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Representin’

Monday, September 10th, 2007

St. Louis t-shirt

With a wardrobe now down one Missouri Football shirt, I was super duper excited to come across a “St. Louis Is my Hometown” T-shirt at the JJ Weekend Market here in Bangkok. It was perfect. (I mean, what could be better than buying an original Missouri-loving shirt in Thailand?)

Yep. Perfect. Albeit…surprising. With Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch real and fake Ts all over the market, most shirts had animals prints or girl-power or beach-town themes. But not this little gem of a shirt.

Why make a St. Louis T? You ask. (Or at least I did) Turns out a young guy, Tui, has been designing original shirts under his Rockstar brand for the last year or so. And not only is he (shown below, left, with his brother) a shirt designer, but he’s also a former high school exchange student of small-town Missouri (Moberly, Missouri, population 13,992). Although he never made it to the STL, he knows what it’s about.

And he knows how to make T-shirts, too. I’ll definitely be wearing this one over the rest of my trip.*

Tui and his brother

*However when I get back, I may have to give it up to a truly St. Louisian…otherwise I’m sure I’ll be stopped on the street somewhere and asked that inevitable St. Louis greeting: “Where’d you go to high school?“

Posted in *Thailand, clothing, education | 2 Comments »

In the Movies

Monday, September 10th, 2007

Ah, the beauty of English subtitles. Yesterday, I went to see the Thai romantic comedy, Sai Lub Jub Baan Lek (which kind of translates into The Bedside Detective).

As the movie got started, the audience was quickly introduced to the lead Jock and his friend Jack. Jack was the perfect sidekick. Funny but not a show-stealer. However, even though he wasn’t the star of the show, I couldn’t stop laughing at Jack’s characterization as a sensitive hip-hop wannabe who always wore American sports jerseys and thumped his chest. (Watching him, though, I’d say his costumes looked more like those of a cholo than a hip-hop kid.)

Seeing Jack up on the big screen made me think about how easily America exports our lifestyle. I mean, first some type of sub-culture happens on the streets of the US. Then that culture becomes part of the mainstream media in the US. Then, that mainstream media is played abroad. Then, those media images become a part of the foreign culture. Then, it’s so prevalent in that foreign culture that it’s satired in their mainstream media.

Freaky.

Posted in *Thailand, clothing, media | No Comments »

It’s Definitely a Small World

Sunday, September 9th, 2007

scale outside of 7 Eleven

With a return to the Western world only days away, I started getting anxious that me and the travel-around-the-world slightly bohemian wardrobe I’ve packed weren’t ready for it. So with t-minus two days, I was on the hunt for a mini skirt. Even though they were definitely a staple in my SoCal closet, while packing, I’d somehow convinced myself I wouldn’t want one while traveling. In fact, I think I may have even heard Stacey and Clinton telling me I was too old for them and put them all out in the yard sale or donated them to Goodwill. But here, I’ve decided even Stacey and Clinton would give me a couple more years (at least until I was officially in my late 20s) before banishing them from my closet…and I should get one for Australia.

Before I went to the stores, I hit up an ATM outside a 7 Eleven where I noticed a scale and decided to see where my good ol’ weight was at. Eeeks. It confirmed I’m now at the same weight I was in middle school. To add to the confirmation, as the digital numbers came into focus, the machine started blaring Disney’s “It’s a Small World.” Hmmm…I guess if I were trying to lose weight, I’d be happy to hear that when my kilos came up…

But then as I tried on skirt after skirt, I kept having to move up in size. Yep. Even though I’m smaller than I usually am, in a still-developing country, I’m a size Large around the middle section.

Now that I think about it, the song wasn’t telling me I’m small but that the world I’m in is smaller than me. Der…

Posted in *Thailand, away from America, clothing, media | 3 Comments »

Gratuitous-Jayna-Was-Here Photo(s) #8

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007

Jayna Rust in brown shirt dress in Hoi An Jayna Rust in a casual suit made in Hoi An

The biggest attraction in Hoi An is the tailors. They are everywhere. And they’re addictive. And unlike other Asian cities I’ve been to where there are a load of tailors, the ones in Hoi An really seem to do a lot more women’s clothing.

That’s good news for me whose body rarely fits into off-the-rack dresses. Earlier this year, I went into every store in L.A.’s South Bay looking for a brown shirt dress. I tried on probably 30 million (just a rough estimate), and they all made me look like I’d thrown on a shirt from a big & tall men’s shop. When I put on this dress at one of the three tailors I used, I nearly jumped up to hug the girl who brought it out…I couldn’t believe it actually fit. Yeah for tailor-made dresses!

