Warpaint Beauty is Warpaint II [picture laden]

Good afternoon, everyone. Somewhere last week all my time went into the centennial Cherry Blossom in D.C., which is strange because it was only involving Saturday. It was very beautiful, and the weather was so pleasant [in comparison to last year, where it was, what 40 degrees? Aaah], I met up with friends and old teachers, and got to see JASA's Soran Bushi, a great Japanese fisherman dance. Sunday was the recording session for GSO [the Smithsonian isn't able to provide us with quality recording on the day of our concert], courtesy of a fan of the orchestra. As for Friday and yesterday, well... work. Or something, haha. But~ now I think it's time for some more Warpaint.

So when I went on my Tall Shoes Outing with M-san, we made a short hop sudden stop to Hot Topic. I was looking to see if any Versailles albums had come in, but really, HT's music schedule for foreign titles is sort of random. Warpaint cosmetics were still on sale, so I thought, okay, while I'm here, I'll grab that darker blue lipstick I saw. Again with my misconceptions of cosmetics.

Looks vaguely familiar...

No real loss, purple IS positively the best color ever, so I'm okay with that. To match, I decided to get another color of the powder eyeliner and nail polish. Psychedelic neon blue? No~ it actually goes on sparkly, and glows in the dark. I couldn't quite get a picture of that, but it does glow pretty well [especially if being on top of a solid color layer gets in the way of the phosphorescence]. I'll try again if I can think of a good way.

It's even in my eyelashes, haha.

I don't know if the first batch I got is just defective, or if this batch is defective; the purple goes on less opaque than the blue--even though it's darker--and the gold comes out like crazy. I barely need a full pass to get it entirely over my eye. But I am immensely fond of it [gold on darker tones go well], so I'll deal with the overflow and swipe it up.

The purple appears slightly darker here than in person, unless it was just the lights.

I tried to emulate the poses from the first Warpaint session, to mixed degrees of success. I don't know why part of my face is shiny, too, or looks like I've been crying. I swear I wasn't. Also, please excuse my crow's nest of hair. I've since tamed it much better, ugh.

For your skin tone, does gold or silver suit you better? Do you like eyeshadow to go up until the eyebrows? What colors work best for your lips~?

Things are getting so busy again, bah~ but it's fine, I suppose. I'll do my best to play keep-up.

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

Weekend Gamer

Good afternoon, everyone [already afternoon? ugh, where does all my time go?]. Hope you all had a pleasant weekend. I was verily too busy to post on Sunday [che sigh], as I tried to be semi-productive and catch up on work in the time I wasn't going out. Saturday, I had a tall-shoes outing with a friend from campus, and we went and saw Hunger Games [I haven't read the book, so I have a very base opinion just concerning the movie. And I feel like I sound jaded when I say it was alright; just okay]. Aside from the Demonia boots, nothing to report. Resident Evil-ed into the night [this was probably one of the worst ideas ever, but heeeeyyyy I swear the paranoid hysterics are gone].

On Sunday, the weather dipped again, so I knew there was a jacket in the works. But for walking around D.C. to go down and see The Art of Video Games exhibit at the American Art Museum in the Smithsonian, I was in the mind to be kept at arms length. I don't mind staring--I'm going to get that on the Metro this Saturday for the Cherry Blossom festival--but I don't want to be -bothered- by... undesirables. So I made myself 'fierce', with direct inspiration from the guys of SID.

Jacket: Second hand
Scarf: Undertaker cosplay
Pants: Handmade
Shirt: Katsucon
Platforms: Demonia

And the shades are over top of my glasses.

Trademark delinquent crouch. No really, this is a staple.

Wish I had remembered the cane, I would've felt safer.

I am quite pleased with this ensemble, and I was able to walk the three blocks to the museum in relative peace. The exhibit was pretty good, it was a nice sampling of the past and present in video games, including the evolution of story, mechanics, music, and of course, art. The Kogard Courtyard is quite beautiful, but as far as how a 120 piece orchestra plus chorus is going to fit, I do have lingering worry. But we'll make it work.

Not inspired by my hair. Totally.

