Category — AsianCajun Style

Cath and I have favored fake fur for a few years: a couple of hats, an awesome blanket Cath got me for Christmas two years ago, etc. We try to stay away from real fur as much as we can- even if it’s vintage I can’t bring myself to put it on. Our grandmother’s mink coat has spooked me since my mom inherited it many moons ago.

Here is a showing of our more recently acquired fauxfur love:

Cath and I both bought this hat last year at H&M. It has become a winter closet staple for both of us. I think it’s faux red fox, and wonderfully warm. These photos of Cath are by her bf Troy Cono.

Cath made me this fauxfur vest for Christmas. Isn’t it marvelous?! I’ve already worn it about five times in the past two weeks. I think it’s my favorite thing in my entire closet. She got the idea from DIY queen Maegan- see how it’s done here. (Anyone spot the $1.60 Bottega Veneta bag? I still wiggle my toes in happiness every time I look at the thing).

This was a belated Christmas present to myself (one of many– ah cha cha!). Mango was having a great sale post-Christmas and I’d been eying faux leopard for about four months now. I’m so glad I was self-centered caved and bought it! It’s the softest, most delicious-feeling thing I own. I kind of feel like a plush teddy bear in it (it’s quite bulky which is not too friendly on my petite frame), but I love it and never want to take it off. I’ve contemplated sleeping in it a number of times. We’ll see if I give in. Sound awesome? Get it here- it’s still about 50% off!

How do you guys feel about faux fur? To me it’s like diamonds. I have an uber-untrained eye so I can’t really tell the difference between a lot of real fur and fake fur. Someone could show me a sparkly piece of plastic and a diamond and I would go for the plastic. And I care about as much about real gemstones as I do about looking a bit cheesy in fake fur. I also feel better not wearing a cuddly animal on my body just to look chic (I’m okay with the killing of venomous spiders and cockroaches, but not most animals). What say you on the matter?

p.s. Thank you for all the sweet feedback on the 2009 Recap post! We’re hoping to rock your socks off this year with even better outfitage!

Happy 2010, wonderful readers!!! We hope you had a wonderful New Year’s and are relaxing this first weekend of the new year.

I had a fairly low-key New Year’s (herring and salmon with the ‘rents and drinks with friends), while Cath left me for Philly/NYC- sniff, sniff- our first New Year’s apart. (Hope you are having a lovely time in NYC today, Cath. Remember your dearest, sweetest sister when you step into Uniqlo!).

I thought a good way to start the year would be to review a year of AsianCajun outfits. I really hope this isn’t too much fashion navel-gazing for you all. I am actually doing this for selfish reasons. I like using this blog as a style tool when I can. And even though I’ve rounded the bend of my mid-twenties, I’m still trying to figure out my style. I think Cath (on the left of all the photos) has a very classic and elegant, but fresh style. Mine is still a bit of a mish-mosh. I foresee myself saying the same thing at 40.

Cath does animal print way before I ventured there with my Rodarte dress.

This is actually one of my favorite outfits of the year (right). And shivering at the gusty 20 degree winds outside, I can’t wait for our balmier Georgia winter weather- I’m not even wearing a jacket and it’s February! Hoorahh, Deep South!

Cath looking chic and Chanel-y. Me looking trendy, trendy. I’m going to try to pry my figures off trends this year a bit more. Note to self, baggy, ripped-up tees only work on some.

Both Cath and I are dressed a bit more girlie and soft here for Easter. I should stop shying away from pastels.

Pencil skirts unite! Cath wore this to work, and I wore my outfit to a concert.

Again, Cath is so chic! I’m seriously going to start raiding her closet. As for my relaxed summer look: I think I’m over cut-offs for the year. I’ll probably have to eat these words come summer 2010…

Ahhh summer tans… feels like so many shades ago.

Cath and I are both partial to hats in the southern summer heat.

Two of our favorite pair of shoes this year: Cath’s booties are Alice & Olivia from Payless and mine are F21 ($14)!

I love this black and white look on Cath. I’m wearing practically the same thing, but with a (huge) dash of military red.

Lovely layers. Cath was inspired by J.Crew and I was inspired by Swedish bloggers. I figure they would know how to dress in frigid weather.

