a little sneaky sneaker problem...

so my sneaker problem is not really a little sneaky problem, but rather a BIG sneaker problem. and it's a real BIG problem because i am a real living, breathing grown up now (even if i don't look like one) with a real grown up person job where sneakers cannot be worn on a daily basis.

so i saw the stan smiths and i was like HEY, i need those in my closet if i am going to be taken seriously as a caajinista (after all, the whole premise behind caaj cool actually predates normcore as all you loyal blog followers must know). so anyways, i was like HEY...i need those. those are cheapie (especially if you fit into kiddie sizes, SCORE!!..) and can serve as my one way to buy into the normcore thing on the weekends when i'm not busy being very important at my very real and important job.

so i got those...

then a couple of days later, i was at jcrew during my trip to AMERICA, and i saw a pair of nike blazer vintage hi-tops and i was like HEY, i need those too if i am going to look like a cool and caaj trendsetter who doesn't take herself so seriously...and for a 100 buckeroos, not too bad!

then...i got back to italy..and i saw the golden goose sneaks everywhere and i was like...omg, these are like the stan smiths but with a grungy cool beaten up vibe which would add a whole other layer of complexity to my wardrobe...so i was like HEY, mom - it's almost eid (yes, my mom still buys me eid presents - after all, i don't have endless resources to buy all the sneakers this little heart desires in the world, c'mon guys!)...and so i added those to my sneaker repertoire...

AND THENNNNNN....i went to london for the wknd, and saw the air max everywhere i turned...and while at first i had resisted the airmax trend because i really did think they were hideous, i have now decided that they are kind of ugly, but also just look soooo cute with jeans, an oversized sweather, and boxy coat...it's the ultimate caaj thing  - when you you find something kind of so ugly, but then also kind of love it...so i went onto nike.com and actually MTO'd a pair (for those in the know (or rather those who work for gucci) - that is made-to-order) of a faux white croco pair (sounds really ugly and cheapo looking, i know...but wait till u see those babies on these little feeties!!!)

                                           
and noooooooooooooow...net-a-porter sends me this email with Holiday Essentials...and lo and behold, there is a pair of the coolest, caajest black adidas originals that are just screaaaaaaaaaming my name...i don't have a pair of black sneaks still...maybe i NEED them too?? no, hib-i mean caaj kim, don't do it.

ok friends, i will heed your warning. don't you worry, my little readers, i will resist their call. i am exercising self-control. it's hard - very hard (almost as hard as not having eaten a cupcake or french fries in a month - TRUE STORY, MY LOYAL READERS, TRUE STORY - look who is developing real adult eating habits!!). so instead of buying them, i am going to write about them to satisfy my urge (it's part of my 12-step program)...let's hope it works - let's really hope it works..i'm not making any promises though.

if you see a pair of black adidas gazelles on these little feeties paired with a cute girly frock or skinny jeans and a leather jacket - forget you ever read this post..and just know that i tried, i really tried, to resist.

the mule

guys, my loyal fans, my dedicated followers, my little minions...

i have a serious case of the-mondays-after-a-four-day-weekend-in-saint-tropez. it’s a very specific case of the mondays, a very tryhard case of the mondays because everyone knows that only tryhards go to saint tropez and then write about it on their blog – but today i feel like being a tryhard, so sue me. so given my case of the mondays where my work-to-break ratio has become 20 minutes of work to 1 hour of fun, I figured I would share my latest fashion musings during one of my many 1 hours of fun-time to be taken throughout today (i should probably de-friend all work colleagues before posting...but hey, i'm a rebel who likes to live on the edge...).

i know every fashion publication that pops up on my facebook newsfeed says that THE MULE is THE shoe of the summer, but i am not 100% convinced for two main reasons, which i will breakdown in the following lines of wisdom if you just bear with me. 

firstly, the mule is just too casual a shoe. sure, i’ll wear it to the park. sure, i’ll wear it while i shop. sure, i’ll wear it to the grocery store. sure, i’ll even wear it to brunch. but will I ever wear it to work? probably not. backless shoes are just too damn unprofessional. now if i were one of those blessed beauties who got live off mah man and chill during the day or had my own company so i didn’t ever have to go to the office – brunchin, munchin, yoga-in (though i don’t think i would ever be into yoga, but i feel like it’s part of the dream – i like to claim that i’d have a super hot bod if i didn’t have a full-time job, but i am about 100.5% sure that would not be the case – i would actually be just as lazy as i am currently, and i would actually probably eat even more baked goods because i would be so damned happy to not be working in an office (in my little life to-date, i have found the chub to happiness correlation is very high – the happier i am, the chubbier i am – my future husband is VERY excited about the sound of this, men everywhere rejoice!!)

