Hey - I hope everyone’s new year is off to a great start! I’m sort of glad the holidays are over…because New York is best when it’s just a normal weekday…that’s when the real New Yorkers are out on the street. Here are some new streetstyle photos I shot…xx eddie

Well how do you like that? Hard to believe that another year has flown by and here I am sitting by the fire (ok, radiator) listening to Wham!’s “Last Christmas”. It seems like just yesterday when I was going to the beach with friends and having a rooftop BBQ. Now it’s freezing out…who woulda thunk?? I want to send a sincere “THANK YOU” out to all Stylesightings readers - especially those of you who took the time to leave comments this year. I love shooting street fashion photos and posting them here…and I enjoy looking at other street fashion sites and magazines…so to read your comments and feedback and see that many of you share my enthusiasm and interests…that’s just the best. I’m taking a little blogging break now but will return on January 5th. I’ve begun making plans for 2009 - some cool stuff coming up that I think you will like. For now, I wish you all Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year! I’m leaving you with a load of new street fashion photos from my recent Tokyo trip. Also, here’s my Tokyo “best of” list below…xxxooo eddie

Best areas for cute street fashion sightings: Harajuku (Omotesando and Takeshita-dori) and Daikanyama
Best Japanese street style magazine: Street magazine (The current issue features photos of attendees and off-duty models during the last New York collections - a bit strange to flip through a magazine in Japan and come across full-page photos of friends!)
Best record stores: Bonjour Records (Daikanyama), Reco-fan and HMV (both in Shibuya)
Best urban maze masquerading as a train station: Shinjuku Station
Best inexpensive hotel: Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku (don’t even think about staying anywhere else)
Cutest employees in the world: Kinji Used Clothing (Harajuku)
Best museum-quality vintage clothing shop: Banana Boat (Harajuku)…all dead stock Western wear - Levi’s, Western shirts, canvas sneakers, and cowboy boots…as if a general store from Texas circa-1978 had been time warped to present-day Tokyo, fixtures and all.
Best don’t-miss tourist experience: out on the roof of the Sky Deck at Tokyo City View (Roppongi Hills)
Best department store: Isetan (Shinjuku)…this is the store Tyler Brulee called “maybe the best all-in-one shopping experience in the world”…the basement food hall has to be seen to be believed.
Most prevalent street fashion trends: chunky knits of all sorts including shawls, sweaters, and knit hats…fur…wide-legged but not baggy pants and shorts…suspenders…shearling pieces and accents…doll and Lolita looks…French-inspired looks including berets and Breton striped shirts and scarves…hip-hop looks.
Best food experience: the stalls in Piss Alley…don’t let the name scare you off…the mixture of neon and steam and people darting in and out in this small area was reportedly Ridley Scott’s main inspiration for the set design and look of Blade Runner. Due to be torn down in 2009, so hurry.
Best nightlife experience: La Jetee…good luck finding this one…I’d be happy to draw you a map but I’m not sure it would even help.
Best and coolest fashion influence that doesn’t fit into any of my categories here: Brigitte Bardot…specifically the young Bardot…her teen years during the mid/late 1950’s when she was doing little b&w comedies and slapstick films in France. I’m a massive Bardot fan and have seen most of her movies and this “French Lolita” look - this highly specific early Bardot look - was immediately apparent as I was walking around and shooting photos. Check out my favorite early Bardot film, That Naughty Girl if you want to explore this look and influence. (It’s recently been released on DVD for the first time in the US and Netflix has it.) Bardot is one of the main style icons for Tokyo’s hime gyaru or “doll gals”.