popconfusion

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Yuki drew a picture of me...

I was working at AnimeUSA and kept running into them (magnetized to my boots or something, I guess). I was only "dressed up" for about an hour, but it apparently made an impression. Apparently my legs go all the way to the back of the page. Poor Yuki can't draw his way out of a box, but this makes me smile whenever I see it. Please don't mind the dead fish eyes.

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Studio Space

So I now have an actual studio space. The trouble is that it is currently filled with boxes. I'm renting two rooms in a large house (one for living, one for working), but they're pre-furnished and had been used as storage for many years. I'm having difficulties with unpacking because I don't have places to put things, but the owner of the house and I are taking time together to sort through the drawers and closets to decide what should be kept and what is being thrown away. The room I'm using as a studio belonged to a freelance fashion designer many years ago. The largest wall is decorated with her original designs for companies ranging from London Fog to Dior. A good chunk of the stuff stashed in boxes, drawers and closets in the two rooms is fabric, notions, miscellaneous art supplies and even old sewing machines all of which I'm being allowed to use as I see fit. Not to mention the room has a light table. A full professional light table, not one of those dinky plastic light boxes that could be purchased at my school store. Changing the bulbs is a chore and a half, but it works and it is one of the sturdiest pieces of furniture I have ever seen. On Sunday (when I have a spare set of hands about) I will be putting up wall-mounted shelves in the bedroom so I have a place to store figurines and DVDs. Somehow I managed to cram all of the books onto two book cases....I don't even know how I managed it. And even more amazingly I've managed to find a home for all of my clothing. I've NEVER had room for all of my clothing. Though, truth be told, I did get rid of about a third of my wardrobe in my last move and another third has found it's way into my fabric bins to be modified or used as scrap. I've also started putting an effort into my appearance again. Nothing exactly spectacular, but I've been taking the time to get dressed instead of spending entire days in my pajamas like I did for a couple of months there. It helps to actually be able to get at all of my clothing, to have access to a washing machine, and be living in an area where I don't feel afraid to walk down the street by myself. Because I don't have photos of my studio to share (too many boxes), instead I give you a couple of selcas! And sadly my camera and shiny new tripod are still in one of those boxes, so it is just crappy myspace angle shots from my phone instead.

Before going to the airport to visit family last December. Used the wig to hide my neon hair because I hate dealing with people at the airport on the best of days, let alone around Christmas after a series of flight delays.

I gave myself a haircut about a month ago. My split ends were unbelievably horrific. I still need to get to an actual salon to fix up the hack job in the back, but it doesn't bother me all that much.

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Neglect

Because I am a horrible person, I managed to neglect this blog despite many interesting things going on in my corner of the fashion world. Over the last month I've had several people tell me that I should start posting again including my brother, much to my surprise. Since my last update I've moved twice, gone to two weddings, had several family-related trips across the country among other things. I'm applying for a steadier local job to make sure I meet rent, as well as working hard on my portfolio in order to apply for the job of my dreams.

Look like a deer caught in headlights, don't I? The photo above was taken by Maro Hagopian of the Village Voice at Le Bain's Fashion on Top party where I was assisting with Renee Masoomian and Gerold Vincent's fashion show. Sadly there wasn't as much to do as there normally is when I'm assisting Renee, but their stage manager/model coordinator was absolutely amazing and I cannot fault her for having things under such control that I wasn't truly needed. The show was short, but the clothing was amazing. Fashion show aside, my most exciting moment of the night is when I realize I was standing next to Rick Genest. Too bad it was so loud that I couldn't say hello. Clothing: Spiked bra from LoveCulture Black underbust corset from Passional Matte vinyl leggings from Ktown NYC Spiked boots from Eternity Fashion, Philadelphia Ruffle harness by Renee Masoomian Leather gloves, antlers, and skull codpiece are personal creations

