Happy Autumn and Halloween as I finish up this months pickups! Weather is everchanging faster than ever and I’m excited for the holidays ahead. September and October mark the beginning of fall and I’ve had an eye on some things that I plan on wearing for the cold months forward. It isn’t just clothes though because I’ll be talking about some books and video games I’ve been really excited about (so many games are releasing within the last couple months and even more ahead so lots of writing about video games is coming!) Grab your comfort hoodie and drink something warm while you read and enjoy!
📚“More Rick Owens”
More Rick Owens? Yes please! This is another book of past Rick Owens collections photographed by Danielle Levitt bound together in this nice hardcover book. This book showcases collections from F/W19 all the way to S/S23 and features a handful of looks from each season. I started paying attention to Rick Owens around 2019-2020, so this book is the most familiar to me and over the years, I’ve been looking back at collections that debuted when I was on the other side of the menswear space. These recent collections have been a lot more “glam rock” and I appreciate the shift the brand has taken since the early bleak darkness the brand has been know for and it seems to be more playful as of late. I love every iteration of Rick Owens and It always feels great having that history in hardbook form!
📚Dekopon Magazine Vol. 3
Dekopon is back with it’s 3rd volume! This magazine showcases art and fashion from many creative people- including “streetstyle” with fit pics that go over each item they have on and fun little details like favorite color, designer, dessert, and what they’re currently listening to. Also included are illustrations, interviews, photosets, reader’s choice, and more all packaged into a fun, colorful and lively magazine! Dekopon strives to “explore art and fashion through the lens of love and craftsmanship with a strong focus on versatility and longevity.” It’s always a treat to receive these in the mail and become inspired by many other creative people out there in the world! They even included my streetsnap this time and am very grateful they chose me! ❤️❤️❤️
🧍raised.online “NPC” Hoodie
The term “NPC” is widely used in the internet space to describe the average person who blends in with the societal norm. In the fashion space, the term is used for people who are the formulaic copy of each sub-culture. From the “Opium” side that wears a lot of Rick and Balenci, to the “Gorp-core” person who loves wearing anything with Gore-Tex and makes the outdoors their livelihood. At the end of the day, please wear what you want- it’s just clothes at the end of it all. I’ve went from style to style and at this point, If it really makes me feel happy or compelled to wear that, i’ll wear it- there’s no joy like it. I’ve been trying to feel more true to my experiences and have a little more fun with what I wear because at the end of the day it’s just a garment. This hoodie pokes fun at the term, while being a substantial hoodie on its own. The fit of the hoodie is modern in construction- having dropped shoulders, elongated sleeves, bigger hood, and frayed sleeve cuffs and wasteband hem. Other great touches would be the brushed french terry that feels great to touch, the “NPC” having a cracked texture, and the inside out stitching on the kangaroo pocket that adds in the well-worn vintage feel! This is my favorite hoodie in the collection and will be worn for most of the cold season to come!
👟Rick Owens DRKSHDW x Converse “Turbowpn”
When I first remember Rick Owens collaborating with Converse, It felt like a full circle moment for the brand being well-known for the Ramones- essentially a Converse Chuck Taylor in leather with a bigger toe. Their first shoe was a pair of chucks with a big square bumper that was infused with the toe cap and a lot of people did not like it. I was definitely part of that camp, but I did buy the white low-top pair and liked them at first, but I had to face the reality that they weren’t very practical for me and I sold them off to Wasteland. I do go back and forward on if I want another pair, but I’d only do it if the price was below retail, so maybe someday I’ll try again because I’ve grow to like the design. Fast-forward 2 years and they’ve done a standard chuck with the signature Rick toe, a double bumper platform version, and the Turbowpn- a Rick Owens rendition of the classic Converse “Weapon” basketball shoe that was an NBA staple in the 80’s. The Turbowpn adds a platform sole and the long tongue that Rick is known for and small details like the signature two lines dotted on the toe-box, shark tooth sole, and the dark star replacing the Converse star. Lastly, the leather quality itself is very soft and plush- being comfortable to wear for long periods of time and I’ve seen myself wearing them multiple times. At first, I thought of them as the lesser Geobasket, but these stand well on their own and if you want to get into the label, this is a great start!
🩳Rick Owens Cargo Pod Shorts
Being In a very hot area of California, shorts are a MUST. I’ve spent most of my life going through many pairs of shorts and boiling it down to my favorites and of course, Rick Owens has some of them! I’ve worn my black DRKSHDW pair for years now and haven’t stopped wearing them since- whether it’s in the summer, or in the winter with some legging underneath and I love the elongated silhouette they give off that’s fun to wear. This pair is the mainline cargo variant from Dirt S/S18 that is made of a mid-weight cotton canvas that feels great on body, tortoise buttons on the back pockets and button-fly and of course, the big cargo pockets that can hold a lot of things such as a Nintendo 3DS, an iPod Nano, or your favorite beverage of choice. I got these for such a great price off of theRealReal after being put on deep discount due to them sitting for months and I finally waited long enough to get them for a steal. If you want a pair, you can definitely find them way below the going price- theRealReal being a great place to look as of late.