The face swirls are courtesy of my calligraphy brush. This is probably not the best implement for writing on one's face, but I use it because of the control, non-smearing, easy remove ink. Replace instead with any liquid eyeliner, is what I recommend.

Since this one is sort of late, hopefully I can get to another one about more War Paint by Thursday... but don't hold your breath, I don't want you to suffocate.

Cherry blossoms are very much in season~, do you have any plans go to a viewing? Are you lucky enough to have some in your backyard? This is the hundred year anniversary of Japan giving us those very first trees, everyone~ do something special just for that.

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak.

Surprise Chilly Bishop

Good afternoon everyone. I'm starting noonish, but I'll probably finish in the evening. Ah the conveniences of modern technology. If the title seems like a complete puzzler, I don't blame you. But rest assured, this is a regular post about what I wore. Perhaps my creative juices are flowing outwardly from all the story writing--flash fiction mostly--I've been doing lately. This isn't necessarily a bad thing I suppose [only my posture is steadily becoming crap].

True to the east coast tendencies, we had some serious bi-polar weather yesterday and today, dipping back into the 60s and below. So I donned on the staple coat I've been wearing over everything as I did during the winter. I suspect that even with the weather over here being as ridiculous as it is, it's likely not going to go back to this. It's almost April for all's sakes.

Sleek, and awesome on windy days.

Trinity Blood crucifix serves me well, after replacing the first chain early on.

This is, of course, the 'cossak' underneath the main grey robe/coat for my Undertaker cosplay. I had somehow forgotten about the sash, but it completes the image in my opinion. I remembered to take off my glasses, too. Masks tend to go well with this ensemble, and, since it's usually weather based, it doesn't really matter what I have on underneath.

How are the cherry blossoms near you? It's about that season~! [whaaa, even though it was just so cold? Huh?]
Eternally yours,
Il Ruinante Isaak
p.s. I boiled up some of my green tea tapioca pearls at last. And then promptly put them into a dark mug. *Panned.* But they turned out delicious for once, and I put them in apple juice in a clear glass when I remembered. Get them at your nearest Asian food mart today~!

Under De-Construction

Good evening, everyone. For the record, the title took two more minutes than usual [aka, those two minutes] to come up with, aaaah. I guess we all struggle with it. Our Golden Week is here~ and so soon, already gone... awww... I have to say, it's not as if I've been doing anything. It's actually quite terrible, I was sleeping. Sleep, sleep, sleep, SLEEP. And I think I'm caught up, but I still just want to sleep. Somewhere between the shut eye, I did something semi-productive.

Since the weather's warming up, it's hard to wear the full layers of Aristocrat and not become a hot mess [although I am temperature retarded, so I might be okay]. So I'm going to do my best to switch it up to Visual Kei, and emphasize the accessories and make-up. However, there's a important aspect to Visual Kei clothes that can make it easier for even beginners to build up a wardrobe. Aside from a norm of darker colors, deconstruction is your friend.

So, thinking to make a wide-necked shirt, sort of shoulderless, I did the thing anyone does now a days, and Googled how. I came across Salinabear on Youtube, who has a wide array of videos on how to tear up your T-shirt in a cool way. And I sure as hell have a lot of T-shirt's to tear up. I tried a look from this video, and cut down the back as in this video. Here's my results~!

My first subjects~ [why haven't I seen these shirts in forever?]

For a shirt more baggy than the ones in Salinabear's videos, I like how this came out.

Oh, and then I went out. [a pair of pants I haven't seen in forever.]

I was going to use the white shirts for the cut up the back, but I wrote stuff on the back, haha. So I dug around for another one that was a little smaller [the vast majority of the T-shirt's I have are also nightclothed sized from when I was a kid].

I ended up double weaving it, too. Don't be afraid to cut wide for this one.

I probably did something wrong as far as making the boat cut on the top, but eh, it's fine.

I'm not ready to cleave up my special graphic T's just yet, but perhaps I'll get some in the future, and with the extras I'll give it a whirl.

What's your opinion of pre-torn clothes? Do you think torn clothes are ever appropriate? If you have holey jeans/shirts/etc, how did you get them?

