portkeys....sort of.

I found this dress in a second hand shop in Japan called Don Don Down, where every wednesday the prices of everything in the store roll down to a lower price, so the longer it stays in the store, the cheaper it gets. The dress was only $5, and I couldn't believe my luck that it fit so well. Ryan and I biked all over the city of Morioka that day, and we made a special trip out to this store on the edge of town right around sunset. I remember so clearly how wonderful it felt to be biking around everywhere- soaking in the city all around us and really feeling a part of it all. As the sun sank lower, the city started slowly disappearing, and more fields of green and wild patches started to crop up.

For a while we biked along some railroad tracks covered with tall grass vibrantly catching the sun- here and there bright golden patches of light peeking between shadows cast by bus stops or telephone poles. The only buildings around now were one story houses and local stores, and we could see so much more sky glowing around us with deep orange stripes and fluffy pink clouds. I remember all the lights coming on as the sun sank- the flickering yellow street lights, the warm glow in the windows, and the gaudy rainbow neon signs advertising pachinko or revolving sushi. I remember feeling a chill air blowing through my hair and past my ears, but an excitement keeping me warm that summer was on its way and we were out for an adventure in place so new to me.

I remember walking out of that store with this amazing score of a dress in my bag ( as well as a pretty great leather jacket I wore home and a plaid button up I've worn countless times since) and knowing that this feeling, these memories, would be recalled any time I encounter these items. As I put on this yellow dress today, all the images came flooding back and reaffirmed this thought- this is why I do this. This is why I go out of my way to find that tiny hole in the wall store selling clothes worn by other people. This is why I'm willing to dig and dig and sift and sift, even if sometimes I come out empty handed. It isn't just a dress. It's the reason we even biked out of the city and back in the dark and ate donuts for dinner because everything else had closed, and it's the catalyst for bringing these images and memories back to me- months and months later when my current reality is nowhere near as magical.

Now should I go into this purse's story? maybe that's another post..







outfit:
all vintage/thrifted (nothing over $5 (!) )