But I don't want leg warmers.

Ew. Cute shoes though.

Check it out, I'm going to do a fashion rant.

I found an Urban Outfitters' Fall '06 catalogue, and noticed two things.

1. Subversive marketing.
You can even see it on their website, which I won't link to. I thought my sister had circled a bunch of things in the catalogue, but it turns out they're pre-printed. Sneaky. I should've known better, my sister doesn't seem like the type to get cable-knit fingerless gloves. Although you know I totally eyed them.

2. I saw all this stuff last month.
Or even last year. Some girl told me that the US tends to be about a year behind the fashion trends in the rest of the world. (She was referring to my awesome silver shoes that I have now worn THREE times, thank you very much.) I didn't really put much thought into it at the time. But now I look at catalogues. Apparently the Urban Outfitters' big thing is now *layering*! Great. That's all the non-waifs of the world need, three shirts and a lumpy jacket. Good for you L, you'll be set once if you come home, but for the rest of us (well, I'm not sure where I fall anymore), pain in the ass. I thought I got away from that. Even leggings are all trendy now. I'm not sure what I think about them yet. They look great on N (of directorial fame), but I also frequent a blog that considers them the devil. Oh well, I'll let my sister rock that fashion. She has better legs for it.

And bonus, number 3: That's my color dammit.
Fall fashion seems to have tapped my color obession of the year, and now I want everything I see in that color--shoes. scarves. arm-warmers. jacket-hoodies. I caved a few weeks ago and bought a bracelet, only because I had been keeping an eye out for something like it since April. If any of these things are still available when the sales fire up, I'll be first in line. Til then, you'll see me in the clothes I bought last year in Japan, probably still reeking of suitcases and hyaku-en (100yen) vacuum bags.

Number 4 for the road: I miss being a comfortable slob.
Man it was great living in Japan. Partially because Japan was a lot of fun, but also because I only hung out with people I knew. The likelihood of meeting new people (at parties or at work) was very very low. Which meant that my standards were equally low. Lots of jeans and the same jacket every day. I'm sure people noticed, but I didn't care. We already knew everyone, and everyone suffered through the same crap. If it's cold, there's no way I'm dressing up. I'll wear five layers, thanks. For some reason I feel like I have to try now. Maybe it's because I've been making lots of first impressions lately (weddings). I hope it wears off soon.