One of my favorite, little-known spots in Chinatown, Tease (formerly, Modern Wave) recently received a review in TimeOut New York and is no longer little-known. Patrick and I received the news last Saturday when we arrived to get our hair cut. I’ve been going to Modern Wave Tease for the past five years, and introduced the salon to my beloved on one of our first dates last year. He sees Simon whom he calls a Scissor Samurai. I repeatedly see Jacky a Hong Kongnese wedding DJ/stylist. The cuts have always been (and still are, post-review) affordable: $35 for a lady’s haircut and $25 for gents. What is most impressive is how beautifully your hair grows out of a haircut from Tease. The photos above show Patrick, pre-cut, at 6 weeks shaggy and immediately after the cut, when he has been styled to look like an anime character. “You have to let Simon do this thing,” he says, “it’s what he enjoys most.” I’m not sure whether or not that’s true, but it’s definitely fun to slurp noodles with a live-action Tuxedo Mask!
truancy at its finest
commissioned binding with laser cut board, edition of 5
customized tea bags for a small present
some table arrangements using hydrangeas, snap dragons, carnations and Dutch tulips
stay tuned for some exciting menswear news!
Following my success with making corduroy pants, I decided to construct another pair in raw denim. I purchased this fabric for $5.99 in the Garment District with the hope this project would come to fruition. Using the same technique as I did with the corduroy pants, I included pockets, and added my embroidered initials to the one on the right. I also ironed the seams flat, which allows the crotch to lay better.
The only issue that arose with the denim was that since the fabric has no stretch, I had to make additional cuts to the foot holes in order to put them on. I would suggest altering the pattern by an half inch to an inch to allow for the extra, necessary room. Overall, they turned out great! I’m excited to wear them around town today, and will be looking into patterns specifically for denim in the future!
Played by Luna. Exceptionally talented, she brings great life to the song!
Peoples Park (Seward Park), Essex at East Broadway, 8:40am, T’ai Chi Chuan
ShuangLiu Zhong Xue, Chengdu, PRC
Working in Chinatown has caused me to miss China more than ever. It has also reminded me of how grateful I am to live in a city with a massive Chinese population. Teaching English and art on Henry Street, I’ve learned more about the community south of Canal Street than I ever imagined knowing. These families have migrated mostly from Guangzhou, Fujian and Sichuan. They own restaurants that serve, on Henry Street alone, chang fan for $1.50, steamed in a flat file, cooked to order. Or jiaozi, 5 pieces for $1.00 and suan la tang for $1.00. They are happy to speak Mandarin and their spirits contribute significantly to the peaceful energy south of Canal Street. If I had to live in Manhattan, I would live right here. My Mandarin would get stellar. I’d probably take up the T’ai chi. I’ve already befriended a phenomenal shoemaker whose kept her home on Henry Street for the past two years. After three visits to her shop, we’re friends. I’m plotting my eventual move, and have already made significant improvements on my menu-reading abilities.
My American-Chinese students, my huaren, remind me so much of my students at ShuangLiu. They are growing up in a traditionally Chinese environment, with seemingly minimal increases in freedom by virtue of living in the United States. Many of them are the happiest people I know. They go to school six or seven days a week. They know they should be intelligent. They love computer games, and talking about Chinese culture. They bring wonderfully smelly foods to class, and for the moment, when they aren’t driving me nuts, seeing them is the best way I’ve found to spend my weekends, and ruffle up my Chinese feathers and believe, for a moment, that I’m back in China, my favorite place to be.
One of my dear poetry mentors is expecting a girl! In celebration of a new genius entering the world, I decided to make a lambswool quilt using fabrics in the favorite color family of my mentor: purple.
The quilt was constructed using a combination of natural-fiber fabrics, namely cotton and silk, in a variety of weaves and prints including gingham and poplin, periwinkle, lavender and purple, purchased at Paron Fabrics and several other shops on 39th Street. I also purchased a cotton-satin fabric in beige for the underside of the quilt. Except for the lambswool, which was imported from Germany, all of these fabrics were made in the United States. The quilt measures 30” x 34” which allows it to fit nicely in a pram.
Another pocket square for Patrick.
This time I used a white, raw silk that was leftover from a college project. The heart is a special organ to me because I have a defective one, which was entirely fixed in 2010, works perfectly, is part bovine. The image was hand-drawn directly onto the fabric as was the text, directly written, in pencil. I used an embroidery stitch my mom taught to me fifteen years ago—knowledge that’s gone unused since—and multiple colors to indicate the various chambers and valves of the heart.
The seams are hand-rolled, to his liking, and cut to a standard pocket-square size. I think this will be a nice accessory for his gray suit jacket.
After nearly 24 months of solid wear, it was time to retire my beloved skinny jeans, which prompted the need for new pants. I decided that if I were to have new pants that I should make them, which provided the opportunity to have a sewing growth spurt. This weekend I made my first pair of cigarette pants.
Using Kwik Sew’s Misses Pants pattern #3807 with a few alterations, I constructed an elastic-free, zipperless pant with back pockets. The pockets were modeled loosely after my former pants, and were not included in the pattern packet. I selected a stretch corduroy fabric in cream from Paron Fabrics—with help from their employee, Lucy—based on the cost of the fabric ($8.00) and the idea that these would be my practice pants. I highly recommend this pattern for its minimal pieces and very clear directions. I also recommend using the pattern in at least one size smaller than what it suggests for you. I had to take in the crotch significantly on my pants, well beyond what I anticipated, however this is likely also based on how much stretch your fabric contains. In addition to this stretch corduroy, I will also be using this pattern to construct raw denim pants, which may require more give, and perhaps also: a zipper!
My original intention was to dye these pants plum upon completion, but wearing them now, I feel that the cream color works well. This is to say that I imagine I will be making several pairs of pants with this pattern—hopefully with continued success!
