ‘underthings’ strewn about the room, her corset included, he barked, ‘Gracie, get those women off of my bed!’

I want my women back. I want hips like María Félix when I don my little black dress.

Maria Felix, the little black dress, La Dona, Vanessa Boots, Kim Philley, Frivolous Universe, street style, FU

For this week’s post I found a beautiful woman with a gorgeous figure to fill my size-10 shoes. Don’t let the name Pedro dissuade you. ‘He’ is definitely 100% La Doña. Pedro looks smokin’ in his Happy Corset. And that Tibetan breastplate sure don’t hurt — a dramarama accessory I believe FU has singlehandedly put back on the fashion map.

Marilyn Monroe, Kim Philley, Vanessa Boots, Pedro, corsets, Frivolous Universe, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, FU, fit to be tied, Asia Street Style, Thai fashion, Bangkok fashion, Bangkok street style, Terminal 21 shopping mall, Tokyo floor, www.happycorsets.com

Black corset: Happy Corset, Tokyo Floor, Terminal 21, Bangkok

Tibetan breastplate: Bethany Walter’s fabulous online jewelry store, Armor Bijoux

Copper bracelet: The Gold Mine, Ketchum, Idaho

Strappy heels: Geez, Pedro — where’d ya get those sweet heels? Fill me in when you got a sec.

Marilyn Monroe, Kim Philley, Vanessa Boots, Pedro, corsets, Frivolous Universe, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, FU, fit to be tied, Asia Street Style, Thai fashion, Bangkok fashion, Bangkok street style, Terminal 21 shopping mall, Tokyo floor, www.happycorsets.com

How have we gone from ooh la la guitarra to Victoria’s Secret in 50-odd years? It must have been the Fin de siècle.

Heidi Klum & VIctoria's Secret 'Angels', Kim Philley, Vanessa Boots, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, FU, Asian Street Style, Bangkok street style, Thai fashion

Thank God there’s a burlesque dancer to redeem us all: the mermaid-pale, azure-corseted Dita Von Teese:

Dita Von Teese corset jewelled pastel (Kim Philley for FU), Vanessa Boots, corsets, subtly slutty, Asian Street Style, Bangkok fashion, Bangkok street style, Thai fashion, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, FU, Frivolous Universe, fashion

Well color me purple. Next time I draw you a Liger, Pedro, I’ll make it all Gotham-like. Ligers are like a lion and tiger mixed — bred for its skills in magic. Just like mating an antique Tibetan breastplate with a cheap Bangkok corset. Same species, Pedro.

Dita Von Teese corset jewTerminal 21, shopping malls Bangkok, happycorset.com, Tibetan breastplate, (Kim Philley for FU), Vanessa Boots, corsets, subtly slutty, Asian Street Style, Bangkok fashion, Bangkok street style, Thai fashion, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, FU, Frivolous Universe, fashion

Dear Pedro (a.k.a. Vanessa Boots),

Thanks again for all the sweet hook-ups and for letting me be a lazy blogger. If you don’t come back to visit soon I’m going to have to grow some T&A along with a midnight work ethic. I’m just so tired — gosh!

Peace out,

Napoleon

Photographer: Vanessa Boots, Kim Philley, Frivolous Universe, FU, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, Asia Street Style, Bangkok fashion, Thai street style, corsets, Terminal 21 shopping mall, happycorsets.com

Photographs by Vanessa Boots (a.k.a. Pedro) and the bemused shop girl at www.happycorsets.com

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Bangkok is to food as the Kentucky Derby is to mint juleps. If your well runs dry, it ain’t nobody’s fault but your own. Here I am at my favorite food stall on Soi 38, buggin’ like a skinny meth man. It’s 11pm at night and this coconut shake is the first bit of sustenance to cross my lips since my breakfast noodles.

Kim Philley, Maria Feliz, Vietnamese tailor, white pants, Hoi An, street style, Asia Street Style, Bangkok, Frivolous Universe, FU, street food, AXARA Pairs, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, J.Crew Cece flat, Dooney & Burke bag, Fly No

I’ve been working carpal-tunnel inducing hours, and I let myself get shanghaied into pinch-hosting an evening poetry reading. I worked through lunch. I skipped dinner. Blood sugar in your shoes? Who the f^%k cares — as long as they’re velvet.

Kim Philley, Maria Feliz, Vietnamese tailor, white pants, Hoi An, street style, Asia Street Style, Bangkok, Frivolous Universe, AXARA Paris, poetry, FU, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, J.Crew Cece flat, Dooney & Burke bag, Fly No

Dress: AXARA Paris

Gold and pearl earrings: Norma Puga (Margot, Mexico City)

Kim Philley, Maria Feliz, Vietnamese tailor, white pants, Hoi An, street style, Asia Street Style, Bangkok, Frivolous Universe, FU, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, J.Crew Cece flat, Dooney & Burke bag, Fly No

Pre-street food I got really kvetchy, and then I almost fainted. It took the coconut shake ( + duck noodle soup + som tam + mango avec sticky rice) to restore me to meaning and to sense. I looked around and then it occurred to me: f^%kin A, I’m in Bangkok!