My friend Johanna Constantine and I had an adventure back in September. The two of us went to 2NE1's concert in New Jersey followed by a night of partying afterword. Mind you we were both dressed a bit more...ehm...conservatively for the concert, she in a cream brocade ruffled blouse and BlackMilk muscle leggings while I, well, was wearing pants. Electric blue pants. We both had a great time and we are probably going to go to more Kpop concerts together in the future. Just not the Big Bang concert in November. Despite the fact that we both enjoy Big Bang, I have prior obligations and cannot make it to any of the three concert dates in Jersey. Clothing: Latex neck ruffle from Renee Masoomian (custom in Neon Orange) Black and orange acrylic bra from Prohibition Clubwear Black and blue crop top from Renee Masoomian (prototype) Boots from Swear Alternative (via ebay) Everything else is from estate sales or off-brand.

Yes, my hair has changed color at least once a month since the start of this year. Since I returned to Philadelphia I have only gone out dancing a few times. This was in July when I was gogoing at I Love Industrial in Philadelphia. That night I wish I owned more red clothing so I could have dressed as Thing 2. Why Thing 2 and not Thing 1? Because that way people would be looking for Thing 1 all night and not find them. Clothes: Black and Blue crop top from Renee Masoomian Black and orange acrylic bra from Prohibition Clubwear Boots from Swear Alternative Everything else is off-brand cobbled together from ebay and small stores.

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I bet most of you didn't even get through the first 20 seconds of that video. And even fewer of you have soldiered on to continue reading this post. I'm not here to review the song, though. I won't even tell you guys what my opinion of the song is because, honestly, its completely irrelevant to this discussion.

I can't not write this. It was with awe and horror that I watched this video yesterday afternoon. Even now I haven't entirely come to terms with my feelings. There are good things to be said, there are bad things to be said and the less said about any part of the song that goes "BOOM SHAKA LAKA" the better. For those of you who don't pay attention to Korean pop, you probably don't know and don't care that Big Bang released a new music video yesterday. While I wasn't one of the people who stalked youtube until the video was premiered at some ungodly hour that morning, I did take an interest in watching it because, well, the company's stylists tend to cater to my tastes. They like being "weird", "edgy" and "innovative", otherwise known to most of the population as "hot mess", but a lot of the time they'd be right at home at nightclubs I frequent. So because I can't seem to keep my inner critic in it's cage, here is an outfit by outfit review of Big Bang's "Fantastic Baby". WORDS. I HAVE THEM. I HAVE SO MANY OF THEM.

The one thing I wish for right now is for someone from the company to explain to me exactly what their concept for this video is because it seems all over the place. Post apocalyptic-alien-cyberpunk-Napoleon-bondage-ninja? Uuum yeah. I can't see a clear vision here. Maybe if someone could explain it to me? Pretty please? Overall I'm torn about the clothing. I either love it or I want to kill it with fire, there is very little middle ground.

First up, these masks are awesome. I want them. I want all of them. I can't help but notice that for whatever reason Seungri wasn't wearing one, but that doesn't make these four any less snazzy. In particular I like Taeyang's (bottom left), mostly because of the head straps. The tint on G Dragons (upper right) is interesting, too.

 I like these jackets. I like them a lot, in fact. The bright colors are entertaining and I like how despite being the same cut they all have different placements for the design. No comment about Taeyang's bright silver pants. And GD, please consider dying your hair pink and black at some point, the colors really suit you. And now due to lack of cohesion I'm going to go from oldest to youngest. TOP (aka Papa Smurf):

Before I get started on anything else, although I love the hair color I just don't feel it suits him. The color is amazing, absolutely amazing, just not right for him. Moving on:... The elements of this outfit could be fine on their own, however together they are more than a bit overwhelming. It is a bit too much blue.

His makeup is wonderful though. Tinting his eyebrows green and the touch of green eyeliner are a stroke of brilliance.

I love the cut and color of this coat, but I hate the fabric.

  The hat is a very nice touch. Plus it hides the hair. Ridiculous hats are a passion of mine and this one is wondrous. More hats, please!

