SKIRT

Levi's denim jacket, American Apparel micro mesh shirt and skirt, Cheap Monday jeans, necklace from a flea market, and vintage rain boots.
"Hey can your bring your AA skirt to school tomorrow? I'll explain then."

That was the text I sent to my good friend Paige the other day. Under any normal circumstances, a request like that would raise a lot of questions, but in our case Paige knew the time had come. For readers who have been following Denim on Denim long enough, you might remember a post I did about men in skirts, and I still stand by what i said. So it was inevitable that one day I would try my hand at the look. It all started when my dad bought me an awesome Levi's jacket. It brought to mind Rick Owens' S/S 2010 collection, so I set off to playing around and trying to emulate the style.


"...It brought to mind Rick Owens' S/S 2010 collection..."

Eventually I realized that all I was missing was a Rick Owens skirt to complete the look. With a pretty good memory of what my more style-savvy friends wear, I inquired to Paige about borrowing a skirt of her's that I thought might just do the trick. I think it worked out pretty damn well, a suitable upper-lower-middle class version of the runway style. My only regret so far is that I didn't get a chance to go to the grocery store in it after we took these.








Definitely needed a clunky shoe to weigh down this look.




Gonna help out F21's Heritage 1981 team with a shoot on Thursday - should be fun! For now I have a desert biome diorama to build. Yes!

-Cruz

LONG BEACH FLEA MARKET JAN 2010

January's flea market trip just in time for February! Lets kick this post off with a very long pair of jeans...

I could see this pair of jeans working really well in interior design. You could sling it over something, similar to the way people have fur shrugged over a couch or chair, or lay it over a chest or somethin.


Awesome mannequin. Makes me think of Prada F/W 09, since it looks like the hacked-off bosom of a She-Mars.


Vintage leopard pelt shrug.


Hoof doorstops? Maybe some very large book ends?


I have an obsession with anything that looks like it would take forever for me to do myself.


I don't even... but whoever ends up buying this has serious bff potential with me.


Moving on to some footwear...


Some Paul Smith loafers in the coolest colors.


These are so cool! They were too small for me unfortunately...


My attempt at a detail shot.


Some denim boots. If you wear these with some denim on denim, you can have denim on denim on denim. If you wear it with a denim 3-pc suit and jeans, you can have denim on denim on denim on denim on denim!


So obsessed with the embroidery on these jackets.

DEVIL DOG




Metallic dark olive denim Play Boy jacket??? Sorry the lighting sucks - as usual the quality of these pics is a free-for all.

Now I'm gonna go back to endlessly almost-sneezing...

-Cruz

ANTIQUE CAVALRY JACKET

Antique 1907 British Cavalry Jacket, vintage red coral necklace, American Apparel tee, Cheap Monday jeans, belt from a flea market, and vintage Calf Hair boots.

On the third Sunday of every month, I tirelessly explore the dusty labyrinth that is the Long Beach flea market with my dad. We pass by countless things that catch our eyes and on one occasion, a certain jacket caught my eye from the back of a booth. I took a quick glance at it, quickly examined it, but was shied away by the $200+ price tag. I so kindly took a picture of it without asking, for future reference, and sped off onto the next thing.
Months passed, and as I was perusing my flea market photo archives one-day, I stopped. Coming across the jacket again in photographic form, my brain reeled in and whipped out a Jimi Hendrix reference; I had realized that Jimi Hendrix had worn an extremely similar, if not exact, coat. My mind became instantly barraged with thoughts such as: "Will it even fit?" "Is it a wise purchase?" "What if it rains this Sunday?" (Sunday being on the cusp of the storms California was about to experience). I held my breath until Sunday arrived, and when we finally arrived at the flea market I immediately sought out the seller, tried it on, heaved a crumpled stack of Jacksons at her, and scuttled off.


"I had realized that Jimi Hendrix had worn an extremely similar, if not exact, coat."

The fact that it fits as decent as it does, to me, is incredible. I feel extremely fortunate to come across it. It came with a pair of jodhpurs as well, my feet are too big to fit through them (We're talking 1907 sizes yall - not that I have Cinderella feet anyway), which isn't a problem since I didn't know the pants existed until I purchased the suit.
I've searched tirelessly for the perfect band/military jacket for years and am so happy to have finally found this one. It's perfect - great colors i.e.-muted gold, great buttons, Hendrix cred etc. With the surge of Balmainia hitting stores, just about every store has made a rendition of a Sgt. Pepper jacket that I could have easily picked up by now, but I feel like what makes these jackets so special is their unique quality. They come in so many different colors and styles and are found so few and far between, a mass-produced one wouldn't be the same. It's different than just a sweater or t-shirt, I think you guys get what I'm talking about. Anyway, sorry to have assaulted your eyes with all this text! Onto the outfit shots...














