SFSF: mai of fashioni.st on valencia street

last week, i spent the better part of a sunny, late summer afternoon walking around the mission with mai, of the fashioni.st, the SF street fashion site i've mentioned here a few times already.
mai was lovely to talk to. she graciously filled me in on her m.o. for selecting, approaching, and photographing her subjects. our walk was peppered with fun talk of fashion, life, and beyond, and was punctuated by moments where i was able to watch her at work. i observed that she has a great system for selecting people and gathering images of said people, and it works amazingly for her. and the results are clearly apparent: the diverse individuals featured on her site appear to be full of personality. her website brims with the record of her astutely observed details she includes with each post.
the way mai adorns herself also speaks of a person who delights in the details of fashion. continuing her graciousness, she let me take a few pictures of her.

SFSF:  mai of fashioni.st on valencia street

she was wearing the most amazing super-high-wasted jeans with cartoonishly large but superbly amazing yellow buttons. as she pointed out at one juncture in the conversation, she felt that the circular shapes in her thrifted blouse went conceptually with the circular buttons on the jeans.

SFSF: mai of fashioni.st on valencia street

other definitive details to note in her ensemble: the puffed caps of her sleeves, the pintucks on the sides of the aforementioned jeans, and the ruching on her pointy toed shoes.
thanks, mai!

machine & alice mc call: the homespun touch

clothing with 60s/70s-esque hand-needlework elements are what i'm grooving on hard at the moment. okay...well, to be honest, i've always been into clothes with those elements! i'm old, so that's a long time! what elements, ye may ask? well, things like applique, embroidery, patchwork piecing, quilting, and the like. yum yum.

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these pieces are by a mysterious maker called machine, who inexplicably only seems to use myspace (yuk!) as her primary interface with the world. i was tipped off to the existence of machine by jennine of the coveted (thanks!). i love how everything has a very sexy 70s feel (down to the colors), and her crafty use of what appear to be recycled elements in the design of her garments. check out the details utilized: braided straps, lacy crochet, directional piecing...it all just really works together in a lovely way.

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(photos via machine)

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aussie designer alice mc call has some handspun elements in certain pieces within her s/s 2006/2007 collection, conjointly entitled welcome to the dollhouse:

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(photos via alice mc call)

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good stuff than makes me yearn for more of the same!

SFSF: brittany and katie of oxenrose, hayes valley

i've been meaning to start taking street fashion photos for some time now. i carry my nikon d40 with me everyday, everywhere. so it's about time i get to shooting style on the streets of the city in which i currently live, right? right!

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SFSF:  brittany and katie of oxenrose

SFSF:  brittany and katie of oxenrose

SFSF:  brittany and katie of oxenrose
(brittany is the on left, katie is on the right)

these gals are the receptionists at my new salon, oxenrose, in hayes valley.
the details make the difference:
i'm loving brittany's fun, oversized hoop earrings and yellow jelly shoes (perfect for a SF summery and warm day) and the fringy white short boots and other indian/western-influenced details in katie's outfit. afraid of color and fun these girls are not!
i've always been a big fan of those zippered sweatshirts emblazoned with the names of european nations...i always mean to pick one up when i am in amsterdam (been too many times already!) but it seems to slip my mind over and over again! seeing katie rocking hers here is a nice reminder.
thanks brittany and katie!

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more to come on this note! stay tuned.