I'm not entirely sure what to say about this. Overall i like this look, but it feels out of place for the video. Knee-length pants are spiffy, I wish someone would bring them back into fashion.

Again, not entirely sure what to say about this. It looks like it could almost be regal, that is until you see the shoes. And I'm sorry, but I still don't like his hair, which is coming from an advocate of people with ridiculously unnatural hair color. Taeyang (aka Gratuitous Pectoral Exposure):

Personally I think the frosted effect is very cool. Too bad it only lasted about 3 seconds before they defrosted him so he could flaunt his abs to make fangirls squeal.

I like the juxtaposition of the gasmasks and the robes, however Taeyang's outfit leaves something to be desired. I'm neither here nor there about his pants and shoes, but the fake tattoos are a bit much. Even though some of them are real, many of the ones that aren't do look as if they were just drawn lazily with a sharpie.

SEE? SHARPIE. Also this is the return of the dreaded bubblegum pink lipstick. This is one of my pet peeves in kpop recently. For some reason male artists keep on having their lips glossed in bubblegum pink even though most of the time it clashes horribly with their skin tone and is obviously lipstick. Sorry, but that completely takes away from whatever masculinity he is supposed to be exuding in this scene.

Here it looks less like sharpie than it does like hair dye running down the back of his neck. Or like a half-hearted attempt to recreate the liquid latex oil-slick look which shows up on occasion in the goth-industrial club scene. The armor is awesome.

SEE? LOOK AT THAT AWESOME ARMOR. Its so shiny!

OH PRAISE THE LLOYD, HE IS FINALLY COVERING HIS TORSO. Those pants are epic. And although I want to dislike his hair I can't. It'd be hypocritical considering I draw on the shaved sides of my mohawk with glitter glue. G-Dragon (aka Mr. Forelock):

"TETSUO!" "KANAEDA!" I cannot unsee Akira in this shot. But there is a problem if your weave has grown a mind of its own like his apparently has. The suit is amazing, but I'm so distracted by the kudzu-like hair that I hardly noticed it at first.

I like the idea behind this makeup, though I don't like the execution. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but if I ever can I will make sure to explain.

GD, we can see your facial contouring. I hope the makeup artists blend his makeup a bit better the next time he has a closeup like this.

Please tie your shoes. I rather like the rest of the outfit, but the untied shoes distract me horribly and take away from the whole look. The hat is intriguing, its exactly to my taste, but its fun to look at. My only real issue with the hat is that it doesn't look like it actually fits his head.

I love this look, even down to his weave. Or I should say I loved it until...

DEAR GOD WHAT IS THAT? Seriously, guys, the highly detailed lip paintings only work in photoshoots. Videos, particularly when a person is lip-synching for their life, just make it look like an awkward smear on their mouth. You don't get to see any of the detail unless you pause the video. The detail put into the dragons is fantastic, but please save it for a photoshoot next time. Daesung (aka Blondie):

Its amazing how something as simple as covering the navel makes a person seem more modest. Despite being chained to a all this doesn't scream "look at me, I'm shirtless" half as loudly as Taeyang's gratuitous pectoral exposure. Instead it seems to scream "look at my fabulous belt". which I did and its awesome. Not sure how I feel about the blond hair, but its growing on me.

My words, I've lost them. Even though the blue velvet suit is vaguely Austin Powers, I think this look may be my favorite thing about this entire video. Its fitted beautifully and it makes for a very nice contrast with his new hair color.

More blue velvet suit for your viewing pleasure. Seungri (Cat Woman):

Girls dressed as sexy cats isn't innovative or original. I like the scratch makeup, but the cat concept just seems boring. And the new haircut is awful. Greasy and flat is not a good look.

The vinyl catsuits look ill-fitting and cheap. Next time try latex, it will create a nicer effect because it will hug the body like a second skin while still giving a nice shine. I do rather like the design for the leggings, though. Overall in this video there are things I love and things I have, but this is the first time in years where my disappointment in a video from YG has outweighed my fascination. Please step up your game. Consider using a more story-based concept rather than simply throwing the cool new clothing you've found into a set and vaguely attempting to build a plot around it. tl;dr I agree with TOP:

gif from chibisuz on tumblr. Feel free to use my screencaps, no need to credit.