Oh Golden Week, here and gone. Please just a few more days~
Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaac

And now for something [else] completely different.

Good afternoon everyone~ how's the weekend been? Obligatory mention of Sunday relaxation. I'm trying to be semi-productive by straightening my hair, replaying Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, sewing a button back on, reading Noblesse, and going over GSO music in some sort of cohesion [Noblesse is winning]. Another week down. What am I counting down to? [Hmmm... I guess Otakon now, so very far away...] Well, that aside, as the title states, I had some fun on Friday.

This semester at least, I don't have class or work on Friday, so more often than not, I'll be staying home. This past Friday though, two of the student groups on campus I'm involved in were having fundraisers, so I came out to lend manpower and promotional support. In hindsight I think I somehow managed to mash both aesthetics of the groups [Japanese American Student Association (the ever popular JASA) and Satanic Mechanics Theater Company (no affiliation with Satan or car repair)] together without trying.

Yukata: Handmade

Hakama: Japan

Armwarmers: Hot Topic

Boots: Demonia

Of course, no day dressed in hakama is complete without a few pictures with Yasumisame. Ever faithful, simple and elegant, Yasumisame is my ferocity in modesty [...whut?].

I do know basic kendo strikes, but this is just posing for the camera, haha. ^_^

With one sleeve pulled up, I actually feel more like an archer.

The hakama and boots combination was apparently a somewhat popular style for ladies after the Meiji Restoration in Japan [around the 1860s]. That was the thought I had in my head when I was thinking about what I wanted to wear on Thursday [it is a rare occurrence indeed, for me to plan my outfits, especially a whole night beforehand]. It's hasn't gotten back to being cold enough to snow, but it was still chilly, and it rained [so I'm glad I threw on the arm warmers as an extra measure]. I suppose if I had to type this, it would be a neo-fuedal, cyberpunk samurai style. I will probably wear this again come Cherry Blossom season, if not sooner.

Do you have any clothes from a different era of time? If so, do you get to wear it that often? What would be your favorite crossover styles of old and new?

March is almost upon us now, look forward to some new music~

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

White and Eyelets and Hair, say what?

Good evening, everyone, hope your end-of-weekend is proving to be as it should be; relaxed, so one can enter into the week refreshed [even moreso if you have tomorrow off~]. My weekend started on Friday, and what a splendid three days it was. Friday was a SpaWorld day, and hardly anybody seemed to be around~ so it was as if we had the whole place to ourselves~. Saturday, I went down to the Gaylord National Harbor for one-day Katsucon [more on that to come]. And today~? 

Well, today I did work, and went to GSO rehearsal. Since laundry day was pushed back from being out all day Saturday, I had less things that were climate appropriate and decent to wear. But~, if the post title is any clue, guess what I managed~?

I couldn't have planned it better~ the perfect pair of eyelets all around~

Lo, despite a few posts back saying I wanted to get an all white Aristocrat ensemble, with the recent completion of the Nudy Boy shirt, I now have a nice coordination for a casual all white Visual Kei. I am not displeased by this. It's fun to come up with new things from ideas of something slightly [or even not at all] related.

I went with the checkered suspenders this time, rather than the one black, one white.

I don't have any white foot wear [yet], and I ran out of the house in a rush after stringing up the sleeves [since I can't use the same ones for the legs if I want to wear this combination, ahaha], so... barefoot marquis.

I also tried to do something with my hair. Emphasis on the 'try' and the 'something.' I double pinned the top part down, before changing it to up [V-kei is all about gravity defying mess o-dyed parts, haha]. I liked it well enough to take some pictures. Maybe I'll replicate it tomorrow and see how practical it is for work and class.

I approve of taking pictures of myself in the bathroom mirror if it's this way; after all, if you just turn the camera around, you can look into the mirrored camera and see what it's focused on, and avoid the flash.

I single pinned it here, but I'll probably double pin it if I wear it for a whole day.

And there we have it~. I'm glad I can showcase more Visual Kei, as this is the other major half of the blog. I say that, and then already know the next post[s] will be heavily cosplay related [but that too, is a part of the blog, my Triforce of me~...!]. Please indulge me this, if you will.