Kim Philley, Maria Feliz, Vietnamese tailors, Hoi An, white linen pants, Bangkok, street style, Asia Street Style, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, FU, Memorial Bridge, Bangkok, Thailand, Thai street fashion, Thai fashion, Frivolous Universe, fashion, J. Crew Cece ballet flats, Dooney & Burke, Fly Now

F^%k tight polyester-blend dresses. F^%k skipping meals. F^%k pinch-hitting. A billion random, portentous things are happening in this city at any given moment. Why is his head wrapped in a red bow? Why does that boom mic look like a fuzzy dildo? What the F are they filming? I don’t need to know. I don’t even care. But if I miss one minute of it because I’m off somewhere being ‘proper,’ doing as I feel duty-bound, I’m gonna regret it.
Kim Philley kisses Ryan Gosling AND George Clooney, Maria Feliz, Vietnamese tailor, white pants, Hoi An, street style, Asia Street Style, Bangkok, Frivolous Universe, FU, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, J.Crew Cece flat, Dooney & Burke bag, Fly No

It’s time for a threesome with Ryan Gosling and George Clooney. It’s time to go nuts in an elaborate mock-up; to match my teal jeans to my diorama. It’s time yet for a hundred indecisions, and for a hundred visions and revisions . . . . In a minute there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

Kim Philley Frivolous Universe 'Teal green is not jade green!', Bangkok, pastel jeans, C&C California, teal green, spring 2012, jade green, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, FU

Kim Philley, Maria Feliz, Vietnamese tailor, white pants, Hoi An, street style, Asia Street Style, Bangkok, Frivolous Universe, FU, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, J.Crew Cece flats

Do I dare disturb the universe? There’s only one thing to do on ‘Prapa’ Street. (Note the posh accent, bitches.) Jump up on the bridge-over-the-stinky-klong railing. Strike a pose. Make sure you’re rockin’ a María Félix t-shirt. If you’re going straight to hell, rest assured it’s always Ladies’ Night.

Maria Felix, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, FU, Frivolous Universe, Kim Philley, Mexican film stars, Mexico's great lady, La Dona

Doña Diabla

Kim Philley Salvador Dali, Maria Feliz, white linen pants, Bangkok, street style, Asia Street Style, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, FU, Frivolous Universe, fashion

Why settle for mild-mannered Clark Kent when you can be Salvador Dali? Where I am it’s always summertime, and the living should be easy. Pedro smuggled my María Félix shirt all the way from Mexico City to Bangkok via the usual cartel route — Kampuchea. The rose petal, like me, was a refugee from Valentine’s Day. And the gold-leafed earrings set me back 20 baht (about 70 cents) at a street stall near Lumphini MRT.

Kim Philley, Maria Feliz, Vietnamese tailor, white pants, Hoi An, street style, Asia Street Style, Bangkok, Frivolous Universe, FU, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, J.Crew Cece flat, Dooney & Burke bag, Fly Now

White linen pants: Pin-Pin (my favorite tailor in Hoi An, Vietnam)

Belt: FlyNow (Bangkok)

Handbag: good ol’ Dooney & Burke

Kim Philley, Maria Feliz, Vietnamese tailor, white pants, Hoi An, street style, Asia Street Style, Bangkok, Frivolous Universe, FU, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, J.Crew Cece flat, Dooney & Burke bag, Fly No

It is impossible to say just what I mean! I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across the floors of silent seas. Shoulds and more shoulds are all you get for time served on Prapa Street. Below: I am wearing incredibly comfy hidden-wedge J. Crew Cece suede ballet flats in Mulberry to match Maria’s lips.

Kim Philley, Maria Feliz, Vietnamese tailors, Hoi An, white linen pants, Bangkok, street style, Asia Street Style, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, FU, Frivolous Universe, fashion, J. Crew Cece ballet flats, Dooney & Burke, Fly Now

Kim Philley, Maria Feliz, Vietnamese tailors, Hoi An, white linen pants, Bangkok, street style, Asia Street Style, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, FU, Frivolous Universe, fashion, pork knuckle, J. Crew Cece ballet flats, Dooney & Burke, Fly Now

Is it this dainty pork knuckle that makes me so digress?

Kim Philley, Maria Feliz, Vietnamese tailors, Hoi An, white linen pants, Bangkok, street style, Asia Street Style, http://http://www.frivolousuniverse.com/, FU, Frivolous Universe, fashion, J. Crew Cece ballet flats, Dooney & Burke, Fly Now, Vanessa Boots, J. Crew t-shirt, Pedro

PS: VOTE FOR PEDRO. He gets me all my sweet shots.

 

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