January 27th, 2008 not really gothic

i got a little overexcited when miho matsuda were having an online sale, which meant 50% off but at 11000 yen stuff was still out of my reach. this week the “final sale” began, so up to 70% off means i’m still stretching the bank after crescent shop fees but i’ll recover. i cut down to the bare minimum - nothing i would probably only wear once in a year, like some fancy dress, and none of the skirts since the waist was likely to be a tad too small. so here are my two choices: a men’s t-shirt (don’t mind something a bit bigger, and this size isn’t likely to be more than a bit loose), and a shirt dress (hoping the 38cm shoulders are okay, usually i go for 40cm as the minimum).

i can wear the shirt dress to work, so it’s a win. that’s mostly my criteria for clothes lately, whether they can fit into my work wardrobe. actually this is quite nice by usual work standards…

i also bought an umbrella which doubles as a parasol from the department store the other day, which went right to work when i stepped off the bus. there’s another layer under the waterproof one, which earns it an spf rating of 50+. it’s black with tiny red roses all over it, so fits into my collection of black stuff.

parasol carrying is quite common in asia, although i always thought they were a bunch of sun shy nincompoops after a lily white complexion. actually that’s not so bad. when i was a kid i had the idea that my freckles would multiple sufficiently in the sun so that it’d just look like a tan. uh… plus every year i can count more moles on my arms and the side of my face…

so far around here the only people i’ve seen carrying parasols are old ladies (i spotted an apricot lacy one with a white handle) and goths. yes, parasols, guaranteed to give you an air of weird, but worth it to stop my head feeling like a cooking egg.