Do you ever do one color outfits? Do you find you break up the one color with a contrasting/complimenting colored accessories? And what's that rule about wearing white again?

February is soon coming to a close~

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

Playing with Polyvore: White Marquis

Good afternoon, everyone~. Here I am starting this in afternoon, but we'll see if I can't somehow manage to distract myself and end up doing this in the evening anyway... No~! NO! Come now me, snap out of it. *Pat pat.* This is procrastination at it's finest, my friends...

Recently, I've somehow become absorbed into a longtime dream of mine to make an all white Aristo, to contrast the usual all black that goes with the type. This isn't necessarily something I'm wanting to do to prove that all white Aristo exists, because I think it does, more of compiling the ensemble just to have it [like anything else I do, really]. Then I can go out no matter the weather, and I can choose which way to match or contrast to my Lolita counterpart companion [or Goth or Gyaru, etc.]. Reaching into a lazy late night and dabbling around with the nifty--but sometimes thwarting--tool Polyvore, I constructed a guideline white Aristo goal.

The cane is a Luscious Malfoy replica, haha.

And silly me, I didn't take any notes as to the brands or such. I suppose since I wasn't looking for replication, I didn't think about it, but you all might be interested~! Next time I will remember, and jot them all down.

As with a default Aristo, accessories in color [even white] aren't a no-no, so I highlighted the white with red and black [and ohhhhh yaaaaaaaaay PURPLE~!] where it would look classiest. If I ever make a chrome colored cane, I might use that for a white ensemble instead. I couldn't find any white jackets that I liked [with the methods I was using to search], so I just picked the one shown on the right, imagining it to be white. White jackets even in regular styles are hard to come by, me thinks... Shoes are also a toss-up, one half dozen of the other, but maybe this summer, I'll have a good pair [...right, in the summer, when it'll be hell to wear them]. Since I already have a few, I think instead of white belts, I'd also use chrome or stainless steel link belt in the place of a straight white belt.

Do you use online tools to help coordinate? Got any advice for using Polyvore [or can recommend other sites]? Or do you like the old fashioned way of laying all your clothes out/holding them up to you in a mirror?

Come to me, all white Aristo~! Same for all white Visual-Kei, too.

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

Palette Swap Manicure

Good evening everyone~ I feel on such a roll. I would say please look forward to this in the future, as it I did before, but chances are I'm just on a lucky streak. But it would be nice, ne~? The future is a mysterious thing, saa na~. That being said, onward to a little update.

Since we both have Fridays free, Toriberry and I decided to get together sometime between a doctor's appointment and covering a work shift to do our nails. Considering neither of us live on campus at the moment, we floundered a bit wondering where we should go that isn't utterly secluded, or outside [since winter is finally coming around, thanks groundhog], but wouldn't choke people in the vicinity with nail polish fumes. We ended up in a study room in the main library, and went to work. You'll notice the familiar manicure~

It's playing season again, so just the right hand, since there is a noticeable length difference.

Sparkle quota, met.

Again, I used the color changing Del-Sol as a top coat, so added sparkles and bonus ruby-silver in sunlight. [I should really just get some clear coat though.] The blue is really globbing up for some reason; are there methods for thinning nailpolish without it becoming a watery mess?

What are your all time favorite designs, or colors for your nails? Do you have seasonal changes? Are you an acrylic nail type?

Haaaah, brand new week already~? Okay.

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

Secondhand Goodness Part 1

Good evening, everyone~ and for those of you like me who are returned to your respective universities, welcome to the spring semester. Good luck one and all~. Has it snowed where you are? More than a scant inch or so like it did here before icing over and melting away... please come back snow~ [or at least appropriate temperatures for the current time of the year]. Bah, it's fine one way or another, in the end.

At last~ I had another occasion to wear my other secondhand jacket in his mild cold weather, so we can have something to look at. Around Otakon last year, Nobu was in town from her trip to China, and dropped off a lovely pair of jackets for me to have, since they were too long for her. As a double bonus, she got these jackets for a steal at the thrift store near campus. Win win all around~! The first up is a number you've seen before, both for Victorian Kitty-san's lace-themed month, and just recently for the end of the year variance sampler.

