Mark Cooke’s G-Mixer

My Pen

This pen may look completely ridiculous (in a fun way! it’s covered in rhinestones) but it certainly catches everyone’s eye.

Especially enjoyable is using it during business meetings!

Special thanks go to Mika for making it for me. You rule.

While exploring Daikanyama recently I found a Tsumori Chisato store. While the designer primarily focuses on women’s clothing, she does some men’s clothes and accessories. I just found out recently that a group of friends I have here went to the same fashion design school as this designer… apparently it’s the most famous in Japan. Kind of cool.

Anyways, here’s the wallet:

It has a sea life theme. As you can see, the buckle/button to open it is a star fish. I love the colors on this too. Some kind of sea-green with the shiny silver interior. Speaking of the interior…

Nice and shiny! The wallet is made of leather and has some interesting grains in the leather. It is not smooth.

Finally, my favorite part of the wallet is actually the interior lining. The tiny details that pepper the lining are really cool. It’s the kind of thing that you and other people don’t see often but when you do it really gives you a feeling of cohesiveness in the design of the item.

If you can’ see it, click to open the big version where you can see the small crab on the inside of the coin pouch. There are a number of sea animals in the lining of the cash bill area as well. Awesome!

I had a dream about a month ago. I wanted a really interesting and crazy hat. No, seriously, I literally dreamed that! Luckily, my friend Magu-chan, a clothes designer, makes all kinds of crazy stuff at the store she works at in Ura-Harajuku called “Rocker & Hooker”. Check out this handmade camouflage (in Japanese “meisai”) hat that she made…

The details and lack of uniformity are awesome!

For some reason after I’ve come to Tokyo I’ve gotten a lot more interested in fashion. Both men’s and women’s. I’m not sure exactly why but it has become a kind of a creative outlet for me. Perhaps it largely has to do with how many interesting and cool clothing shops there are near where I live. Living in Shibuya-ku means I can get to Harajuku, Aoyama, Omotesando, Daikanyama, and Shibuya itself in just a few minutes. These places are littered with both mainstream brand fashion and tiny funky shops selling weird creations. Also it’s probably because of the kinds of crazy fashions you can see every day here. Pretty much anything goes, from the salary man army of suit wearing men to the sensational Shibuya gyaru/gyaru-o and koakuma (little devil) styles.

I’ve recently had an interest in “kira kira” accessories, a Japanese sound word meaning something like “shiny”. Shiny bags, wallets, shoes, pens, whatever. That said, I can’t really associate the type of clothing I wear with any particular group. One day I’ll wear a suit jacket and slacks and the next day torn-up jeans and a leather coat. Basically, whatever looks kind of crazy, cool, and can be mixed and matched. And of course, clothes and accessories that are “kira kira” or “pika pika”… both basically mean “shiny” and although there is some kind of difference between the two I can’t understand it.

That said I think some of you would be interested in seeing some of the fashion items or stores if for no other reason than to have a laugh at how silly it can be sometimes. I’m going to start a series of blog posts called “Fashion I Like” and put up pictures for you to check out starting with things I’m already wearing and then pictures of stores and such that I take while out and about. I’ve taken a lot of pictures recently and need to get some uploaded. I promise to get on that this week.