TIBETAN STREET STYLE

Like most women who idly trowel the internet, I'm a sucker for street style. Plus, my post about our Korean friend's unique fashion got me thinking about the other rare birds I've spotted in places like Portland, Shanghai, or Ouagadougou. I encountered this lovely lady sipping milk tea and catching up with her friends at a Buddhist nunnery one autumn afternoon in Lhasa, Tibet. When I picked up my camera, she immediately assumed this regal pose, as if having her photo taken by a stranger was the most natural thing in the world. I imagine one's posture has to be good to wear such heavy hair accessories.

MOTHER OF 20

Mother's Day always reminds me of Lillian, a woman I met in Costa Rica who has borne 20 children. Despite having given birth almost every year for more than two decades, this tough little lady still cooks over an antique wood stove and can make a mean gallo pinto. (In case you were wondering, the Guinness Record for the most children is 69, birthed by a Russian peasant in the 1700s.) And I thought having one sounded difficult.

KOREAN STREET STYLE

Fashion in Korea typically includes at least three of the following elements: glitter, ruffles, crochet, spiky leather heels that look like they belong on a dominatrix. And that’s just among young people—women over 40 uniformly favor animal prints, polyester, and plastic visors that shield the face like a welding mask.

The exception to the rule is Mrs. Shim, who has a style that’s uniquely her own and the confidence to pull it off. She sews a lot of her own clothes using natural, hand-dyed fabrics. On this particular day she was decked out from head to toe in handmade clothes, but often she’ll combine one piece, like a long skirt, with a leather bomber jacket and a Louis Vuitton purse (Koreans love them some luxury handbags). She doesn’t look like anyone else in Busan, and I think that’s fantastic.