It has a buckle in the back to make the waist more or less tight, and a pair of rather spacious chest pockets. It carries with it the feel of a Japanese delinquent [...it sounds more random than it seems, promise, haha]. If I knew how to do it, I would embroider something on the sleeve invoking the feeling even more ["Rising Sun of Love and War!" or the likes]. I'll just have to make sure it's accurate.

The second is a delicious leather number, if I do say so myself. I wore it a lot during all of August and September, and adjusted to the ways of slipping leather against car seats and such. All part of the sexy.

Oh, and I finally tamed my hair some.

I'm still not out of my crouch shots. These boots are surprisingly easy for it, though.

No pockets, but it makes up for that in another way. That awesome high collar, open chest, and clip-buckles towards the bottom make this an almost near replica of Final Fantasy VII's main antagonist, Sephiroth  [I make metaphors that he is the Darth Vadar equivalent for video games].  It is close enough to encourage me to make a full cosplay for him somewhere down the line [and I already have one of the more difficult aspects of it in this jacket down]. Don't hold your breath for it, but just wait... it'll come along. Outside of hyper fandom excitement, it is an excellent cool weather jacket as well, because the leather and lining is warm.

Naturally, I give Nobu extra hugs every time I see her when wearing them. Plus two more reasons to love windy days.

Have you ever gotten things secondhand that you wear more than some new things? Or, have a horrible case of the handed down off-colored sweaters from aunts or grandmas?

Here's to a lovely weekend [and this is part one for a reason, so look forward to part two~]

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

All that Glitters... [really really brightly]

Good evening, everyone~ and not that I had made note of it, but I am back from a nice visit up north to see the godmother. More from to come [I can hope], because she sent me home with secondhand goodness. Now that I'm back, I'm doing my best to enjoy the last few days of winter break before things get hectic again. I'll touch a little on that, too... in a New Year's Future Plans post. Title... to... *Scratching out ideas.*

The mother and father persons got me a lovely pair of brooches from Premier Designs, the company that the mother person hosted a jewelry show from. Or rather, I should say, they are single brooches, that they bought two of, and as such, I plan to make a double brooch out of it. If you've ever wanted a good reason to hang on to necklaces that you've lost or broken the original piece that went with it, this is a good one.

These particular brooches in all their wide flower-esque sparkliness are reminiscent of the one strung across the mantle worn by Alucard, of the Castlevania series, designed by Ayami Kojima. While also inspirational of Aristocrat, it is a very involved cosplay, that probably won't happen for another few years. But at least I will have these already in my possession when I do get around to it.

I strung them with a Kuroshitsuji necklace, the knife in the middle a nod to the titular butler Sebastian, and his default weapon of choice, utensils. This is for the time being, until I actually need to secure a chain on for extended wear. Naturally, I plan to wear them a lot over the suit jacket and heavier blouses, though because I am slightly paranoid when it comes to losing parts off of jewelry, it may be an exclusive grand-day/night-out piece only. We'll see. I am now encouraged to acquire more, so they can be worn in a more day-to-day ensemble. Plus, more chain goodness to go with the Visual Kei.

Coincidentally, I also got a jewelry box for Christmas as well [from mother persons-side aunt]. I need to clear off space for it though [however it does impede Sebastian from upturning the folder stack].

I hope I can showcase them some more off and on, especially with this slew of new old things I've gotten from Boston~. In the meantime, I hope I've helped you all reach your sparkle quota for the day [...month...? year? ...hour...?].

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

Monthly Theme: Spot the Lace

Koncha, minna. Well, this is a little better, mmm~? Perhaps it will still only be a one time thing, despite my best efforts [che sigh]. But nevermind the details~ it's finally become October~! Surely, October is probably my second or third favorite month ever. Good things happen. The weather--like today, oh yes--becomes cooler, Halloween looms, there's inevitably another show, and, oh yes... If you are the lovely Victorian Kitty-tan of Sophistique Noir, you have the first-day-of-the-month theme. For this October, behold....! Lace~!



