Vogue, Superhero Style and Retro-futuristism

I don't usually buy Vogue, but I'll be buying several of the May issue- check out some of the photos posted today in the LJ community 'fotodecadent':







This last one especially thrills me- what a wonderful piece of art that dress is!
It looks like she belongs lives in a retro-futuristic world where all the policemen carry
Atomic Disintegrators.


And of course, all the bad guys would carry guns like the one below by Weta Collectibles.



It is such a good thing that, at $690, this is out of my price range. Because if I could get my grubby paws on this baby, I would totally spend my days jumping out of alleyways and from behind parked vehicles, aiming this at passerbyers and making obnoxious, "PEWPEWPEW", 'raygun shooting sounds'.

Candy Review- Pocky Strawberry, Cute Fabrics and Totes from Japan

I'm not sure if Pocky can rightfully be considered a candy, but I'm going to stick it in that category. In my mind, the cookie sticks only serve as a vehicle for the candy-like outer coating.
I bought these over a month ago at Cost Plus World Market, totally in love with the packaging- they make me think of Strawberry Shortcake in Strawberry Land.


The box came with four packs with six sticks in each one, 
each pack has a cute print of little strawberries and the Glico logo.
When I opened the first pack, the strawberry scent hit me right away. The scent was so strong, I was surprised how mild the strawberry taste was. The ingredients list includes both dried strawberries (you can see the little bits suspended in the cream coating) and artificial strawberry flavor. The taste of the cookie stick actually stood out more than the outer coating.
I was a bit disappointed, but since I bought the box for the excellent packaging, I really can't complain.


I am trying to decide on what I'll order from Shinzi Katoh's website. If I had the money, I would order one of every item, but I can't do that. The tote bags are oh-so-adorable, and there are aluminum bottles to match quite a few of the totes. They also have some vinyl-coated bags, they cost quite a bit more than the totes 
(around $50 compared to about $18 for the totes) but seem like they would be sturdier, and they are a nice, big size. This one with the Elephant/ Oranges is too cute!

 

I use tote bags all the time, since I like to carry my sketchbook with me. Tiny purses just don't do it for me, and I don't want to run into anyone with even a similar bag to what I'm carrying.
Here in Phoenix, it seems like every other girl and woman has a real or fake Coach or Louis Vuitton bag on her arm. It all strikes me as being so unbelievably boring.
Shinzi Katoh has a selection of fabrics, not a lot but the ones they do have are darling.
Another online shop carrying some Shinzi Katoh products, and a much wider range of cute fabric, is Nuno-plus, they have a lot of teeny-tiny adorable prints. The fabric can get expensive, over $20 for a yard, so check Reprodepot first if you are in the USA, they carry quite a few of the same exact fabrics at cheaper prices.