Here's a detail shot of the necklace/collar.



Detail shot of the buttons.

Today is also Denim on Denim's first birthday! Thank you everyone for your support over the past year! Your support really means the world to me and I feel very fortunate to have gotten to know some of you guys as well! I look forward to seeing what the future will bring to Denim on Denim. :)

-Cruz

WHEN THE SUN IS SINKIN LOW

Decided to take some pictures showing off some recent acquisitions after a day of non-stop rain...
Triple Five Soul jacket, vintage shirt, American Apparel scarf, belt from a flea market, Cheap Monday jeans, vintage snakeskin boots










I got the jacket brand spankin new last month at the Long Beach flea market for 25 bucks. I guess it cost about 100 more new, so I was definitely gettin my recessionista on. I've never heard of 'Triple Five Soul' before, I don't really pay attention to brands anyway, but I really like this jacket. It's nice to have something that's comfortable but doesn't let you down in the design dept.








My dad and I took the photos on top of the parking garage at our local mall. Kind of a suburban Autoamerican haha!

I've just made a pretty big purchase I'm SUPER excited about, and cannot wait to share with you guys! I'm figuring out the best way to debut it haha, so stay tuned! ;-)

-Cruz

LAST SATURDAY

Wore this to go shopping in downtown Pomona the other day...
Vintage leather hat, sweater, necklace, bag, and boots. LSL linen shirt & H&M jeans. Have you guys heard of LSL? I got the shirt at a secondhand store and it was brand new, but I've never heard of the brand.






I got this navajo-like sweater at American Vintage in Los Feliz while I was staying in LA last week. All I'm saying is that California better get in shape and cool down (is the fact that it's winter a good enough reason?) so I can wear this all the time. Kinda has a Missoni vibe to it too, which I like.


I picked up this plastic (maybe it's lucite? I wish? I was informed by a helpful reader that it is indeed lucite!) necklace at an antique mall sale in Pomona for a couple of bucks. I try to collect finishing touches and I think that this necklace is one of those.


My favorite traveling companions...



My break just ended, so I should have more time for blogging! You'd think that winter break would lead to more time for blogging, but I guess I was just out doing stuff for once instead! I got some shopping done too so expect some cool shoots with my new finds up soon. :)

-Cruz

OTIS' DAY TRIPPER

I thought I'd play around and try to come up with an outfit that I would have liked to think that soul singers would have worn during the days of more conservative dress; what I'd like to think Otis Redding would have worn if he would have lived for the late 60s and spent maybe too much time with Grace Slick & Jerry Garcia. Kinda like Otis Redding's rendition of "Day Tripper". Ended up looking very Marvin Gaye inspired, whom I was inspired by, particularly a photo taken in 1970 in a denim on denim ensemble (Points for using my blog name? More like lameness points...)


My scan from "Denim" by Graham Marsh & Paul Trynka

This photo was taken at a time when denim was still associated with poverty & sharecropping for African Americans, so it was quite radical of him to wear it. Also, at the time Marvin Gaye was frustrated with Motown's square image and rebelled by recording the album "What's Goin On", so in a very small way my outfit was devised in the same spirit. I'm not sure if I achieved explaining my thought process without it sounding too ludicrous, but I think you guys know what I mean.






I picked up the necklace at the Long Beach flea market last month - I want to wear it with everything! I've been collecting tribal jewelry recently; it's the perfect finishing touch!


While taking pictures we were greeted by a very friendly neighborhood cat.


I love cats! My bff Lindz took the pics. Everything I had on was vintage or secondhand.

I'm gonna be staying with family in LA a few days this week, I hope to get some shopping & photos in!

-Cruz

FRANCE'S MOST BEAUTIFUL SUNKEN SHIP

I don't even know where to start to look for 18th century inspired clothes. As always if you want to know where something is from just ask and I'll do my best to help you out!

My best friend is gonna be staying with us for a few days and she has a great camera so I'm holding off on an outfit post until then. If I don't post by then, I hope everyone has a happy new year!

-Cruz