(Life) Style Tips in August

Once again the month is almost over – August is a particularly bad one, I’m so occupied with coming back from ConQuest and getting back to a state of mind where I don’t feel over-humaned (the state where you get anxiety at the mention of any social activities) that I forget everything else that isn’t a basic function or work.

However, there are still some notes for August left, so let’s use these golden days well! ♥

August was nearly over – the month of apples and falling stars, the last care-free month for the school children. The days were not hot, but sunny and limpidly clear – the first sign of advancing autumn.
― Victor Nekrasov

In the spirit of my favourite Summer activity, camp out, even only for a day! Just like a picnic, but with more comfy equipment, get some blankets and pillows, your favourite pyjamas or nightgown, maybe a tarp if you’re wary of rain and spend the night or at least most of the evening outside. Whether on a balcony or in a garden doesn’t matter, what matters are the stars overhead and a good book or a beloved comfort movie. Also maybe snacks.

Speaking of snacks, make dried apple rings in the sun if it’s still hot enough for that! Put them on a lined baking tray and put them on the window sill to dry. You might want to add sugar or cinnamon depending on the apple variety – some of the early ones are fairly sour – or leave them natural. Store them in cookie tins or pretty jars and snack them during the Winter months.

Although we are necessarily concerned, in a chronicle of events, with physical action by the light of day, history suggests that the human spirit wanders farthest in the silent hours between midnight and dawn. Those dark fruitful hours, seldom recorded, whose secret flowerings breed peace and war, loves and hates, the crowning or uncrowning of heads.
― Joan Lindsay, Picnic at Hanging Rock

Watch Picnic at Hanging Rock during a hazy day when it’s too hot to do anything else. Make an event out of it, make everyone wear exclusively white, have sandwiches and later fall asleep outside under a tree.

Generally, wear white (or very light colours) for an entire day to feel like a turn-of-the-century upper-class person. There are indefinite shades of white to choose from and be it historically-inspired, Lolita, Mori Kei or simply linen pants and a white button-down, it will make you feel fresh and incredibly fancy. Bonus points for a straw hat or fresh flowers for accessories!

 Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea.
– Henry Fielding

To top it all off make yourself some iced tea – the internet is full of recipes. There is the Deep South Sweet Tea (here’s a cocktail version, as well), the simple iced cold-brew (with peaches – yum) and the iced Chai, to start with. I also want to try my way through the lion’s share of this recipe list.

Style Inspiration: Sarah Kay

Back in the 70s the world – mainly the western, but not exclusively – lived through a nostalgic phase that gave us not only the origins of Mori Kei and Lolita but also brands like Gunne Sax and illustration legacies I always find inspiration and joy in, in some instances since my childhood.

One of these illustrators that make me feel all warm and fuzzy and about to confess my love for pioneer dresses and mob caps is Australian artist Vivien Kubbos, better known under the name of her franchise: Sarah Kay.

The Sarah Kay pictures are laden with ruffled muslin dresses, mended aprons, a mix of patterns and chunky leather boots, which counts as a fair depiction of one of my current aesthetic favourites.

They radiate a somewhat kitschy yearning for the countryside in “simpler days” where everything is fine and your biggest problem is a broken milk jug. I’m a big fan of the checkered pockets on the white aprons, by the way.

The other thing I absolutely adore are those colourful patches whenever there is a knee in sight. This last picture is pretty much how I look from time to time, now that I finally have a pair of dungarees.

I think of Sarah Kay as a wonderful source of inspiration for Natural Kei outfits, and maybe in some elements for Mori Kei, too. Think mixed, faded patterns and washed-out denim paired with shiny leather boots. And ruffles. All the ruffles.

_   _   _   _   _   _

All pictures belong to Vivien Kubbos resp. her publishers, via

Lolita Challenge: Week 20: Wardrobe Satisfaction

How satisfied I am with my current wardrobe

Not that much, actually. Initially I even wanted to complain about my actual wardrobe (as in “piece of furniture”), but then I finished my first bigger project this year and fixed my storage problem, so none of that.

At first, a few words about my non-Lolita wardrobe. While I get surprisingly many compliments on my style, I don’t think it’s very consistent, which bugs the character design junkie in me. I have a few favourite pieces that are constantly in use, except when they’re in the machine, and sometimes I think about just throwing everything except these few favourites out. Oh, and I definitely need more pants that are neither torn nor have paint spots on them. Seriously.

On to the Lolita part now: I think what my Lolita wardrobe needs most are basics. A black jumperskirt. Several solid-coloured skirts. A pair of light-coloured shoes. A hoodie or cardigan of sorts. A lot more T-shirts and cutsews. More bags. More casual I’m comfortable with wearing to uni. Oh, and more sailor collars, because they go with nearly everything.

My next few plans include to make an assortment of accessoires to go with my Sweet Biscuit JSK – I love biscuit-shaped bags and jewelery and I haven’t been working with polymer clay in ages. I think my outfits need to be brought together more. I’ve been incredibly lazy with accessoires and headwear lately.
I still have some projects in my UFO box, too, like my striped skirt that finally needs a print, or an unfinished petticoat.

Maybe this should be one of my bigger projects for 2014, a character design overhaul for myself.  The first draft of this post even had a list of things that described what I want in looks and message. Don’t worry, you’ll see this list soon enough, but it needs to be a bit more in order. And it might need a manifesto of sorts, too.

I’ll keep you posted.

30 Questions Mori Girl Challenge – Day 3

3- Have you ever lived in a rural environment? If you have, do you think it influenced your mori-ness? If you never have,  do you think living in a suburban or urban environment influenced your style any?

I’ve tried both, and both environments had a certain influence on my style developement and thus also on my mori-ness. Spending my childhood in a house at the edge of fields and woods opened my eyes for the very beauty of nature, of the opportunities it gives to breathe and retreat. It also made me use autumn leaves’ wreaths for crowns and acorns for earrings.
The city where I spent my last teen years in contrary showed me that I need this form of social, modern jungle, too. It’s a different kind of breathing. I don’t think I’d appreciate nature less if I wasn’t such a self-made city child, but it certainly helps. A city is a kind of forest of its own, so there is no way that Mori couldn’t originate from there, just like the country isn’t likely to make everyone who lives there a moss daughter.

Living in the city also made my style a little tougher and actually more practical. In a place with lots of people of every kind you need to be stronger, less vulnerable – at least on the outside – and have more self-esteem. My years there influenced not only my clothing but also my attitude, the way I walk and my ability to behave in large public places, especially when I’m on my own.

I love finding little oases of green between high concrete walls, I love admiring old town houses and watching the people hurry by. But I also love to retreat at my mother’s house in the Shire and wander the hills where I spent my wonderful childhood.

I made you a list of examples of influences these environments had on my style decision below:

Country influences:
– flimsy fabrics
– light colours
– accessories from nature finds
– feathers in my braids
– flower prints
– moccasin boots
– rain boots
– short pants
– woolen sweaters
– soft berets
– head scarves
– linen
– Vintage

City influences:
– heavy steel toed boots
– black flare trousers
– open short coats
– deep non-metal influenced black
– heavy fabrics
– Lolita
– dark lipstick
– smaller bags than a backpack
– Danish Duckfeet shoes
– bodices
– high-collar blouses
– Alice bands

Intermezzo: Curious Tuesday V

1. What is your style direction for the upcoming season? A young Steampunk vampire hunting witch with a faible for historical clothing and lolita X mori girl X dolly kei including a “pie or sweets maker” influence. Somewhat. And I’m definitely going to sew more of it myself this autumn and winter!

2. What is your favourite song right now? I think it’s Birdhouse In Your Soul by They Might Be Giants. I just love the “who watches over you” part!

3. What’s your best love advice? Don’t expect things and keep enough space and time for yourself and your partner. Keep or find things that you do without your beloved, be it sports, arts or going to the theatre. Don’t change your mind or style just to please someone. And don’t let anyone do something to you that you don’t want them to, just because you fear that they might be disappointed, sad, angry or in some other way offended.

4. Who is the most exciting person you’ve met recently? My Breton teacher, I guess. She’s really nice but capable, has a quite unusual but fitting wardrobe and teaches us not only the language but folk dances and songs, too.

5. Are you doing anything wonderful this week? What is it? I’m going to visit the Antiques & Oddities market this Saturday. Maybe I can find something exciting for my Steampunk LARP!

Intermezzo: I’m A Fangirl

Well, at least sometimes, and at least concerning one special band.

Coppelius, who might have thought of that.

And due to this fact I simply had finally to get a fan shirt at the last concert. Actually, I thought my band shirt days were done – I wore the last one when I was still at my old grammar school back in 2006 or 07. But as Coppelius isn’t just any metal band with slaying heros as a motif, here I go again.

Quiet Please!

The shirt refers to Bastille’s sign for the audience.

Applause - A little blurry, I fear.

It even worked on the camp ground while I was packing at Sunday morning: Every time I turned around, our neighbors began to applaud. ^^

And finally I go myself another patch and more buttons – buttons, for you can never have enough of them (at least when they look quite well), and another patch as I couldn’t decide where to put the first one as I can’t patch it somewhere else, then… If you know what I mean.

One will land on the lest arm of my upcoming parkacorps (I’ll explain that another day) and the other one… I still don’t have a clue. ^^