Quirky scarf-wearers. These photos remind me to be more creative with my accessorizing this year. Resolution #57.

What was your own favorite look from 2009? Are you ready for leggings to roll over and die? How about faux fur coats (please say no- I just bought a faux leopard that I’ll show you in an upcoming post)? Done with over-the-knee boots? Platforms? Black leather and studs? Bodycon dresses? Shoulder pads? Alexander Wang and Balmain? Lady Gaga (never!)? Vampires? The recession? Prop #8? It’s a free-for-all. Let’s hear it!

We hope you all are having a wonderful holidays- we wish we could celebrate with you all (one big AsianCajun holiday party- one year this will have to happen ).

Cath and I donned our ugly Christmas sweaters just for you (and Becs’ party over at Style with Benefits). Cath’s talented bf Troy Cono, took these photos, thus sacrificing his eyes to the delight of our puffy-paint, doily-decorated Christmas funfest of sweatshirt wear! Both sweaters are from Clothing Warehouse in Atlanta. Cath and I paired the sweaters with black platforms (thigh-highs for me) and leggings. 

p.s. Do you see the built-in collar on my sweater (psst- I’m on the right)? Sold!

If you need some more AsianCajun reading during your Holiday break, head on over to June Shin’s blog for our interview complete with baby pictures. While you’re at it, check out June’s gorgeous jewelry too- a little post-holiday shopping for yourself. Thanks for featuring us, June!

And a shout out to the beautiful B a la Moda as well. Have you guys seen her blog? This lovely lady from Madrid, Spain has the best suggestions for how to wear tricky trends- all on video (with English subtitles for those of us that didn’t do as well in Spanish class as we wanted). Thanks for the award, B!!! We are honored!

A few of you inquired about our cutie Boo Radley in the post below. He’s actually our parents’ new addition to the family (we would steal him away but our landlord doesn’t allow pups in our apartment- le sigh). You can read about him in this post and see him with his hair shorn – he’s looking a bit more handsome now. I’ve always said I like a man in a hat:

Another happy, happy holidays to you all!!!

xoxo,

Lar & Cath

The ultra-talented designers over at Epidemik Coalition have wowed us with their t-shirt design in the past. They’ve recently expanded their design know-how to luxurious silk scarves. Check out their shop We Are the Process here.

They asked that we show you a few ways to wear these beautiful scarves, and we gladly obliged (you guys already know how much I love silky drape-y things).

Look how gorgeous and large this thing is- it’s practically eating Cath. And just $35? A great prezie for yourself or a friend.

A classic, and probably the way we will usually wear this mega scarf.

I did the more expected triangle fold tied around my neck (fold in half, corner to corner and knot under top layer in front or back of neck):

I love how Cath has her’s just draped around her neck so that it peaks out of the bottom of her blazer:

Wearing your scarf out at night? Cath wrapped it around her American Apparel dress and accessorized with red.

This is a diluted version of the bunny ears/oversized bows inspired by the Louis Vuitton Fall 09 runway (see here). I took the Frenchiness a step further with a stripped tee from H&M and a skirt from AA.

Come summer I hope to use it as a sarong-like top. In the meantime, Cath and I came up with some other… errr… awesomely creative ways to wear the mega scarf:

Ladies and gents (I like a man in a scarf- even if it’s silk) alike, how would you wear the mega scarf?

Get thee to a Target! Rodarte is here! Cath and I had our early Sunday (Dec. 20) morning line-waiting technique ready to go, but we headed to Target this evening for some Christmas shopping and we stumbled into nearly the whole Rodarte for Target collection!

How is it possible that the Edgewood Target in Atlanta got a “preview” of the Rodarte collection? Officially only a few places (New York and San Fran, I think) were supposed to get a preview. I imagine our Southern style preview wasn’t exactly official, but we we’re still giddy that it happened- inadvertently or no!

I think we spent a total of 30 minutes in a family size dressing room and tried on everything available. Here are some of our favs (Cath had less luck, so it’s just me in these pics. The only thing she purchased was the see-through mustard cardi- a bit tricky to photograph).