As far as my trifecta of styles go [Aristo, V-kei, cosplay], the sharp dressed lady of the Aristocrat may find the touch of lace on blouse sleeves, or the top-layer of a fine blouse, along with lace gloves for the warmer weather. However, since on a whole, the three mostly do without, I seem to have sublty reflected that in my own wardrobe. In fact, I nearly forgot the lone piece of lace something or other that I do have until I just looked around the room and spotted it hanging on the doorknob. You've seen it before. It continues to serve me well, even into it's slightly 'broken' state. I'm of course talking about the ever fashionable rose lace zip-tie.

As aforementioned, it was delightfully cool today, as I threw myself out of the house to run to the bank again. The new long jacket--that when buttoned reminds me of a Japanese delinquent, hence the armband [which reads 'gang leader']--is one of two given to me over the summer by Nobu because they're too long to look right. It makes me favor windy days, too, for the billowing effect [who doesn't love that~? ^_^]. The hair is a mess and got rained on while coming home, aaaaaaand... hooray for my diligent tie, it didn't slip too much.

I'm still sick; the ear infection I had earlier this week transformed into a regular cold and cough. By transformed I mean that I didn't get any sort of lapse in between them, one turned into the other. But I can crack my neck again, at least, so that's good. Usually, since I don't like being a pain and getting up to leave class when I have a cough, I'll don the mask. Same for everyday happenings, since the mask is a staple of Visual kei fashion. This one also serves me well, it needs a new protege though. It's mostly little kids who will stare. I've yet to have anyone call me out on it or say a rude comment, and of course, when it is needed [like at my bank for example], I remove it, no problem. I have a feeling it's because I leer a lot when I'm out and about by myself [default expression].

I swear it seems way bigger in proportion to my chest. The picture in the linked post above shows it better than this one, the seeming difference in size... All in all, the tie itself would be great, to me, even without the rose or lace [or just one or the other], because of the material, and that it's neither a regular tie or a clip on, it's affixed via a zipper. Easy to adjust, no worries for length, and fits under even the smallest of collars like the long jacket has.

The mother-person has more lace things than I do... I have considered making a pillbox hat and adding a nice half veil to the front; it's good to remember that fashion goes from head to toe.

Do you prefer whole lace pieces, or lace accessories? Colored lace, or tradional black and white? Do you make your own lace? [if so I bow to your immense prowess~!]

Stay well everyone, and have a wonderful October all around.

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

Fashion Institute of Technology; Quick-like.

Good afternoon, minna-sama~ and let's give it up for the near-end of the first week of the New Year~. Here's to the 51 more to come. It doesn't seem as long when you can count it down like that, desu ne.

Rather than bog down the previous post with adventures of travels, I thought it'd be better to break it up, especially since it is a more related post than simply ringing in the new year. The day before New Year's Eve, the mother person and I took a bus up to New York [and wasn't that a trek and a half? Details disparring, it took an hour alone to get through the Lincoln Tunnel], met up with my godmother, and had ourselves a looksee into the special exhibit at the Fashion Institute of Technology, titled Japanese Fashion Now. Just looking at the Hangry and Angry picture ballooned up on the wall and double doors made me excited.

I wasn't entirely sure what of all was going to be encompassed there, but the website made it all look intriguing enough. The mother person and I met up with my godmother and made ways downstairs to the first half of the exhibit [I say half because it was the first of only two rooms that made up the display]. The first half was mostly dominated with women's clothing, fashions that one might say was typed for the single woman in this new age of Japanese culture who isn't married but has her own place and holds down a good paying job, and shops ferverntly on weekends with her disposable income. The things she might wear out while doing said shopping [or buy while out shopping] were the sort of displays on first. There was also some menswear.

Ah, before I forget, I will mention that I have no pictures to show because picture taking was no allowed. If you're thinking about going up there though, let the avid artist within you come out, as they will allow you to sketch anything you'd like in pencil.