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Second Hand Treasures

It has become somewhat of a tradition in my family to scout through estate sales. For those of you who have never experienced one, an estate sale is (generally) when someone dies and what is left of their possessions after the family takes what they want is sold to the general public. Quite different from a garage sale where people just toss out the junk they don't want to move to a new home. Since I have been home visiting we have gone to several each week, except for the times I wasn't feeling well and stayed in bed when they went out on their adventures. The usual days are Thursday (on occasion), Friday (just my father and I) and Saturday. Of course Saturday is the day we have to wake up at an ungodly hour of the morning to be out the door in enough time to beat the funerals which tie up traffic all weekend. Each of us have very specific things we look for at estate sales. My father looks for tools, kitchen supplies, CDs, books and whatever tchotchkes might catch his eye. My mother looks for fashion scarves, leather gloves, Japanese watercolors, interesting teapots, and picture frames. I go for clothes. Clothes, clothes, clothes, clothes, clothes. And sewing supplies.

Today we went to four estate sales and this is my haul. And my mother's cat who wouldn't get off of the clothes.

Extra long houndstooth jacket

Blue orange and white sweatshirt

Black and purple striped sweater

Black midi length slip dress

Red plaid maxi length skirt

Blue plaid midi length skirt

White rabbit fur collar

White and blue maxi dress

Black and grey striped jeans

Plaid midi dress

Houndstooth midi dress

I also got my mother a scarf, but she's wearing that right now because she loves scarves. And I got one other thing, but I will talk about that a bit later in this post. The first sale we went to was on it's last day and there wasn't much left, but I still managed to find the fur collar, the hat and the scarf I gave to my mother. I contemplated buying a wig, but the cut was more mature than I prefer. The second sale was overwhelming and amazing. All five rooms on the second floor were packed full of clothing. Each room had at least two closets which were so full of clothing that you couldn't actually look through the racks. Not to mention the boxes, suitcases, drawers and trunks filled with more clothes and tables and beds piled high with even more. And the best part? All of the clothing at this sale was only $1 unless marked otherwise. There wasn't much there to my taste but what I did find more than paid for itself. It is where I got everything else listed above. The third sale was absolutely nothing and the fourth sale was mostly nothing except for one thing which called my name.

This is my new friend George. Or possibly Gregory. Yes I am fully aware that this is a female deer skull, but that isn't nearly enough to make me want to change it's name. I was rather underwhelmed by this sale until I found George sitting on a desk in a corner and I immediately decided it was meant to be mine. Not to mention how fun it was unnerving everyone at the sale wandering around the house conversing under my breath with my new-found friend. "Hey George, what do you think of this jacket? ....yeah, you're right. It is rather unfortunate." Relatively soon George will be turned into a hat. Why? Because its too large to turn into a necklace. And because Renee Masoomian inspires me in strange and wondrous ways.

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TAKE ALL OF MY MONIES

In my self-imposed isolation with my family I have been taking a lot of time to read up on fashion and music history. Most recently I read "12 Days on the Road" by Noel Monk and Jimmy Guterman, about the Sex Pistols final tour. It was fascinating, but it made me lose what little respect I had for my vague acquaintances who idolize Sid Vicious. Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked here. The point I'm trying to get here is just how much I love Vivienne Westwood and how much I really wish I could afford her clothing. There are pieces which some of my friends adore (such as her iconic heart jacket or anything with the DESTROY print) which just aren't to my taste, but there are a pieces few that I would gladly shank someone in order to obtain. My current obsession?