The blue dress above looks a lot more flattering in person. It’s super girly (I love, love a swirly skirt), so I’d probably toughen it up with some pleather and more black for the winter. 

Ooo this kimono dress! I wanted to buy it to just hang it on my wall! I think I looked a little too much like I was wearing pajamas. If it were an actual robe or if I had extra cash to spend on impractical wall hangings, I totally would have bought it. 

I did get this! I love how it’s not super-tight, so I don’t feel too Casino-y. Tight + animal print is a tricky line to walk. Some ladies can pull it off, but especially with my big hair I can look the wrong side of va-va-voomy.

Have any of you guys seen the Rodarte stuff in your Targets? Maybe this is yet another stellar aspect of the deep South, lack of long queues for designer lines. Now if only H&M would get Sonia Rykiel intimates- le swoon. 

Ladies, let us know what you pick up! Gents, are you fans of Rodarte? I’m always curious what the fellas have to say about the things that make us go crazy.

We hope everyone had a lovely, lovely weekend! We stuffed ourselves silly with Peking Duck (it’s an AsianCajun Thanksgiving: stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, string beans, cranberry sauce and Peking Duck) and other delicious food stuffs cooked up by wonderful family and friends. Ahh warm fuzzy holiday feelings are the best… until you are dragged back to reality with a soggy, blustery, cold Monday and a too-early wake-up call for work. And I was just getting used to the whole sleeping in, hanging out and eating all day schedule.

To cheer ourselves up a bit, Cath and I decided to wear our matching pleather H&M (from a few years ago) bomber jackets. 

Cath, being a very responsible government employee, dressed her faux leather with faux fur, chic wedge oxfords, and a delicate sweater.

Faux fur and faux bling= brilliant accessorizing. Way to go, Cath! I’m coveting that diamond-headed bird ring on her left hand.

At my job, I don’t tend to schmooze with clients on a daily basis, so I opted for a dressed-down approach to the pleather: white tee, gray pants, black boots, and a hair poof (my signature I-didn’t-have-time-to-wash-my-hair fix).

I think the stud trend has pretty much rolled over and died, but I have residual stud-age languishing in my closet (see DIY collar on mens Hanes shirt below). Studs and pleather/leather still make very happy bedfellows don’t you think?

Next on the AsianCajun agenda? Prepping for the winter holidays. I love twinkly fairy lights and sugar cookies and the smell of fresh evergreen, but the thought of holiday shopping is making me want to hibernate until the New Year. Does that sound too Scrooge-y?

We are absolutely floored and flattered by the wonderful people at 944 Magazine to include us in their 09 List of people to know in Atlanta. Do you remember that photo shoot we coyly alluded to a little while back? That’s what the shoot was for!

We spent an afternoon shooting at Space in Midtown with the 944 Mag peeps, Jesse and Hannah from Whynatte, fellow blogger Nikki from Fashion Gatherer, and Chad and Caren from Caren West PR. Cath and I felt nervous in front of the camera (since when have my hands seemed so unnecessary? where do you put those things?!), but the photographer, Shane Durrance and his crew were awesome. I wish you could see some of the outtakes. They had me pulling Cath’s hair and smacking her on the back of the head (I think I left a bruise with my owl ring- sorry, Cath!).

944 Magazine (known as “the bible for trendsetters”) is actually new to the Atlanta area. They run editions in cities around the nation, including San Francisco, Miami, Detroit, LA, Phoenix, Orange County and Las Vegas. Local metro-Atlantans can pick up the premiere issue around town (see full list here), and everyone else can take a look at the mag on-line: it’s gorgeous and free!

Thank you to Isoul and everyone at 944 Magazine for this honor! We love you!

We love you too, readers! Go get yourselves a copy and let us know what you think!

In honor of Fashion Over Atlanta, Lar and I headed over to Kaleidoscope Boutique tonight to check out their new stuff. Camille, the owner of the store, was there even though she’s nine months pregnant (her due date is next week!). Since the store just got in a bunch of new stuff, Camille asked us to play dress up and try on a few items.

Trying on flirty dresses and military jackets is tough work, but someone’s got to do it. So Lar and I eagerly graciously agreed. And of course we took some pics to share with you all!

