I ushered the marvelous runway show of Eshi Otawara’s new collection on Saturday – an extraordinarily simple task richly rewarded with one of her smokey tux gowns that I wore as I greeted people. After the show, I went to her shop and dithered forever trying to decide what to purchase because I wanted so many. One purchase that I did not dither over was the fantastical Green Blossoms, the outfit I am wearing here…and yes, it is completely different.

Now, if Gidge had not specified silver, I could have counted this for wild and futuristic. The neon colors just pulse with energy, partcularly with the strong black lines that make your eyes travel vertically. The overskirt of delicate cherry blossoms is an inspired juxtaposition – futuristic neon abstraction underlying traditional pastel realism. The same futurist-traditionalist counterpoint is shown with the traditional hat shape and the wildly untraditional pattern and color.

Similarly the skin, included in the box, takes a traditional makeup style and hurls it far into the future with the lime and lemon neon colors. The shoulder and collar pieces similarly could come from samurai tradition or from imagined cyborgs of the future. Indidentally, the neckpiece was used in the silver Dress Me Up challenge to give it the futuristic touch it needed.

Laces trail down the back from the collar. Eshi also designed hair styles to go perfectly with this outfit, but i chose to wear something less stylized, softening the look a bit.

This outfit is a huge change from my usual, but the intellect and imagination that lay behind its creation captivated me.

And…as a bonus for those who don’t follow links, here’s the photo Codie shot of the smokey tuc dress at the store.

****STYLE NOTES******

• Poses:  Annah
• Skin: Eshi Otawara Porcelain Green
• Eyes: IC-Eyes Soulful Hazel
• Lashes: CyberNetic
• Hair: Gritty Kitty Pixie
• Pants Outfit: Green Blossoms by Eshi Otawara
• Shoes: LiNe Apachi Boot Green (bottom only)