Like many advant-garde fashions from around the world really, I wasn't terribly impressed with the sort of things in the line-up. There was an attractive long jacket, and a sari-like garment that all three of us liked, but overall I was asking myself "Do people really wear this sort of thing? Is this what people call high-fashion now?" because truthfully, I would hope that some of these things never leave the runway. We moved into the larger second room, where the youth culture fashion mannequins were on display. From the more extravagent that we all know and love--Dolly Kei, Lolita, Mori girl, Visual Kei, and cosplay even--to the equally popular but tame by comparison--Oshare kei, onii-san kei, and semi-gyaru--the big names that even I can claim to recognize were put out on display. The Lolita section also had ball-jointed dolls on display, dressed in Baby the Stars Shine Bright and Alice and the Pirates chibi wear. There was a prominent display of menswear too, which intriguied me; not that I would think that all females in attendance wouldn't enjoy seeing mens fashion as well, but perhaps the male audience that it is targeted to would be lacking in attendance. I don't know. Perhaps when the exhibit opened there were more guys [oh, we practically had the place to ourselves when the three of us went].

Overall, though it was a smaller exhibit than what I was expecting, Japanese Fashion Now was a very enjoyable look into the contemporary fashions of our friends in the East, with more than just the look into the pop culture styles though I love those best. If nothing more than good memories, I am encouraged to continue with my workings into V-Kei, Aristo, and cosplay if for that the strong prevailance of Japanese fashion in Western culture has really begin to set itself apart. I don't think it will be too long before some of our own subculture is able to stand apart as it does in Japan, with branches like gyaru, Lolita, and V-kei. One can tantalize the possibilities at least.

It isn't worth a plane ride to get there, but parking can cost more than you'll spend eating food while in New York. The exhibit itself is FREE [one of my favorite words], but why do and make up for it with expensive transportation? Use a bus or train. We used a bus, but that hardly went down well, although I won't discredit it if you use a bus service other than Bolt.

Would you like to see a fashion exhibit closer to home? What sort of designers would you want to focus on? Would you want to add something to your display, such as a mini-fashion show once a week during hours?

Dressing the way you feel is so much fun, truly.
Eternally yours,
Il Ruinante Isaak

Miniature Post--Marriott Nights

Good afternoon, mina-sama~ do forgive me being away again. The semester is nearly at it's end, so I hope to have more time to post with recent activities that are planned as soon as the finals are did and done with [good luck everyone! you can do it!]. There is one very big project on the ball that I remember off the top of my head... Then scores and scores of smaller but still just as important projects, including a semi-commission [is it official...? Aaah...!] from Toriberry for the Angelic Pretty overskirt. I will certainly be keeping busy with winter, and since my place of work is closed, I'll probably have more time to do things than I did in the summer. Please look forward to it, if you can, mina-sama.

As for today, just a couple pictures of the ensemble I wore yesterday, for the snazzy Marriott Hotel Customer Appreciation event held in the Marriott in Greenbelt, celebrating it's finished refurbishing. It looks very posh now, but I've always liked Marriot anyway, never ridiculous high class, but still luxirous looking enough for one to know that they will be well taken care of during their stay. Not really understanding at the time I was asked what it was I had agreed to go to, come Wednesday I dressed up anyway per the mother-person's request ["I hope you'll wear... business causal, something nicer than your hooe and jeans, you know." she said, yet yesterday morning she to one look and realized she had forgotten, and went back to her room to change], and staggered through the day half awake until she got off of work.

It was a windy day, so you know what that means~ [or perhaps you don't, heh.]

I was wearing a black scarf as well since it is chilly now, tucked in. I took it off before I remembered to take a picture. It looks like a super puffed straight falling jabot, if you wish to supplement. [My hair is doing weird things recently.]

So walking around campus was a treat, and the Marriott event was wonderfully done. There was lots of food, good drinks, and some gambling table games. I've never done so poorly on roulette in my life... [granted, the experience has been limited to other tables and computer game versions] Upon leaving, the polite and fun ladies at the name-tag table offered candied apples, and these two nice older women complimented me on the coat. I think for this and similar when wearing them together, people mistake it for a long long coat, which isn't necessarily bad at all.

