Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Not Street Style (yet).

Okay last post on BIFF&BIL, promises (actually it probably won't be, but let's pretend).

This was from the TGMA & Textile show, so all pretty casual ready-to-wear.
I might just have really bad timing with my shots, but a lot of the models look less than excited to be wearing this stuff. Oh wait no, they're just looking 'fierce.'
And this was TGMA's Young Fashion line (we know because they walked to "Call Me Maybe").

I would totally wear this (maybe with different shoes). 
The guy still looks sad, but I feel like she knows she's rocking that outfit.
She maybe less so. 
But she definitely does. 
And then the most bizarre show, with clothes people can never wear in Thailand because it is too hot here. 
Which I guess would be fine, because of like, traveling and international buyers. Except isn't this also all pretty last season?
We were pretty confused by it all. 

We missed pretty much Yosafat Dwi Kurniawan's entire show because we got distracted at the snack station (free pastries!). 
So we ran backstage and asked the models for a picture instead. They didn't seem at all annoyed about having to put their heels back on... No, actually they were all super sweet to us! One even gave me a heads up that I had crumbs all down my shirt. Just kidding. (Maybe).

Monday, April 8, 2013

No Circus

We still have so many BIFF&BIL photos, oh my goodness, bear with us.

Did we mention how much we enjoyed BIFF&BIL? The runway shows were beautiful and some of the displays were ridiculous. But of course we were really there as street style bloggers, so you know that we were kind of most excited about eying the other people around us. Most were actually dressed pretty subdued (lots of black business attire), so maybe the fashion week circus, where the clothing on the attendees has become as newsworthy as that on the models, hasn't quite hit Thailand yet (seriously though, click on the link and check out Anna Dello Russo's sunglasses and Bryanboy's hat).

But that's not to say that there weren't still some fashionistas wandering around who couldn't help looking amazing (Fashion Mensa anyone?), perhaps without the near desperate attention seeking happening on streets outside other fashion weeks. Like this guy.

I kind of want Diaz Parzada, creative director for Jakarta Fashion Week 2013, to be my new bffl (also whoa, bffl is just a shortened version of BIFF&BIL, coincidence?!) So sweet, and so stylish! Plus, in just a couple of minutes he managed to convince us that Jakarta Fashion Week 2013 is going to be a huge fashion yes, definitely not to be missed. Like, New York, London, Milan, Paris, Jakarta. 
LOVE. 


Friday, April 5, 2013

Spotted

The search has come to an end! We have looked high and low, near and far, read through thousands (zero) of the applications (there weren't any)! After much deliberation, fashion yeses and fashion noes we have found my fashionable friend! It was truly love at first sight, well more like I spotted legs wearing my pants and hunted them down like a jungle animal. More like my mom did. If I was a jungle animal I would be like the monkey that makes a lot of noise, but when it comes down to confrontation I grab my bananas and go! Didn't inherit my mama's tiger technique.
I would also be the monkey who was dropped from the tree at birth because I totally forgot my fashionable friend's name and the piece of paper I wrote it on. What I do remember though is that he was the choreographer of some of the fashion shows at BIFF&BIL!
He clearly is a lot more fierce than me, but hey I am the 5secondmemory monkey binging on bananas in the tallest tree so somebody has to be the king of the fashion jungle!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Re: Additional Information

Our inbox was inundated with fashionable friend applications last night (obviously), many of which requested a little more information about Julia's looks. I mean, the pictures you guys have of her are small and only of her face. But don't worry! While at BIFF & BIL in Bangkok I totally got a sneaky photo or two of her. 
Coloring all wrong? Are you rocking something more of the ghostly pale blonde thing? No worries, maybe you can be my fashionable friend instead!
Okay here's a photo of the two of us for real though, posing up against a wall. Everyone totally thought we were there as models.
Clearly.
Okay, fine. Maybe the general reaction to us was a little more, "Who are those tall white chicks and why do their business cards look like they were made in an elementary school art class?" (homemade is trendy again, no? Or... no?)

And I think we really impressed everyone by completely geeking out when Dian Pelangi talked to us. She is so sweet and gracious!
But... what's THIS?! Has Julia actually ALREADY FOUND her fashion twin?!?!?!
 Remember, they don't just need to dress alike, they have to look alike too. More on this tomorrow! 

