It’s been a year since we’ve talked, and I’ve missed you dearly.

What happened? Long story short, I quit my job, my home, my old life, and within three whirlwind weeks, I divested myself of most of my worldly possessions, packed up two carry on bags and headed out to see the world.

Life on the road was lovely and unforgettable. I took French lessons in the heart of Paris. I did an afternoon tea taste-off in Hong Kong. I met fascinating people all over the world. I was blessed with inspiration, from the haute art exhibitions at the Venice Bienniale to the street grafitti in Berlin. But while living on the road was lovely - and it broadened my worldview & my perspective of what fashion can be - despite best intentions, I’ve been horribly remiss about keeping up with you. My sincere apologies for going missing in action without any warning. It won’t happen again.

The silver lining on the cloud is that being away gifted me the perspective to give Omiru more focus. My goal from the start with Omiru was to make style more accessible - to provide inspiration that’s achievable and that reflects how people like you & me actually dress.

My “aha” moment came to me while I was on the road. I realized that while I missed having my full closet with me, I really didn’t miss it *that* much, and that I could dress myself just as well with only the clothes in my two carry on bags.

This idea inspired me to revive & refocus Omiru on our most popular feature - our foundation wardrobe series - where we first edited down the best of the season into a capsule wardrobe, then showed how to mix and match these pieces into a variety of layered looks.

I’m pleased to announce that tomorrow, Omiru is officially back, loaded with a fresh capsule wardrobe for the new year. The January 2012 capsule collection will show you exactly what you need to update your closet to stay on point this season. Tomorrow’s post will introduce the 16 key items you’ll want to have this month, and subsequent posts will show you how to take those 16 easy pieces and create a month’s worth of fresh looks.

It feels great to be home, and to be back with you. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow.

Hi everyone,

The holiday season may be over, but the travel schedule continues.  For the next two weeks, I’ll working out of London and Paris.  

While I’m on the road, expect (fewer) posts on broader trends, especially those inspired by the sophisticated style of these chic capitals.  

It’s also quite literally freezing out there, so there’s good news for all of you in chillier climates than my native California - I’m likely to return with even more inventive ideas for looking cool while still staying warm!

Hi everyone,

Ready or not, Christmas is upon us.  We’re packing up for the holidays, returning for a brand new year of fashion and style on Wednesday, January 6. 

While we’re looking forward to the New Year, it’s time to start thinking about New Year’s Resolutions.  Personally, I’m resolving to do a wholesale closet cleaning to refresh my wardrobe.  Invest in new, classic-with-a-twist basics.  And push my personal style boundaries to mix things up a bit.  Who knows what I’ll try wearing this year? 

Do you have any New Year’s Resolutions that you’d like to share? 

Happy Thanksgiving - and the shopping start to the holiday season.  We’re taking a few days off to relax, eat way too much, spend time with family and friends…and, of course, do some Black Friday shopping.

In the meantime, we wanted to share with you a few things we’re thankful for.  We don’t step out of the fashion world very often on Omiru, but we’re venturing off the beaten path to share a few of our favorite things from the worlds of film and design. Hope you get some ideas for your Christmas shopping list.

We’ll be back on Monday, November 30.  See you then!

Happy Holidays!
Trisha and the Omiru Team

Pictured, from top:
500 Days of Summer | $18.99 (preorder) at Amazon
What can we say about this inventive romcom?  We love its completely relatable plotline, but we also adore Zooey Deschanel’s wardrobe.

Nature Exploration Agate Notebook | $13.50 at Oh Joy
Collect your thoughts in a notebook beautiful enough to be worthy of them.  Isn’t this design gorgeous?

Keep Calm and Carry On Poster | $29.51 at Keep Calm Gallery
In times of turmoil (and economic distress), sometimes all we need to do is keep calm and carry on.  Keep this on your wall as a reminder.

For the next couple of weeks, we’re going to be doing things a little differently around here. We’re packing our bags for a whirlwind trip to China and Japan, resuming our normal schedule on Wednesday, November 11.

Our regular fashion tips & tricks will be on hiatus, but we’ll be bringing you inspirations and influences from Asia to whet your style appetite.  As we’ll be on the road, expect a less regular posting schedule - but also expect some fun, fresh styles, along with tips for how to translate these inspirations into your own wardrobe.

Our favorite clothing swap parties are those that make you feel like you’re shopping in your favorite boutique.  You have your clothes well organized, music on the stereo, and drinks flowing (though, skip the red wine, lest it stain the clothes).  How do you throw a great swap party?  We have five tips - in video form - from our guest appearance on Blogher’s latest episode of The Juice.  

Click this link to check out our Five Tips for Making Swap Parties Work for You.

Happy Holidays!  Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and (in a few short days) Happy New Year. 

Thanks to wonderful readers like you, 2008 was a great year.  Over and over, we heard stories about how you grew more confident with your fashion choices.  How you tried on new styles (and new colors) that you didn’t think would work—but did!  How your evolving sense of style is changing your life for the better. 

Every time we hear one of these stories, it affirms what we’re doing here at Omiru.  So–thank you for sharing, and keep the stories coming!

2008 also welcomed a lot of new faces to the Omiru community, in part thanks to nods from Time Magazine and the Wall Street Journal.  (On a related note, thanks for your continued support through some of these growing pains.  We’ve had more outages lately, and we just completed a software upgrade this morning to address this–and speed up the load time of our pages.  We’re also looking to make some more back end tweaks to make Omiru even better for 2009 and beyond.)

What’s next?  We’re taking a short vacation, returning bright and early (and full of fresh style inspiration) on Monday, January 5. 

In the meantime, we want to know what’s on your mind for 2009.  As for us, we’re looking to (1) discover new designers and stores to share with you, (2) try on even more new trends, styles, and colors (so we can share what works and what doesn’t), and (3) make it easier for you to find the style information you’re looking for on Omiru.

Have any New Year’s Resolutions to share?

"Fashion-school graduate Trisha Okubo started Omiru in 2005 to deliver what she calls "real style for real people."  Omiru’s writers answer readers’ questions — including one recently on what to wear to a creative-industry job interview — with tips and examples of garments and accessories from major retailers, such as Banana Republic, Gap and Forever 21. Keeping with Ms. Okubo’s mission of democratizing style, most pieces spotlighted on the site cost less than $100…Readers weary of unrealistic fashion advice in magazines will welcome tips more focused on their lives — looking work-appropriate is a frequent topic — and budgets."

Welcome to Omiru, where you’ll find inspiration and advice that’s as stylish as it is practical.  Here’s a sampling of our favorite posts to get you started:

Menswear:
Key Menswear Looks for Fall 2008
Men’s Q&A: What to Wear to Interview for a Creative Job
Shopping Guide: Four Essential Bags for Men
Men’s Trend Alert: The Shawl Collar Sweater
Men’s Q&A: How to Transition Your Style from Work to a Night Out
Where to Find Affordable Skinny Suits
What’s the Ideal Shirt Length for a Man?
How to Determine the Quality of a Suit
How to Build a Casual Preppy Wardrobe

Want more?  See everything we have to offer in our archives.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Wishing you safe travels, quality time with family and friends, and copious quantities of yummy food.  And for those of you who dare to shop Black Friday, best of luck in snagging those deals.

As for us, we’ll be taking a mini-break for the Thanksgiving holiday, but we’ll be back with more fashion inspiration bright and early next Monday morning.

Until then, we’re giving thanks for you!  Thank you for your insightful comments.  Thank you for your helpful advice.  And thank you for your continued support of Omiru–it’s been nothing short of extraordinary.  Three cheers for you!