Lar ended up getting this leopard print dress because we both loved the draping so much. Isn’t the red dress gorgeous? It’s one size fits all (Camille wore the purple version of that dress to her baby shower) and the jersey is draped perfectly. I think Lar is already counting down the days until her next paycheck so she can buy it.

I’m all about the print and cut of the halter dress on Lar above. It would look great with some nude-colored, strappy heels. The military dress is totally my style. I think I could get away with wearing it at work under a cardi or blazer.

I loved, loved, loved this purple wrap dress. The shinny material had a lot of stretch in it, so it was really comfortable AND the dress has pockets. I can’t tell you how much I love dresses with pockets. I was wearing my Payless booties tonight, but I would probably pair this dress with more ladylike shoes. On the right I’m wearing a military jacket over a really cute, Swedish-looking sweater dress.

I loved this silk Milly dress (left photo), but it was slightly too big for me. It’s hard to see the actual colors of the dress in the photo, but the pattern looks great and not too busy in person. On the right I’m wearing a Tuelle sweater dress/cardi set, which I would totally buy for work and wear with my cream, platform Mary Janes.

I will not spend money and save up for this dress. I will not spend money and save up for this dress. I will not ….

A close-up of the dress Lar got. Even though the pattern makes it look a little crazy, it’s actually a really versatile piece. She can dress it down with a boyfriend blazer and boots or dress it up with lace black tights and 10-inch McQueen Alien heels – Lady Gaga style FTW!

Apologies for the pretentious title, I just couldn’t help myself because this really is kind of a study on red ankle boots. Suede, red ankle boots from Newport News a couple years ago, to be exact. We thought that since our Puffy Sleeve study went so well, that you, dear reader, would like to see how we style the same shoe differently.

We both wore these boots to work on the same day last week. Guess who works for the government and guess who is a graphic designer.

Ding, ding, ding! You’re right (that’s me on the left)! I work in a slightly more conservative office than Lar, so trousers and a knitted turtleneck helped downplay the out-there-ness of the shoes. Lar, on the other hand, played them up with a graphic tee, leggings and relaxed blazer/coat.

I’m wearing an Old Navy knitted turtleneck and Alexander McQueen for Target pleated trousers. I love these trousers – not just because I can almost believe that McQueen himself had some hand in the design, but also because I feel like Katherine Hepburn in them.

Lar is wearing an U.O. tshirt, AA leggings and a boyfriend blazer from this awesome Etsy seller.

Thanks for all of your well-wishes everyone! Your comments always make us feel sooo much better.

Hi Lovely Readers!

We apologize if there are a few days between posts this week. Cath and I (and my bf) are all struggling through the flu, so we’re moving a little more slowly. We hope a few more Halloween photos keep you entertained!

Cath and her bf went as Yoko and John. My bf and I went as Lady Gaga and… the Dread Pirate Roberts. Not exactly a couple, but I think their natural flamboyance (pirate boots, shirts, mustaches!) draws them together.

We also found a connection between Gaga and Yoko. After Lady Gaga performed Imagine a few weeks ago (see the performance here), Yoko called Gaga and told her how choked up she got watching the performance, and Lady Gaga said that Yoko was one of her idols. Awesome, non?!

Yoko’s Costume: Lar’s hat, Asos sunnies, H&M sweater, AA skirt, thrifted boots. Wig from Party City.

Lady Gaga’s Costume: AA leotard and metallic bandeau, belt from Asos via Anywhere But Here, River Island nude fishnets, Jeffrey Campbell thigh-highs, wig, lashes, gloves from local costume shops.

Cath and I only had to buy wigs and a few make-up items to create our costumes. I hate spending a lot of money on Halloween, but I love to dress up (not obvious, is it?). I decided to go as a pantsless Gaga because I was at house parties most of the night. I don’t think I would have been gutsy enough to wear this ensemble in public… maybe I need to channel my inner Gaga more often.  

Thanks for all the sweet comments in the post below! For those of you curious about the rotating image of me as Lady Gaga in the previous post, I made an animated .gif in Photoshop. This guy gives a great tutorial here.

Hope you wonderful people are having a great week and are flu-free!

xoxo,

Lar (i.e. Lady LALA)