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Wanted: Fashionable Friend

 Dear readers, it has become very clear that the biggest trend in Chiang Mai is to dress exactly like your friend. At first I thought it was cute and coincidental, but now I really don't think it is. Honestly, the number of people I see, well dressed or not, who look like the people in their entourage is impressive. And it's not like just matching tee-shirts or they are both wearing sunglasses, no sir, these people have meticulously matching outfits. I mean check out these ladies: wide rim hats; coral item made of light-weight fabric; white top, large shoulder bag, maxi skirt/dress. Plus their faces are so similar too (that is not a racist comment because they are both Chinese, it is because they actually look the same)




































So our lovely, readers I send to you a proposition, I am looking for someone to be my fashionable friend. (I would ask Silvia but if you have ever seen a photo of the two of us, we don't look a like, like at all) Requirements include: looking like me, and ability to create matching outfits that we can wear around Chiang Mai. The selected candidate will be remunerated by the approval of fashionable Chiang Maiians (That's not a real word, I made it up) and you'll feel the pleasure of being trendy. So please send your letter of motivation and CV to us here at HighThai





































 Here is a game: spot the difference between the two photos. Send us your answer and we'll post you a Quiznos club card (maybe) Terms and Conditions Apply (not really)

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Birds of a feather

You know when you see some people and you think "That person could be picked up and moved to any major city in the world and they would still be considered fashionable by the local population"
Well even if you haven't, this girl is one of those people. Her style is chic but effortless; put her in New York, London, Seoul or Dubai she'd still impress the foreign fashionistas!



 

Just make sure you put her in a city with warm weather!

 


Saturday, March 30, 2013

We're moving to Jakarta

Here are the rest of our photos from Dian Pelangi's collection (well, the ones that weren't too blurry to post. We might have to work some more on our photography skills...). We were seated next to the designer's husband, who was acing the role of overexcited hubby, trying to both photograph and film the show at the same time, even though he knew there were professionals already on top of it. Seriously, they must have the cutest family albums. He also chatted with us a bit about the collection, explaining a little about Muslim fashion in Indonesia and the importance of accessories and headpiece styling when presenting modest outfits.

All we can say is, it worked. Seriously, culture and religion aside, we want this entire collection in our wardrobes, like now.

So who else is going to go out right now to buy some flowing dresses and pants and twirl their hair up in colorful scarves? And those parasols? Fashion yes please!


Tuesday, March 19, 2013

You make me want to spin, spin

While we attempt to sift through the billions of photos we took at BIFF&BIL in Bangkok, here's a little preview from Dian Pelangi's gorgeous collection, which Julia and I fell so hard for.

how do you make a gif

Monday, March 18, 2013

Flight Style

 Chiang Mai and Bangkok are only an overnight bus or train ride apart, but to save some time and avoid being completely exhausted all weekend (does anyone ever actually sleep on overnight journeys?) we decided to fly to Bangkok this time. I was also more than happy to fly because oh man, I LOVE flying.

There's just something about airports. They are filled with people from all over, who could be going anywhere in the world, but for a few hours everyone is together in one random, not really a country, transit place. And airports are all so similar to each other, too. Like, when people ask me what my favorite country is, I kind of just want to say airports. I mean, I know flying is supposed to be exhausting, stressful, and uncomfortable. So maybe I'm just crazy. Or maybe I'm suffering from a little Pavlovian conditioning, as my family flew a lot while I was growing up, and my mother always bribed good behavior from me with small gifts and/or duty free candy. Thanks, Mamma.

But my mother did always have one strict rule for flying: no sweatpants. I think she had a deep-seated fear that when she got married and had children she would become part of those families who power through airports in matching pastel sweatsuits. A real thing, or just my mother's imagination? Regardless, it had me thinking, how dressed up or down should we be at airports? I mean, the glamorous air travel days of Pan Am and SAS are long gone, so should we just pull on our comfiest pajama bottoms and stumble sleepily to our seats? Well, I checked out the fashion scene at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport and found a little more going on than sweatpants.

Chic, but are those shoes practical enough for lugging around all that luggage? She's probably a pro on stilettos, though. 
Speaking of pros:
The tallest people I've photographed for the blog by far. Like, when they stood up I actually stumbled backwards in awe and did not even know how to hold my camera to get the shot. 
These kids were rocking the more casual lines of chic, in probably a lot more airport friendly footwear. 
And a dress is basically the same as a nightgown, comfort wise, right? 
But I think these girls really nailed it. Plenty of layers in case the air conditioning on the flight is out of control, non-fussy hairstyles, not too many accessories to remove when going through security, and fashionably practical shoes. Totally stealing one of these outfits for my next flight. 

Thursday, March 14, 2013

BIFF&BIL 2013

What was that I said in the last post? Julia and I are going to Bangkok? Then who is going to be covering all the Chiang Mai street style that will surely be going down this weekend?!?!!

Not to worry, you guys. We're heading down to BKK for the Bangkok International Fashion Fair (BIFF) and Bangkok International Leather Fair (BIL). Plus hopefully a little street scouting to check out how locals wear it in the big city.

So while we're a little quiet over the next few days check out BIFF&BIL's website and learn a little more about fashion in Thailand and ASEAN!