Clothes I got one year ago / Summer 2023
A reflection on how I feel about my purchases after wearing them for a year.
At first I wanted to write a post about my recent pickups, but when you finally possess your obsession you are so excited about it that it’s hard to stay objective. Was it actually a great buy or are you happy now but soon to realize it was a compulsive purchase that didn’t held up? Only time can tell.
That’s why I want to look back to the summer of 2023 and reflect on my feelings about the clothes I’ve owned for a year: do I still wear them? do they still reflect my personal style, which has evolved significantly over the past year? what stories do they now carry? And, finally, was it a good purchase overall?
Last summer my year long trip through Asia (that made me fall in love with it) was coming to an end. It was also the time I started to realize I might be interested in fashion more than I thought. In Taiwan I purchased my first ever fashion related publication: B Magazine about Maison Margiela. I started watching shows, subscribed to fashion content and creators, downloaded Vogue Runway and inevitably made my first designer purchases (in local thrifts and online), which I’m going to share with you now.
Maison Martin Margiela T-shirt (pre 2015)
This shirt is officially my first designer item. I got it in Taipei 2nd Street store for around 15 euros. The print on the shirt says “There is more action to be done to fight AIDS than wear this t-shirt but it’s a good start” implying that this t-shirt can raise awareness to fighting AIDS by being a conversation starter, when people ask what’s written on it. The design was first launched in AW94 collection and was reissued every year since then in different colors and languages. Dazed wrote a great article for the 25th anniversary of this project. At first I was hesitant to buy because the t-shirt was quite worn down with discoloration in the bottom but I decided that even if this will be my “running errands around the house” shirt, it’s still a good deal. To my surprise throughout the year I wore it out of the house more times than in the house!
MM6 circle top FW18
Circle shaped garments are another classic for Maison Margiela done many times since Martin started the brand. I honestly didn’t care much about its significance because when I found and tried on this top at a thrift store I LOVED the way it looked on me. It was a silhouette I’ve never seen myself wearing, with curved neckline, very structured but at the same time soft, made out of beautiful black denim fabric with ragged holes in it. I remember being so mad that I couldn’t find any trace of this top online (this girl will later discover that dating and searching for garments from previous collections is a mess and most of the time you won’t find any info). I wore this piece as much as I could throughout the year but I’m going to say goodbye to it soon. Around a month after getting the top I came back home to visit my family and my mom fell in love with the top as well! I promised I would wear it for a year and gift it to her after that. Next week I’m coming to visit her again (we meet once a year) and the circle top is getting a new home.
Comme des Garçons HOMME shirt FW98
This is another great ~25 euro find in Taiwan. The thrift store resembled a cave with thousands of garments piled and hanging in every direction, a true place to spend a couple of hours searching for treasures. But my boyfriend found this truly ancient CDG shirt after around 5 minutes of us being in there and we decided it will be our shared piece. It’s made of 100% polyester which makes it a questionable choice for everyday wear but it doesn’t crease, folds into a tiny square and fits any bag which made it a perfect “just in case jacket” that saved us a couple of times from the weather changes. I also wore it on a recent trip to “Peaks of Europe” mountains and felt like the most fashionable hiker on a trail.
Pleats Please by Issey Miyake top
I saw this top at a “Japanese goods thrift store” in Bangkok when I first visited the city in September of 2021. I loved the way it looked but it felt way too expensive (around 100 euros) and the color I don’t usually wear. I returned back to the store a couple of times since then to check if it was still there or if there was a sale (there wasn’t). When I came to Bangkok for the last time in July 2022, I stopped by that store again and finally decided that if I still think about it — I should get it. I told myself I can re-dye it black if I see the yellow doesn’t work in my wardrobe and found a 5 euro off coupon to not feel as defeated for getting it for such a “not really a steal” price. Well long story short you can’t recolor it without damaging the pleats (I’m glad I did some research before starting my DIY project). It’s a unique and beautiful piece that fits me well and I wear it from time to time but it’s not my wardrobe staple. Since purchasing this top I encountered many amazing Pleats Please pieces for a better price so I’m a little bitter sweet about this purchase.
