blogpost – Shoes & Sashimi

Black & Tan

Published on August 15, 2016August 13, 2016 by Lauren Nakagawa45 Comments

Fall is my favorite season and it’s just around the corner, so I’m happily adding transition pieces into my closet such as this super soft “camel” jacket from Vici. I love their affordable pieces and this is just one of the many that I picked from their online store (2 stores in Walnut Creek and Newport Beach.)

In LA, I got away with wearing the “business casual” look all the time with shorts and a moto jacket and I’m happily wearing it now here in the Bay Area. My advice: elevate your basics with fun pieces like this and you’ll have a lot more range in your wardrobe that’ll take you from Summer to Fall without breaking the bank!

Thanks for reading everyone, I wish you a great week.

*All photos shot by Rachel Radcliffe, Piedmont CA

Shop more from Vici here

Similar Jackets found here & here (Both under $80)

Rebecca Minkoff Satchel (exact bag here)

Shoes: M.Gemi Stellatos

Tis the Season

Published on December 23, 2015July 11, 2016 by Lauren Nakagawa13 Comments

Tis the season for holiday looks, so I teamed up with The Glam App (see previous post) and Piedmont photographer Julie Reichle to shoot something extra special. I’m not big on color to be honest, I love my neutrals and as a curveball, I’m actually wearing a bodysuit under an asymmetrical skirt. Hope you enjoy these photos, it’s great to shoot in my hometown!

To all my readers near and far, from London to Tokyo, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and holiday season. Thank you for taking the time to read and keep up with me whether it’s here or on Instagram. Your patience and kind comments throughout the year has been encouraging and without them I wouldn’t be able to do half the things this blog and Instagram has brought me these past few months. Most of you I’ve never met, but I feel like you’ve been overwhelmingly supportive more than people I know personally.

So cheers to a fast approaching end of the year, new brand partnerships, new content, and new adventures. But most of all, cheers to you guys for being supportive, enthusiastic, and hopping along with me as I embark on some really cool projects. Can’t wait for you to see.

~Lauren

Shot by Julie Reichle

Makeup by Emily Sims for The Glam App

Bodysuit: Lulus

Skirt: Blq Basiq

Shoes: Lulus

Bag: Baggu

Necklace: Mirina Collections “Promo Code shoes20” for 20% off yours

Staying Local with April May Jewelry

Published on November 10, 2015July 11, 2016 by Lauren Nakagawa9 Comments

Hi all, hope your week is off to a good start. I recently sat down for coffee with local jewelry designer April May in Oakland, CA after I found her metal pieces on Instagram. Be sure to follow her @Aprilmayjewelry :D It’s fun to meet cool people in your neighborhood and April is just that. She makes all her pieces by hand and you can definitely check her booths out if you’re ever planning on going to SF’s Treasure Island Flea Market.

If you’ve been seeing my Instagram feed, you’d see that I wore April’s bangles a lot around town, I don’t really think I took them off for the most part mainly because they’re just so easy to wear. And you can too, just enter our contest at the bottom of the page and April will send you your own necklace and bangles to wear about :) Remember, the more ways you enter the better luck you’ll have.

Contest runs for one week and will be notified by email at random.

Good luck and thanks for reading!

Lauren

FullSizeRender 36 — April’s best seller’s which you can win: Enter with the link at the bottom of this page.

Flatlay with InStyle, Sam Edelman, and April May.

Took my bangles to coffee at Maiden Lane’s Iron Horse Coffee Bar, they make a mean dirty chai.

Current favorites in my bathroom: Hairpins and a fun ring. All I need is some polish by Butter London. — Current favorites in my bathroom: April’s handmade hairpins and her fun ring. All I need is some polish by Butter London.

Contest: Enter Here

That’s A Wrap

Published on November 5, 2015July 11, 2016 by Lauren Nakagawa4 Comments

It’s been a while, hope you’re all well and thank you for being patient as I’ve been a little behind lately here. However you can always find me on Instagram to see what I’m up to each day! I’m happy to finally release two of my projects that I’ve been Department Head on, a commercial for Nongshim USA featuring Ki Hong Lee (The Maze Runner franchise) shot in Los Angeles and the November Issue of Diablo Magazine on stands currently, shot in Oakland, CA.

Fun Fact: It took 14hours to shoot this 30 second commercial in the Hollywood Hills. As per usual, I was the only female on an all male film crew.

Ki Hong Lee for Nongshim USA: Watch the commercial here >> Full Commercial

Fun Fact: Lena Ahn is wearing a Hye Park & Lune Baseball Tee. Ki Hong is wearing Marc Jacobs.

And that’s a wrap. Hope you enjoyed, this specifically airs overseas on all networks in Seoul and Hong Kong, however you can watch it on Youtube of course. >> Full Commercial

Soon after I got back from LA, Diablo Magazine called to have me style their November Issue and I happily signed on because it marks my first editorial shoot in the Bay Area. The Food and Wine Issue is an important one because let’s be honest, I love to eat and what’s most fitting is that we shot the whole thing in Oakland, just minutes away from where I grew up. Be sure to pick up a copy, on news stands, grocery stores, and Barnes and Noble in Northern CA. Cheers!

Behind the Scenes with Model Hannah Tokuno for Stars Management. Fun Fact: Hannah is wearing an Ulla Johnson dress, pulled from local boutique Shop McMullen.

We shot this set at Pican Restaurant in Oakland. Photographer: Norma Cordova

Last Look: Hannah wearing BCBGeneration. — Hannah wearing BCBGeneration.