🧢🖤TWO FOLD “HBT Sun-Faded Cadet Hat”
Headwear will always be important to me growing up, whether for comfort, function or to avoid a bad hair day. I especially love hats with unique design elements, material and wearability and this hat checks off all those boxes! TWO FOLD is a Sacramento based vintage store that curates unique vintage garments from the 50’s and on that develop their own unique attributes through the many wears they see along the way. I love the way clothes develop a look of their own- through rips, stains, discoloring and shape that make garments truly one of a kind and TWO FOLD is a representation of that ethos.
Recently, they released their first item from the TWO FOLD brand titled the “HBT Sun Faded Cadet Hat” that is their interpretation of the American Military hats worn during WW2 by the US Army. It’s constructed with HBT cotton twill material for durability and practicality, while retaining the broken-in feel of decades-old vintage fabric by putting it through numerous washing cycles. For me, the fit of a hat is everything and I love the low profile fit of this hat that fits my large head very well! I’ve already worn it a handful of times and it’s been able to integrate itself into almost all of my outfits- a true testament to a good hat. I went over to their show room to buy the hat and saw all the items they have on their website, as well as their upcoming drops down the road. I even purchased a vintage Wii tee from their video game themed online drop they had that day- poking at my nostalgia from when I was enjoying the Nintendo console. The space was really cool and even saw the TWO FOLD kitty running around as I love cats. The people over there great to talk to- passionate and informative of their work and I’m happy to see how much they’ve grown as a shop since seeing them vend at the Worlds Worst Expo years ago. I can’t wait to see what else they’ll cook up next!
🎮🌸Pikmin 1+2
In August, I wrote about my most anticipated game of the year “Pikmin 4”- being a blast to venture a distant planet with Oatchi and the lovable Pikmin! The series is 20+ years old and was stuck on the Gamecube and Wii until recently! These two games hold a very special place with me- playing both on the Gamecube from Blockbuster rentals I re-rent over and over to complete what each had to offer. Truth be told, I never finished either game because of how difficult they were growing up.
Pikmin 1 as a game is short and sweet- racing against time to build your ship before your oxygen depletes and essentially die on this planet. Olimar discovers an onion-shaped object that spits out a little red plant. Of course, this would be our introduction to the small and cute Pikmin! These little guys come in 3 colors- red, yellow and blue. Each Pikmin element can aid you in certain situations- red can race through fire and are the strongest of the bunch, blue can traverse through water, and yellow can hold bomb rocks and be thrown higher. Using all these Pikmin, Olimar is able to fend off creatures big and small, solve obstacles, and gather all 30 ship parts in 30 days to get back to his home planet. Pikmin 1 is a game I can always go back to and finish as quick as possible- seeing if I can find faster ways to get all the parts.
The sequel Pikmin 2 has Olimar flying back to his home planet Hocotate after he was able to escape with his life in Pikmin 1- having to find out as soon as he lands that the company he works for went into bankruptcy and is using the ship Olimar just built back together to partially pay off the debt. Olimar had brought a bottlecap with him as a souvenir for his son, but it was discovered that the treasure was worth a lot of money. So now, your boss has you and your new partner Louie go back to that planet to collect more treasure to pay off the remainder of debt. Olimar can never catch a break he just wants to see his family again 😢. Pikmin 2 is largely the same as its predecessor, but this time dungeons are the main premise of the game. There is still treasure on the surface area, but most of it is located in some pretty tough dungeons that will test your skill! With all this, we are introduced to two new Pikmin- purple and white! Purple Pikmin are big and strong- able to lift 10x the amount of normal Pikmin and white Pikmin are fast, poisonous and are able to find hidden treasure underground! Pikmin 2 has to be the hardest out of them all, but is rewarding when your able to complete each dungeon with all your Pikmin intact.
Man I love this series so much- balancing great music, fun gameplay, great atmosphere and the cute Pikmin that make these games so special to me. If you haven’t played these games, they’re a bit of a challenge but are short and sweet to play!
🎮🍄Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Growing up, I’ve always loved what Nintendo had to offer- starting with my Teal green Gameboy Color that had a copy of Super Mario Bros. That was one of the first games I remember playing over and over again. I never did complete It, but damn I still went back to see how far I could get. Ever since then, the Mario franchise has been one of my favorites and I had to play them all, whether it was a 2D or 3D platformer, sports game, kart racer, party game and so on. Mario platformers are always the pinnacle of them all and each one innovated in some way that made them unique and fun to play. Don’t get me wrong, I love the “New” Super Mario Bros series of games, but like many others, it felt stale playing the same formulaic game that lacked a distinct style since 2006 and all the way to 2012 with “New Super Mario Bros U” that would get ported to the Nintendo Switch in 2019. Since then, there hasn’t been a BRAND NEW 2D Mario in 10 years and It’s time for a change.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder has been a breathe of fresh air for the series- revamping the entire Mario style we know with big things like level design being different from level to level with all these new enemies, hazards, structures and so much more. This is further amplified by the “Wonder Seed” that takes you on a trippy ride full of level changing, enemy filled and chaotic situations that are new with each level. Even the small things like character animations that include nuances, like Mario grabbing his hat whenever he goes through a pipe, or the facial expressions that change the faster you run and when you stomp on enemies! Even down to the jumping and ground pound sounds that makes instrumental noises or when items come out of boxes- these tiny details have made the experience “new” again. Many have compared this one to “Super Mario World”- the biggest complement you can give to any game and so far, I can agree! If you haven’t played a Mario platformer in a long time or are looking for a fun game, Super Mario Bros. Wonder can absolutely scratch that itch!