I have also noticed a trend when people ask and compliment your clothes or accessories. For people say... 30 years old or younger, they compliment and then ask "Where did you get them?" But for people 30 years old or older, they compliment and then ask "Did you make that?" It pleasantly perplexes me, although I can kind of understand where it comes from. We are different generations of people, coming from shop-happy spenders to old-school handmade.

It's just a little longer everyone... and then pleasantries... a little longer. I'll get down on my knees and get a good head on my shoulders, do it for my friends for myself, go to the ends of the earth. I'll do what it takes, and do it with dedication, and put out all misery.

Eternally yours,
Il Ruinante Isaak

Perpetual Elevens' [and the skirt; picture+video!]

Good afternoon, mina-sama. Did everyone have a good thanksgiving break? I had a pleasant time venturing out to the semi-countryside that is Mt. Airy to see good friends, and make merry with damn good food and delightful company. Truly, I have much to be thankful for, even without material goods. I continue to pray for the happiness and good fortune of my loved ones.

I will admit though that I did go and get up fiendishly early to participate in the madness that is Black Friday shopping [I may also see what I will see to the tune of Cyber Monday]. Semi-countryside-dom has it's advantages. Things were relatively orderly, I got a good parking space, and when it was all said and done, I was only out for 45 minutes before returning to the hotel to sleep a couple more hours until breakfast. The otaku side of me comes out as I made my largest purchase at Gamestop, securing myself a PSP at last, and acquiring Dissidia Final Fantasy, Soul Calibur: Broken Legends, and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII as my first stock [I will probably purchase Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep closer to Xmas, and at Target, since I have unconvered a gift card]. Intermitenly as I write this, I play a few quick battles on Dissidia [I'm leveling up Sephiroth]. Didn't know this marquis was a gamer too, eh? ^_^

I had a very peaceful time. I hope a similar good time was had by all.

Now then, as alluded to in the last post, I came upon a skirt from way back when as I was hanging up the skirt I bought from the thrift store. This is a pleated skirt--granted, there are only four, and it's very wide pleats [more like in stiched seams so it wouldn't be one big slate of skirt]--with a waist band if you could call it that, that has a button, and a zipper fasten. The button waist band saved me the trouble of having to add one to thread through the D-ring loops I bought, so all I really had to do was rip the seam that the zipper was on, rip some of the seam on the waist till it was 3/4 [so should I call it a 3/4 skirt...?] and then resew it back down into a nice clean edge.

The original skirt, still whole. It's a little hard to see with the black on black, but the pleats are there, if you can see them.

The above is cut out and pinned, and the bottom is with the hem finished. It was mostly a matter of making sure the folds were neat.

And for the sake of contrast, put some tissue paper between just to show. It's a bit long even if I have shoes on [only the Demonia boots make it seem appropriate length].

One of the simplest projects I've ever done that has yielded magnificent results. Now I also have some guideline as to how I want to make the skirt out from scratch--as it were--and out of the thirft store skirt. The one from scratch may still end up being my favorite since it will have a colored lining, but we'll see.

Also, it's essentially still a skirt, so I've worn it very frequently since I've made it, including out on my Thanksgiving travels. It makes a very bold and dramatic touch to my Aristo wardrobe, and anything in between. I do now have an increased fondess for windy days.

I have tried walking with skirt and the Crow in combination, and let me just say, it only looks awesome on paper.

Worn on as sundry of occasions. [it may be hard to tell in the last one, but I'm wearing the leather pants I got a the thrift store, and the dubbed "priest cossak" from the Undertaker cosplay outfit.]

As promised, I'm getting a little fancy up in here, and to show how the thing moves as I do, I made a little video. The lighting is iffy, pardon. But the essence is there. And it's just another example of how well it works with basically anything you'd normally wear a skirt with.

I'm suiting up more and more for this rumored-to-be-colder-than-ever winter season. Got anything on the ball you've been working on? Spotted a must-have winter coat? How have you all been adjusting to the chillier weather?

I've got a lot of work ahead of me, please forgive a long absence in advance, mina-sama. I'll walk tall and strong, to the best of my ability, and give all I've got.
Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak