The Last Hours of September

It is about half past eight post meridiem at the moment, at least here in Germany. I’ve been 20 for eleven days now and I can’t really tell a difference to being 19 but maybe this will change sooner or later (presumably not). September is a great month, not only because of my birthday that was not to spectacular this year. I pretty much fed on chocolate dough cheese cake for some days as my only visitor (the Satyr, everybody else were already engaged elsewhere.) sadly had to go before the cake came out of the oven. I got a spring form from my great-aunt that I could use very well (the other presents included amber studs with silver suns and shoe cleaning equipment. Oh, and socks. The socks are essential.). ^^

The orientation days at university are starting next Tuesday and I’ve got to admit that I am pretty nervous – it will be like a new school. Only with more specialisation. I am also really excited about moving to Marburg, even though that will be not until December. Pleasant anticipation is something wonderful.

My Lolita Work in Progress is going not perfectly fast but quite well, at the moment I am getting around linking the pieces of my test dress. ^^

I also hope that I’ll be able to finish my part of the Halloween Swap on Natron & Soda this weekend – deadline is on Tuesday.

That’s all, I suppose, with my little update on the daily matters. Next time I’ll post something concerning the progress of my test dress.

See you soon,

Bonnie

Moving Pictures

After I posted a list of in-my-opinion loliable music it is only fair to post a list of film suggestions as well, isn’t it? Without long explanations this time… ^^

1. Ballet Shoes - I recommend the book, as well and the music is lovely.
2. Sleepy Hollow – Something for the Gothic Lolitas.
3. Disney Princesses – All of them, depending on what you want. Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty are the most “princess-like” and romantic ones while The Beauty and the Beast is a little more toned down (my personal favourite, by the way) and Snow White simply has that overly sweet vintage touch. Arielle is for those who can’t live without splashing around in the bath tub all day while Jasmine from Aladdin is the most daring of the “crew” (wiseacre knowledge: Don’t mind the pink merchandise, look at the dresses. Most of them are in a shade of blue resulting from the fact that from Victorian times to approximate the 1950 light blue was a girl’s and baby pink a boy’s colour.).
4. Breakfast at Tiffany’s - It is just so girly. Have a movie night! With marshmallows and hot chocolate. And don’t forget to troll along Moon River.
5. Ella Enchanted – Fairytale again with nice hints and references to modern times (it reminded me of Shrek, at least a little bit).
6. Amélie – it’s obvious, isn’t it? There is a little bit of a fairy tale in the life of every one of us – you just have to see it.
7. Gone with the Wind – Look at the dresses! And at Rhett Butler – that’s the kind of (1930s) bad boy your grandmothers fell for. ;)
8. Tinkerbell – Disney cuteness. I just love the tinker fairies.
9. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Yes, a based on. But a nice one with fabulous design.
10. Anne of Green Gables (well, that’s a mini series, but anyway) – The everyday fairytale, again.

If you wonder why there are no cinematographic adaptions of Alice in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, A Little Princess or other really adorable, loliable, Victorian children’s books listed above: The most of them – excuse my french – are a shame for their eponymous novels (“Movies: Ruining the books since 1920.”). I will not say anything more about them (oh, they are very nice to look at indeed, but not when it comes to any comparison with the novels), I’d get into a very uncomfortable rage otherwise that I would regret very soon. Sorry.

Playing Cendrillon

No, not really. But I’m tidying up my room at the moment as well as clearing out all the clutter that has been piled up here over the days, months and years. I really don’t like the whole procedure and I also think, that some tidy up tips for Lolitas could be useful (you may already know each point, but anyway):

• First of all: Get your hair out-of-the-way, Rapunzel! There is nothing more disturbing than long, wavy strands of golden hair that fall into your sight and have to be drawn back every 30 seconds. No need for something complicated like a Marie Antoinette hairdo – I personally am fine with a tied back pony tail or braid or even a ballet bun together with an Alice band for the fringe (that I don’t really have).
• Get yourself a nice, large pot of tea and put it somewhere you have already cleaned up at. Otherwise you’d have to move the tray all the time from here to there and so on. Drinking is very important (but I’ll bet you already knew that) and I am consciously suggesting tea. Lemonades are too sweet and you could get into a sugar rush-like state. With coffee it is nearly the same, just with a caffeine high. An alternative might be water (if preferred with a splash of lemon juice).
• The same applies to food, but here I’d take something sweet contrary to the tea that would be a black one in my case. Something like a piece of cake would be nice, pastry fork after pastry fork. Or chocolates – one for ten things you throw away. Make it a little reward game and switch to sandwiches when it becomes later at day. It’s just more fashionable ;).
• Forget dressing up. It is just not sensible. Wear trousers and a jumper or a t-shirt (aka. “cutsew” with Lolitas) with as nice a print you want, but keep it handy. Belts are a nice accessory for cleaning. No, not for the sake of something decorative but for dusters and the like. I know, this sounds really prosaic and absolutely not Lolita, but it’s reasonable. Sorry.
• Here something more poetic: Make little treasure chests. If you find an empty casket, fill it with things you don’t really need but want to keep, though. They are like little time capsules that you may open from time to time (or at your next tidy-up session) and can hold things like a small mortar, left over from an old chemists set, the stump of a pencil, tuppence from 1971, some lace, a bit of sealing wax, your birth bracelet, a small unpolished garnet, a hair clip, a black dice, a polymer clay croissant, a shard, a little bell, a sachet of fair trade sugar, a pearly marble and your bronze German Ballroom Dancing emblem.
  

  And it is not even full yet...

• The right music is very important. I’d rather suggest something faster as slow music is perfect to sit down and get sleepy while flipping through those old magazines that may contain something worth keeping… Something with a nice rhythm that makes your feet dance (e.g. Mika or some picture soundtracks like Hairspray) is pretty good for cleaning up but you might even go for something angry. To tidy up your room while being furious is perfect to get your adrenaline level down!
• Don’t hit yourself in the face (at the side of the nose, right at the bone’s beginning, to be exact) with your vacuum cleaner’s plug-on-a-cable. It hurts.
• If you are sick of tidying your stuff, take the chance and use it! Sew off the fabrics in tiny projects (e.g. yuletide presents – it’s coming up…), hang up self-drawn pictures, photographs and prints (with nice frames) and decorate your chambers with all the whimsical stuff you find.
• And last, but surely not least, my most important advice: Don’t start writing a blog entry while cleaning and tidying up! You won’t get anything done… (no, I’m already finished ^^).

I’ll fetch me a sandwich, if you’ll excuse me…

Good-bye!

Bonnie

Hollis, sweet Hollis…

So this is him. Or her. I’m not quite sure about that.

Some facts about Hollis:

• Celebrates birthday on September 13th.
• Height: 29 cm / 11,42 “
• Loves “Gentleman’s Toffee” tea, served in a Rosenthal cup.
• Enjoys the chimes of the gramophone records of Coppelius very much.
  
• Appreciates black-and-white pictures from the “good old days”.

Oh bear! How I do love you!

(Quite a short entry, I know. I’ll be better next time.)

Strike the Right Notes

This is something I pondered over for really a while – half a year? Maybe more.

What music is a Lolita supposed to listen to? Are there any “real”, “proper” bands or soloists? Is a Lolita forced into a liking of J-rock or J-pop or even Visual Kei and, if they are quite into a more classical lifestyle, Beethoven and Mozart?

I really don’t want to affront anyone who likes japanese music – I can’t stand it. That may sound rude, but I simply dislike the language and the voices as well as the very over-the-top squeaky instrumental stuff and the beats. Sorry.

So, what may adequate bands, artists and pieces of music in my humble opinion be, then?

I’ll tell you 5 each of my preferred Lolita-And-Faerie serenaders and songs. (Attempted) Explanatory statements included ^^.

Faerie Chimes

1. Loreena McKennitt – One of my all time favourites. I practically grew up to her music and I love everything about her: The slightly Pre-Raphaelite look, the fluttering black clothing, the choice of instruments and that otherworldly voice. If I had to name an idol for me as a singer it would definitely her. My favourite songs amongst others of hers are The Mummer’s Dance, All Souls Night and the theme of the Disney picture Tinkerbell.
2. Omnia – Be a wild, pagan, leather-wood-and-bones fairy? Run naked through the woods? Come! Join us! For some pagan folk. I’ve seen them twice this far and each time it was stunning. The whole party is grand but especially Sic has a weird kind of charisma and seems like an eerie, dark elf herald or jester, just escaped from Annwyn or something comparable. Go and see them when you get the chance to. And go dressed in your best leaf dresses and wildberry crowns for you might get invited to dance until you die – and you would not want to look bad whilst that, would you?
3. Eluveitie – Even fairies can be angry. These occasions are what this music is for. Being a fairy does not mean to be pretty and nice and sparkling and wearing pastel colours all the time. Sometimes you just have to put on your bird’s skull helmet and your torn black frog’s skin cloak that make you look like a raven and go out to show folks that they can’t do everything to you. Uhm. Yes. You know. I especially like Inis Mona with all the connotations to druids and maybe otherworldly concerns. As well as Uis Elveti and Slanias Song that don’t really tell of any magic but a quite angry love to one’s homeland (without being alarming).
4. Danny Elfman – Predestined trough his name again represents a somewhat macabre side of fairyhood but also a very cheerful and whimsical one. The Ice Dance (from Edward Scissorhands) for example is more of the “classical” fairy style while This Is Halloween (from Nightmare before Christmas) can definitely be classified into the “whimsical and cheerful though being written in minor” section as well as the rather swinging Remains of that Day (from Corpse Bride – all by Tim Burton, I should be ashamed on that…)
5. Edvard Grieg – A man who named his home Troldhaugen (Norwegian for “troll hill”) has to be mentioned here. Furthermore there is Peer Gynt that is enough of a fairytale to appear here – Can’t you see the little fairies fluttering with their wings while the trolls are seizing the early light of day for the maintaining of their village in Morning Mood? Grieg looked a bit like a troll or leprechaun himself, by the way. Who knows…

Lolita Airs

1. Pjotr Iljitsch Tchaikowsky – One of THE artists to be heard by Lolitas, if you ask me. Especially the ballets – The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty – are perfect to complete the feeling of being a young lady in Victorian times (or Edwardian. Or even the golden 20s.) during tea time, learning how to dance a perfectly elegant Vienna Waltz or playing croquet with your fellow Lolitas.
2. Coppelius – The five gentlemen and their butler are, due to their band’s existence since 1803, their extraordinarily neat appearance and their choice of instruments one of the bands I would like to recommend most for gothic and, yes, classic Lolitas. I also want to direct your appreciated attention towards their excellent homepage and the cinematographical and musical records that you may find in the music room. Coppelius hilft!
3. Emilie Autumn – I was not really sure were to put her: faerie or Lolita. But now she ended up with Lolita, even if it’s said that she may not be mistaken for one. Her music is more punk than sweet Lolita, but I like her adaptions of tales and fairytales, parodies of society problems and her urgent desideratum to be a free, independent girl.
4. Queen – Yes, seriously! Especially Seaside Rendezvous and Killer Queen are quite suitable for sweet Lolita in my opinion.
5. Abney Park – Steampunk Lolita! These Airship Pirates‘ music is the perfect soundtrack for a game of card-throwing, the strolling about on an eerie old-fashioned carnival or the maiden flight of your very own airship. And if not – well, just enjoy the tunes while being dressed in Steampunk Lolita (there is way not enough of it).

Songs of Bliss, Memories and eerie Dreams

1. Everyday by Buddy Holly – I first heard that song in one of my favourite pictures: Big Fish. There is nothing more to say than that it has one of the most beautiful matters in all poetry: The growing of love. *sigh*
2. The Teddy Bears’ Picnic – For Hollis whom I have pretty much neglected during my last posts. I really can imagine all the teddy bears having a wonderful time with lots of cake and elder syrup and hide-and-seek…
3. So long, cruel World by Blanche – Eerie American gothic. Think of half-decayed Victorian wood mansions with little towers and iron fencing or dark streets in 19th century’s new york.
4. Singin’ in the Rain from the musical of the same name – Well, it is autumn so it will rain a great deal more than during the last months, at least in our latitudes. And what is more charming than a Lolita lilting this song while dancing through the streets in the rain?
5. On my Own from the musical “Les Misérables” – Who of us has not at least once dreamt of being with her (or his) Prince Charming, wandering under starlight through silent streets in perfect harmony, wouldn’t that be romantic? And how many of us had to face the disappointment that he already had a princess? Exactly.

Rose Hip Flower Fairy

Poem and Picture by Cicely Mary Barker

Cool dewy morning,
Blue sky at noon,
White mist at evening
And large yellow moon;

Blackberries juicy
For staining of lips;
And scarlet, O scarlet
The wild rose hips!

Gay as a gipsy
All autumn long,
Here on the hedge-top
This is my song.

I gathered some branches and twigs of rose hips yesterday. They are supposed to make some nice syrup, I really have to try to cook some.

10 Pleasures in September

1. Beech-Nuts. I went to collect some with my mother yesterday morning. They are difficult to open, but the taste is really worth it! But be careful: To high a dosage of raw beech-nuts can be toxic (and they taste even better roasted, anyway). My great-grandmother used to make biscuits out of them after the war.
2. Pushing Daisies. Romance to the top in pairing with eerie décor, with somewhat of an “Amélie” feeling to it. Not to forget the quite extraordinary story. The pie maker is just too handsome and sweet and I’ve got to admit that I kind of adore Olive, even if she is a little bit creepy. Oh, and the music is absolutely magnificent! I also like the fact that most of the actors don’t have the usual average Hollywood faces but always look somewhat peculiar.
3. Asian Rice Snacks. I got some for my birthday last Saturday with extra wasabi nuts (they were not included, sadly). They are matching the colours of the nature outside with all the rich orange and off-white (sheep!) and light browns.
4. The Sweet Chestnut body shimmer lotion (and the shower gel, too) by The Body Shop. It smells adorable and has such a cute design…
5. Garden of Shadows, a The Sims 2 & 3 community featuring lots of downloads that are more connected with the darker subcultures. It’s not only the great custom content (I’m especially thankful for the TS3 contents) that draws me there but also the social bulletin board with all those nice simmers. ^^
6. Red Wombat Tea Company pictures by Ursula Vernon. Absolutely stunning! I wish I could draw like that.
7. Glow-In-The-Dark Ceiling Stars. I used to have them when I was little and there are still some all over my bedroom. Sadly one won’t find any paper stars any more, only that plastic ones, but you know: If you can’t buy it, do it yourself. Coraline also had glow-in-the-dark stars on her pullover. Is there something like glowing wool?
8. Lolita Pictures from the days of yore. There are many articles about the change that Lolita has gone through during the last years at the moment. This may be distressing but also a great chance to have a look on all these old, beauteous designs and to let oneself be inspired by them. That’s one of the best things in home sewing. You don’t have to follow the trends when you can’t get other things. Just take a needle and thread and an idea…
9. Fingerless Gloves. The nearer real autumn is coming the more I am thinking about how to keep my hands warm when I am drawing outside or am collecting fallen leaves or am going for a walk and am not wanting to be wrapped up in wool. Without loosing my finger tips’ feeling, of course.
10. The Fragrance of Bonfires. Or of fire in general. The woody smell you just can’t get out of your hair, not even after four showers.

Intermezzo: Cute Games I

Tonight I stumbled across some cute games per a live journal community of lifestyle Lolitas (a fascinating topic I’ve concerned myself with a little bit during the last weeks, and I guess the post I found it in was from Kjesta who’s sadly not posting at the moment):

The graphics are pretty unique and very, very sweet, my favourite hitherto is Winterbells as I absolutely like the background music.

But it’s really late, I just wanted to share this with you and now I’ve got to curl up now in my faerie bed of spun clouds and woven dreams…

Sleep well!

(P.S.: No, I don’t know where that weird white box comes from and how to get rid of it.)

Back from the Middle Ages

I’ve been quite absent through the last days. But I can assure you that it has nothing to do with you, no, definitely not.

It is more to reason with the fact that I joined the festivities on the occasion of the beginning of autumn or, to be more specific, the Festival Mediaval.

I went there with Bambi and the Imp on Thursday, a day before the festival itself started, to set up camp and meet some acquaintances, the Satyr included.

On Friday we had to wait quite long to get our wristbands – they were green this year and I still wear mine together with the Castle Courtyard Festival one which is red – but finally came to enter the festival area with the markets, stages and the best Alsatian Tarte Flambee ever.

The first chamber orchestra to play were the gentlemen of Coppelius which were unspeakably brilliant in their show – they are striking up again in Frankfurt in December and I’m earnestly thinking about visiting this event. Thinking about it? Uhm…. sure. Le Comte Caspar altered the end of “Operation”, pretty a surprise for the auditorium, and “Lilienthal” was, together with “Spring doch” one of the most impressive pieces to be performed. And Bastille looked so young – I can hardly believe that he is more than two hundred years old… ^^

Right after Coppelius it was Rapalje‘s turn. For those who don’t know: Rapalje are a four-men folk band from the Netherlands with the most goodlooking-but-he-is-old-enough-to-be-my-father-I-fear piper I’ve seen so far. I missed their versions of the “Star of the County Down” and “Are ye sleeping, Maggie?“, but they played “Caledonia” in the most beauteous way and all those traditionals that are way too rare on festivals.

I didn’t see all the bands, I didn’t even want to. Ougenweide were pretty nice, I also catched some tunes from John Kelly & Maite Itoiz who were joined on stage by Sic from Omnia for a while. Omnia themselves were the head liner on Saturday and together with Coppelius and Rapalje one of THE reasons for me to join the festival.

And they were great.

Well, as soon as I move in with Bambi and the Satyr, at least Bambi will be pretty annoyed by my daily outburst of “I’m so looking forward to Omnia!” for they signed to come to the Festival Mediaval for the next five years! “Dance until we die” and “The Raven” are definitely two of the best songs I’ve ever heard live, along with “Morrigan”.

One of the things I really should mention before I end my  – quite short – report of the festivities is that they had a bouncing castle – made of straw. Friday evening it had transformed into a huge heap that was predestined to jump in (and that was what I did all Saturday and Sunday long).

Yes, that's a somersault. With combat boots.

But now I’ve got to go and meet the Scottish wereterrier.

Bye then!

The Sugar Factory

Right, sugar instead of chocolate!

The Sucrerie (roughly translates to – guess what? – Sugar Factory from french) Magazine is the absolutely enchanting name of an only more adorable web zine by western Lolitas for western Lolitas. There are four issues so far and hopefully many more to follow.

I found the “Western Lolita Style Watch” category pretty interesting (and saw three Lolitas from my sewing community there) as I just can’t orient myself with Asian Lolitas only for the simple reason that I’m European and simply do look completely different compared to fragile, dark and big eyed Japanese girls. ^^

Also, the Sucrerie Magazine features timelessly beautiful pieces of poetry matching the season and the style like Lord Byron and Violet Fane.

The other articles feature amongst others beauty advice, history of Lolita, “Ask Alice”, reader’s art and general musings about the style.

This web zine may not be over-the-top high-quality reporting but is something that comes from the heart of those great people who volunteer to write, edit and publish and therefore: it is something that’s worthy to read for everyone who is at least interested (if not involved yet) in Lolita.