okay so my second reason for not being convinced is actually not really related to the mule, but rather to the birkenstock. I know the very appeal of the birkenstock is the fact that it doesn’t totally go, makes your outfit look more caaj, and just makes it seem like you don’t care…but there are times when i just can’t opt for the birkenstock over a shoe that will actually make my outfit cuter. it’s really hard for me, guys. i’ve tried – God knows i’ve tried. i have almost even made it out the door, but then, in the last second, i always relent and switch to the cuter shoes. i do like the floral ones that i have seen out and about, but i still think i would only wear those to pick up flowers or to pick up my kiddies from school or maybe run to the store to grab some milk (obvi to feed those damn kiddies and to try to counteract the fact that their mom is only five feet three inches tall and their grandma only five feet flat).

anyways, there you have it, folks – my stance on the mule and birkenstock. now that all being said, i will obviously still purchase the alexander wang dina mules as well as the isabel marant Birkenstocks since every fashion publication tells me that it is THE it shoe and I need to obviously partake in the trend or else I wouldn’t be much of a caaj kim, would i, butttttttttttttt at least everyone knows how i really feel (does that make it better or worse when i sell out?)

you know what i hate?

you know what i hate?

I HATE when there is something that starts becoming big, then gets bigger, and part of me wants to buy in, but i just keep putting it off bc i'm just not ready to commit, i'm not 100% sure it's worth the investment, i'm not 100% sold on the idea, it just seems SO predictable, so mainstream...but THEN, over time, i can't get the thing out of my head, and i keep seeing outfits with said item, and eventually, i relent...but i relent at the point in the item's life cycle, where it no longer makes SENSE to commit. the item is on its way out. it only has about 1-3 months of life left in its little leggies before it disappears into oblivion...yet, I just spent xxxx dollars on it, so either i wear it the number of times it takes to justify the investment, even if it is no longer cool and past its prime, and look like a fashion lewser who did not get the memo that said item is now no longer cool, or then i just accept that i made a bad investment and next time, i should NOT try to be responsible and resist the temptation of buying yet another pair of shoes...i mean, "said item".

(obviously this has never happened to me..i am just expressing a general sentiment that i'm sure is often felt by the fashion masses who aren't caajinistas such as myself who never makes any fashion snafus...i am obvi just using "i" in an effort to empathize with the fashion masses, show that i am one of them, just a little clothes lover trying to figure it out like the rest of them..what can i say guys, i'm just a (wo)man of the people...my blog publicist told me that this was a good PR move..).

the requisite isabel marant post

so in case you were living under a rock, don't check facebook 9,000,565,388 times daily, or are too deep a person to follow frivolous fashion news (for those that fall under this category, watch andrea sachs get TOLD by miranda priestly for thinking the same - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LVptO7o4L8), isabel marant for h&m happened last week and yours truly, caajKim, did not purchase a single piece.

i know you're shocked - how can a caajinista such as myself not purchase from a collection produced by the truest caajinista of them all, isabel marant?!?! well, the truth is folks, i did not purchase from the isabel marant for h&m collection for the same reason that i don't go out on halloween or new years - I HATE THINGS THAT CAUSE A FRENZY. maybe it's the introvert lurking deep within me, but i hate when things get too busy, too crazy, too much ruckus, too much excitement. i hate lining up for stuff. i hate getting on a waitlist. i hate purchasing tickets ahead of time. it all causes far too much anxiety in me. i like the red carpet roll-out. i like to breezily saunter into stores without any craziness or hoopla. yeah sure, i'll wait in line for a cronut or a cupcake, but THAT'S where i draw the line. okay, no, i will also wait in line for a burger from shake shack...but THAT'S IT, PEOPLE. (luckily, i am usually the one running late, so by the time i get there, the friends waiting in line are near the front, so it's not so bad and people waiting in line to consume food are not sticklers for line rule etiquette like those waiting to consume fashion..LUCKY DUCKY FOR ME!)

but okay, back to isabel marant. to be honest, all these people talk about how it's so great for these high-end, super discreet designers to do a collaboration to raise awareness, but i really don't understand the draw. i am sorry, but it DOES dilute the brand value, especially when it's a brand like isabel marant who is ALL about discretion and for people-in-the-know, so why would you want to increase mass appeal? it's a slippery slope, my friends - slippery like that last little piece of spaghetti that you just can't seem to capture with your fork. okay actually it's not slippery like that at all - wrong comparison. i guess it's slipperier like an icy mountain you're trying to climb. bottom line, i don't really get the motivation.

but anyways, enough of my musings. all this being said, if there was no line for isabel marant for h&m, no sell-out,  no secondary ebay market, no frenzy, no craziness, i would have purchased the oversized blazer, coat, and sequin pants shown below...not gonna lie, they are pret-ty cute and caaj..