Suicoke x Midorikawa x Vibram FiveFingers
I wrote a whole separate post about my relationship with barefoot shoes where I talked about this purchase, so I want to keep it short. I got them on LN-CC sale for around 100 euros each (I first got black pair and liked it so much that I bought the white one a month later while it was still in stock). It takes some time to get used to being “barefoot” but now my legs are having a break when I’m wearing them and it’s an addicting feeling. The glued on pedicure survived many washes and I’m happy with both the quality and the look.
Maison Margiela tabi sneakers
My boyfriend and I got similar tabi sneakers during the summer Ssense sale. I love the design, plus they are VERY wide and comfortable so it used to be my everyday pair when I first got them. But as the year progressed I wore them less and less: the color ended up being not very universal for my wardrobe and for the price we paid (around 200 euros) they didn’t held up that well. I can’t say I regret the purchase but I probably won’t buy them again.
United Arrows and Sons pants
I have a hard time finding pants that fit me and that I like. My favorite pair was a no name brand I found at a thrift store in Tbilisi, and I wore them almost obsessively for over a year until they eventually tore. I patched the tear three times before finally admitting to myself it was time to let them go. Since then I was on a hunt for a substitute “it” pants and while we were thrifting in Taipei, my boyfriend found (why is he always finding the best stuff??) United Arrows and Sons pants in a mens aisle. I was first hesitant to buy but ended up loving them for the cut and the light material. They became my new default pair of pants during this year and guess what, this week they also tore! I’m now planning a rescue mission and I’ll happily wear them with all the patches that it takes.
Flying Painter shirt
Flying Painter is a local Georgian fashion brand that takes its inspiration (and its name) from a Georgian Avant-garde artist Petre Otskheli. I actually first got this shirt in 2021 when I was in Georgia, but it didn't survive meeting my mom (it’s now part of her wardrobe) so when my friend Zara went on vacation to Georgia in 2022 I asked her to buy this shirt for me again. I love its high neck and the silhouette that it creates, it blended seamlessly into my wardrobe and the materials are also great, what else to ask for? Would I buy it again? I already did!
Greyhound Originals pants
Greyhound Originals is a Thai lifestyle, food and fashion brand launched in the 80s. I would describe their collections as causal with a twist, with unique patterns and prints. Their recent shows are pretty interesting and experimental, though I can see how they draw lots of inspiration from iconic styles of other more established fashion houses like Balenciaga or Margiela, which makes me question if they have a defined DNA and what it actually is. Anyways, they were having a huge summer sale and I got these white pants with a pencil drawn stripes on one leg. I don’t know why but I thought I NEEDED a white pant that summer badly. I ended up wearing them just a few times since then, I’m not really proud of this purchase.
Bonus: Byredo Lipstick
For many Byredo is a fragrance brand but for me it’s all about makeup. When they launched their makeup line with Isamaya Ffrench in 2020, I fell in love with the shapes and edginess of the products and wanted to own something from the line ever since. My choice was this peachy sparkly lipstick in the shade “Fiverish” which is now discontinued. I loved the color and the sparkle but it’s a little drying on the lips so I don’t use it often. Byredo recently relaunched their lipsticks with a new formula and a refillable case and it actually feels way more moisturizing, but I can’t share much of my thoughts for now, come back in a year :)
Taiwan (Taipei in particular) is indeed the 2nd best Asian country to source high quality vintage pieces after Japan. I'd rank Seoul in South Korea the 3rd, if you ask :)
The Pleats Please by Issey Miyake 🥰 your curation for clothing is impeccable! Going into my 30s, I want to start curating pieces like yours and building my wardrobe with more interesting clothes like yours! Thank you for the inspiration.