Seditionaries muslin bondage shirts. With a print, without a print, I don't care, I want one desperately. The originals are a thing of beauty to me and vast majority of the knockoffs are wonderful quality. But, honestly, there is no way I can afford a real one and all but the bottom-of-the-barrel knockoffs are out of my price range at this moment. My plan? I'm going to make one myself. Although it means going out to find an appropriate fabric (since everything I currently have is spandex), I'm sure I could whip one together in an afternoon once I have the supplies. And I can always make my own print for it. My other eternal obsession?

  Orb lighters. Limited edition, no longer in production, weighted like a beast so you could do some serious damage if you decided to bash someone in the skull with it.... They're gorgeous. Plus it would stop people from stealing my lighters since it would always be around my neck. But, sadly, even second hand those lighters go for $3,000 and up. Not to mention that the knockoffs are all poor imitations. Sadly I believe that this love will always be nothing but a pipe dream. Both images are from Rakuten because the Harajuku fashion kings and queens are all rather obsessed with Vivienne Westwood. Even the flamboyantly neon Takuya Angel has a pocket ashtray from Vivienne Westwood which looks like an oversized pocket watch.

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So recently I have made a few new acquisitions in the realm of jewelry. I love jewelry and I tend to wear too much of it, but it makes me happy so it is something that won't be changing any time soon.

Cross double ring: Shasa ($3) Wing double ring; Shasa ($3) Black rhinestone claw ring: gift from friend Black metal wrap ring: gift from friend Hidden double ring: Shasa ($3) Crystal point earrings: Walmart ($4) I rarely shop at Walmart. In fact unless I have absolutely no other choice I will not set foot inside of a store. I've only been in a Walmart three times in the last two years. But on Monday my friend was on a desperate quest for a new work shirt and Walmart was our last resort. So, of course, we had to look at the jewelry. The earrings immediately called to me so I bought two pairs, one to wear as earrings and another to turn into necklaces. They were a nice find, but not anywhere near enough to make me want to return to the store with any regularity. Although I'm not a particularly religious person for some reason in recent years I have grown an aesthetic affinity to crosses. It probably has something to do with my parents living in the deep south. And possibly my love for goth and aristocrat fashion. In fact my family finds the cross ring a bit off-putting, just as they did with my former pair of favorite earrings. But over the years they've learned to grit their teeth and tell themselves "this is a phase, it too shall pass". Double rings are one of my favorite things right now, though now that I own a few it has made me realize how absolutely frustrating they can be. Because they essentially fix two of your fingers together it is next to impossible to type at any reasonable speed while wearing them. The wing ring, in particular, has proven to be the most frustrating. It only fits on the ring and pinky fingers of my right hand and because the wings extend so far beyond the edge of my hand I cannot write or draw while wearing it. As much as I adore the ring it will not be becoming a part of my daily ring collection for the fact that I cannot perform simple daily tasks while wearing it.

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It isn't really a secret that I rather enjoy Korean pop. More than a little bit. More than I probably should, too. The music makes me want to dance even if the lyrics tend to be contrived. Vast majority of the music in my CD collection is from Korean groups, though I do have some other selections from a variety of genres and languages. The only thing I could wish for from kpop is if there were some angrier bands with heavier oontz. But that is only a small wish. I'm more or less content with what the market is giving me these days. I plan for this to be the start of a series on fashion in kpop. I'm not going to review the songs or tell you where to buy the outfits because, truthfully, there are many other blogs for that. And sometimes I don't even really care for the songs which have amazingly styled music videos. I won't even necessarily be posting about brand new releases because I really don't follow new releases as closely as I used to. And so I kick off this series with 2NE1's "I AM THE BEST".

I remember when this video was first released. I didn't watch the video immediately because I was distracted with school and because 2NE1 had never exactly been on my #1 list. At least until I saw this video. I. Did. Not. Blink. Not even kidding. On my first viewing of this I didn't blink and I barely breathed, though I did make some exceedingly pathetic squeaking noises over their clothes. I want them. Badly. My top five:

 5) CL's "fetish" outfit. The cropped top that says Fetish is right up my alley. And the pop of color with the jacket is just right with the outfit. Although I'm not the biggest fan of the sunglasses, she totally rocks them. The hair, however, could use a bit more volume, but that is just my personal opinion.