  

skater caaj

guys, the caaj skater in me is seriously rejoicing...i LOVE these by givenchy!!! i could totally see myself speeding down the street on a skateboard with these babies on my footsies, miu miu clutch in one hand and the other straight-out in front for balance of course (skateboarding with the right form is no joking matter, my friends). i am not sold on the leather skinnies as appropriate skateboarding attire though..it would be tough to skateboard in the leather skinnies (limited bending etc.) unless of course they have stretch! i would, however, wear this look while not skateboarding (which is rare since i'm always zooming around on that thing since it lets you cover twice as much ground - it's just so convenient when you are a little person like me).

i would wear this look to the movies, to the mall (though there are no malls in milan), to the duomo (there is one of those in milan), to a restaurant, to a cafe, to get the mail, to go to art class, to get drinks, from the couch to the fridge and back to the couch, EVEN TO THE GROCERY STORE. in short, i would wear this look anywhere and everywhere (except when skateboarding). when on my skateboard, i would trade out the leather skinnies for looser hammer pants - i like to be comfy when skateboarding..

just a small little postie..

guys, i am seriously slammed right now at work, not sure WHEN i will leave tonight. BUT, i stumbled upon these babies during my 5 minutes of fun time while eating a piece of cake i stole from the gucci cafeteria (picture at bottom)...and i just HAD to post - just a short and sweet (just like me) little post about these amazinggggg little mocassin loafers. man that isabel sure knows WHAT'S UP. they're just calling my name..they're like "KIM! KIMMM!!" and i'm like "NOT NOW, CAN'T U SEE I'M CRANKING?!" though kim is not my real name. c'mon guys, obvi i use a pseudonym - can't have people knowing my real identity!! these little mocassin loafers just screaammmmm CAAAJJJ NATIVE AMERICANNNN!!! i am so obsessed. damn, my 5 minutes of fun time have gone into over-time - i am in the 7 minutes of fun time range now...you know me, made to live on the EDGE. thank GOD i type fast, guys. OKAY, cake is done, so gots to go. DON'TULOVETHEMTOO?!

the confessions of a cyber tryhard

i’m not going to lie, the cyberworld is really throwing my rules of tryhard and caajness into disarray and frankly, i’m just as confused as you are. i know that all you loyal readers look to me for advice on how to avoid looking like a tryhard and regard me as your caaj guru, but dearest readers, i must admit my limitations. i have not been able to figure out the rules of online caajness.

in my born-in-the-80s world, hashtags, check-ins, and constant photo sharing are seen as trying too hard. i mean why else would one check in at a cool, hip new restaurant other than to shout to the world – LOOK AT HOW COOL/SOCIAL/IN-THE-KNOW/VIP I AM!!!! if that’s not tryhard, then i don’t know what is. same with hashtags – the point of hashtags is to “subtly” say all the things to make yourself look cool that you can’t say without the pound sign in front. for example, a photo of a pair of nondescript shoes you’re wearing with an oversized shirt and torn jeans accompanied by a hashtag saying #manolos to let the world know those caaj non-logoed shoes are in fact designer afterall, so don’t think that just because you’re caajly dressed to resemble a hobo that you actually are a hobo. or a self-portrait where you make “sleepy eyes”, but otherwise look stunning and brilliantly-styled with a hashtag saying #sodeadtoday or #partiedtoohard is intended to show to the world how attractive, well-dressed, and cool you are. while most people born in the late 80s would admit that all of this aforementioned activity is extremely tryhard, especially on facebook, somehow all of this is A-OK on instagram where the rules of tryhardness just don’t seem to apply. anything flies on instagram. instagram is an alternate universe where being a tryhard is the norm – if you’re not a tryhard, then get off instagram.

so here it is – my grand admission. I AM AN INSTAGRAM TRYHARD – except such a thing does not seem to exist!! since the norm on instagram IS tryhard, does that in fact nullify my tryhardness? man, all these logic games are confusing me – THIS IS WHY I DIDN’T TAKE THE LSAT, PEOPLE!! yes, i am the girl who has posted a photo of my shoes with hashtag manolo. i am also the girl who has put locations on my photos telling people exactly which cool restaurant i am eating at. i am guilty of all this tryhard behavior you accuse me of. i know all of you are extremely disillusioned with me right now. you would have rather not known. you would have rather i had just kept it to myself. it was selfish of me to tell you – it was to ease my heavy heart but burden yours. i got to clear my conscience, but left you to pick up the pieces. NO, YOU’RE WRONG, YOU'RE TOTALLY WRONG – i told you because i CARE about you. i want you to know that IT’S OKAY. it’s okay if you’ve been acting like a tryhard on instagram – it is an alternate reality, IT DOESN’T COUNT!! as soon as you close your instagram app, you’re FREE - your tryhardness ends!! you are still the caaj queen that you know yourself to be, so don't be so hard on yourself. keep posting your photos, keep hashtagging. be free, my child. just keep the tryhardness to instagram. i can't help you if it spreads to facebook..