PS: If you’re ever going to Hoi An, I’d definitely recommend Cloth Shop: Friendly at 14B Cua Dai St. or Cay Me (Tamarind Tree) at 2/6 Le Loi St. Not so much Y Anh at 99 Tran Hung Dao St. But that’s just me and my super-sleuthing 4H sewing skills talking.

Posted in *Vietnam, clothing, gratuitous photo | 7 Comments »

Cute Kid, Confusing Shirt

Thursday, August 16th, 2007

little kid on motorbike

The cutest kid showed up on my bus ride out of Hue. As we waited at a stop, he bounded out from behind some shops and stood looking up into the bus windows. He was clad in a sun-protecting khaki hat, pants, and a face mask (pretty common on the streets in Asia). Oh, yeah…he also had on an aqua blue tank top with a little giraffe; the message on it said, “America — We combine the best of function and fashion.”

As I searched for my camera, he gave me a huge wave before hopping on the motorbike with his mom. After they sped off, I kept thinking of the tank-top slogan. So weird. But, you know, I guess we just might…maybe I should change my blog description to “Traveling solo for a year, Jayna Rust looks at how America’s function and fashion is (and isn’t) influencing the world she sees.” Nah…

Posted in *Vietnam, American living, clothing | 2 Comments »

Lost in T-ranslation

Wednesday, August 15th, 2007

t-shirt

“Speak not what your country has done to you but what you have done to your country.”

This t-shirt for sale in a shop across from my guesthouse is either:
a) what happens when JFK is translated into a language then translated back to English
b) the product of a local t-shirt maker making a political statement

Posted in *Vietnam, clothing, government | No Comments »

Hush, Little Bebe

Thursday, August 9th, 2007

girl in Halong Bay

While in Halong Bay this week, an adorable young girl rowed up alongside our junk (boat) and began sing-songedly yelling out, “Oranges? You want to buy some oranges?” I have to admit I was a little tempted. There was little snack food on the boat and fresh fruit sounded nice; I also felt a bit bad that such a small being was moving around such a big load.

A few of the other riders went down to investigate the produce. As I watched them go down toward her rowboat, I noticed her pink tank top. Her crisp Bebe shirt and clean green plaid button-up were evidence that she probably does fairly well selling the fruit fares.

I watched as the French man on our boat bought a bunch of bananas from her. The American guy who had also went down decided not to buy any oranges. When he turned back toward the ladder, she started yelling out, “Why?” As he ascended to join the rest of us, she whined furiously: “Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?” Paddling around the perimeter of the boat near the rear, she didn’t even try to convince the rest of us to buy any of the produce but just kept yelling toward the one American guy “Why?”

I began to think her and her family hadn’t afforded the Bebe shirt because of her young puppy-dog eyes but instead because possible customers just wanted to shut up her insistent whining.

Yeah, with all the whining, I’d have to say she didn’t look so adorable any more.

Posted in *Vietnam, clothing | 2 Comments »

Oh, Behave!

Tuesday, July 24th, 2007

I forgot to post the photo [click it to enlarge] of this sign I took at one of the temples (Wat Phrathat) in Chiang Mai. It’s a Do and Don’t list in Thai and English with some awesome illustrations. I’m wondering how many foreigners (probably a few Americans at some point) didn’t follow the good-manners list and created the need for it.

I have to say I was pretty disappointed when I saw it. I mean I was really hoping to wear my “hot pants” next time I went to a temple.

Posted in *Thailand, clothing, media, religion | No Comments »

Hey, Baby

Wednesday, June 27th, 2007

My sister and I visited the welfare agency that worked with the American adoption agency through which we came to the US. Now the Korean agency has an in-house hospital where babies are cared for until they reach a month and then are placed in their adoptive homes or a foster home.

This full-head-of-hair baby was sporting a onesie that I believe all the others were wearing as well…a little “Disney Babies” one. He/she was SO cute wearing the little American cartoon characters!

All throughout the agency was evidence of our two countries’ ties through children…from the volunteers in the nursery helping care for the babies to the photos of adoptive children when in foster care and later when in their adopted American homes. (But just so you know the agency does try to place them with Korean families first, so only about half are sent to the US or Australia)

Posted in *South Korea, being Asian-American, clothing, media | 3 Comments »

Sock It to You

Monday, June 25th, 2007

Socks and sandals are something I haven’t done since I wore Umbro shorts and had the black massaging Adidas sandals that I threw on after middle school basketball practice.

Wearing the two (socks and sandals, that is) together is now quite upper Midwest, and so I couldn’t believe I found myself doing it again. Yet, with the temple’s standard of wearing socks in the actual temple and the fact that I’d only brought flip-flops, I really had no choice but to look like a dad from a Great Lake State.

Posted in *South Korea, clothing, religion | No Comments »

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