4) Minzy's chainmail and spinning ring. I have this fascination with spinning rings and this one is just too amazing. too bad I can't afford anything by Chrome hearts, but that doesn't make it any less awesome. And I appreciate the fact that she isn't wearing dainty chainmail and has the hood of heavy rings. And the texture it has with the alternating black rubber rings interesting.

3) Metallic silver Gareth Pugh awesomeness! Seriously, this is so futuristic and gorgeous and out of my price range. But that doesn't make it any less awesome. Give them crazier hair and ridiculous makeup and they'd make amazing cyber beasities.

2) CL's epic horn hair. Seriously. This is a total win. Total and unbelievable win. When I first saw it all I could think was that I wouldn't put it past my boss to style her hair like that. And that I should show her the music video...on mute because she doesn't care for kpop. To put it mildly.

1) Bom's Latex dress, spiked bra and spiked Louboutin heels. All I have to say is "UNF". I've wanted a spiked bra for a long time and this one is epic. I just wish I knew who the designer was. Oh well. Looks like I'll just have to order some spikes and make my own. It'll probably be cheaper to do that anyway. But with all of the things I love, there are things that I'm not so fond of.

5) Bom's neon outfit. I actually love this outfit, BUT as much as I like it and as cute as Bom is, I just don't think they're meant for each other. Bom seems a bit too sweet and aegyo (cutsey) for such a fierce outfit. It would have been perfect on anyone else in the group.

4) The baseball bat that says "HIT" smashing records. Visual puns are funny and all, but this one is too obvious. Smash hit. Breaking records. Plus the "HIT" on the bat isn't backwards so it would show up as TIH on anything smashed with it.

3) Dara's Vegita hair. Seriously. ITS OVER 9000!!!

2) CL's champion belt. Uuuugh. its so tacky I can't deal. Get rid of the belt and she'd have looked awesome, but of course that would have been too easy.

1) Dara's ice cream hat. Its. I don't know how to feel about this. Yes she's being an epic troll, but oh man is it horrendous. At the same time I can picture myself wearing it just to confuse people. Gifs from: Seesska Screencaps from: CL the Baddest Female And of course, thank you YG Entertainment for bringing us 2NE1 and their music. And I will leave you with this:

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Hey there space cadets. I'm CJ and this Pop Confusion. Why pop confusion? Because I like bubblegum pop and that is confusing to people. I like the music with the oontz. I like to party hard. I like clothes and color and spikes and skulls. I like crazy haircuts and ridiculous makeup. I like hats, star earrings, metallic blue nail polish and wearing way too many rings. Neon makes me happy. This blog isn't just about club clothes or looking like a horrific monster, though that is certainly a part of it. I can't seem to keep a consistent style. There are too many types of fashion that I enjoy and I tend to mesh them all together. Everything from scary to ultra-feminine to androgynous...though typically not much of the ultra-feminine. This is my place to dump all of my ideas, rants, tips, tricks, inspirations and whatever else might call to me in terms of fashion and style.

Outfit: Orange mesh top by Renee Masoomian Black bra by Victoria's Secret Black and orange acrylic bra by Prohibition Clubwear Black shorts by me Black and orange acrylic thong by Prohibition Clubwear Legwarmers by Takuya Angel Boots by Swear Alternative (bought on eBay) Purple harness with butterfly wings by Takuya Angel Orange and white claw by Takuya Angel Cat pouch by Takuya Angel Elbow/knee pads from I. Goldberg, customized by me Tights from various sources customized and layered by me Necklace from the H.O.T Various bracelets and rings from Prohibition, Claire's, Pawstar and second hand shops. Makeup by me Hair by me with the assistance of Niishie Elf Photograph by the ever wonderful Jerry Bennett Event: I Love Industrial (11/11/11) thrown by DJ Mighty Mike Saga