Final Edit: Hannah wearing an Ulla Johnson dress and Cate & Chloe layered necklace (my own.)

As always, thanks for reading and keeping pace with me.

You can always find me on Instagram for daily snaps. @shoes_and_sashimi

Playing Catch Up

Published on October 16, 2015July 11, 2016 by Lauren Nakagawa15 Comments

Hi All,

I’ve been caught up lately which may explain the lag in blogging, however it’s been filled with all good things that have needed my full attention. One of them wrapping a successful editorial shoot for Diablo Magazine, I styled their November Issue on news stands in a week or so. You may have seen a glimpse of BTS on Instagram, and I will be posting the full story when it comes out. It’s good to be back in the game, especially shooting in the Bay Area. With that, revamping my credits list and styling portfolio has taken much of my focus. I’m not a newbie when it comes to shopping my portfolio around to agencies, and I’m now reminded again how hard it is to become represented, but if it’s one thing I’m good at it’s being stubborn and persistent. LA is a slaughterhouse when it comes to agencies, it seems SF is no different for whatever reason…send good jujus please :D

What else..oh, I turned 29…and I was so consumed with styling the editorial 48hrs before my birthday that I almost did indeed forget that I was turning a year older. I had an amazing dinner at The Progress in SF thanks to @Twelfthknight with our two friends, a lovely double date with good food, drinks, and laughter is all this girl needs :) Thank you again.

If you’ve been seeing on Instagram lately, @Twelfthknight and I took the fur baby to Pacifica last weekend for a day trip to find some relaxing ocean air. If you’ve never been it’s a really foggy, but quaint beach town north of the Peninsula. We came, we saw, and we ate a ridiculously good Italian sandwich from Colombos Delicatessen. You’d also think I’d wear a more beach friendly outfit than this crop top and high waisted shorts number, but hey, whatchya gonna do. NorCal beach towns are quite different than SoCal beach towns and my growing monochrome wardrobe is still getting acclimated for these times :D

Thanks for reading and catching up with me. I look forward to sharing behind the scenes photos of my recent shoots when I get permission, including the commercial with you soon.

~ Lauren

Instagram x Twitter

What I Wore:

Crop Top: Banana Republic

Shorts: FInders Keepers the Label

Gladiators: Loeffler Randall

Sunnies: Lulu’s

All outfit photos taken by @Twelfthknight

Easy Breezy: The Culotte Trend

Published on September 9, 2015July 11, 2016 by Lauren Nakagawa7 Comments

I feel like the culottes get a lot of negative press. Why? Because a lot of people are confused by them. Culottes can’t make up their mind if they’re pants or a skirt (depending on the fabric) and the length is always tricky depending on body type. Believe it or not, culottes were first worn by men during the Middle Ages. Flash forward to current day, and they’re some what of the “it” trend, who knew :D

I was approached by eShakti to try their custom services recently and they created these amazingly tailored culottes for me. If you aren’t familiar with eShakti, they are an online retailer who has an array of women’s clothes in all sizes. The neat thing is that eShakti will custom tailor your order to your specific measurements! Fit is everything, I’m a firm believer that you can have the best clothes and if they don’t fit right they’re worth near to nothing. Does anyone agree with me?

In an attempt to hold onto the last bit of Summer here in the Bay Area, I paired my culottes with a cropped top by Lulus. I love that the waist of these pants offer me some room but are able to be high enough to wear tops like these. Flat sandals such as my Loeffler Randall gladiators offer a casual look. However, I switched into these heels by Chinese Laundry to add just enough height and extension to the pant leg. Either or, they look good and at 5’3 I’m proof that you can wear these pants without fear!

Thank you to eShakti, be sure to follow them on Instagram :) And for my readers, I’m giving you my special promo code “Shoesandsashimi” to get 10% OFF when you shop at eShakti – valid for unlimited use from 09/08/2015 – 10/08/2015.

Happy shopping everyone, and as always thanks for reading!

Lauren

Proof you can wear culottes with flats, these sandals are from Loeffler Randall.

Heels with culottes give you a more elongated leg.

Crop top by Lulu's. — Crop top by Lulu’s.

Walk it out. These pants have the best swoosh action

FullSizeRender 17 — Best thing about these pants: Pockets. They run deep.

Promo Code: “Shoesandsashimi” to get 10% OFF

What I Wore:

Culottes: eShakti

Top: Lulus

Gladiators: Loeffler Randall

Heels: Chinese Laundry

Aviators: Ray Ban

Photos by @Twelfthknight

Aloha! Hawaii Part I

Published on September 2, 2015September 1, 2015 by Lauren Nakagawa9 Comments

Aloha everyone :D I’m back from Hawaii now and am already missing the views and crystal blue waters. @Twelfthknight and I were on the island of Oahu to attend the wedding of his friends Jerry and Gloria Wu. It was a lovely ceremony at the Hale Koa Resort on Waikiki, which is also where we stayed. It’s been years since I’ve been back to Hawaii, and this trip would be @Twelfthknight‘s and I’s first time traveling together. We had such a quiet relaxing time from start to finish even with the abnormally punishing humidity. We’re not much for the crazy-fast paced-pack everything in-types, we like to eat and take our time, relax, and just be present, not just on vacation but also in general. Now that we’re back, I can honestly say that we needed more time away, so hopefully we can island hop on our next trip out there.

For those of you following along on Instagram, you may have seen a few of these photos already. But I must thank you all because when I was in Hawaii I hit over 1,000 followers, yay! Enjoy the first part of our Hawaii trip, Part II will be posted next week :D

Aloha and Mahalo,

Lauren