Teeny Tiny Meet-up at the Women's Museum

The entrance to the old Women's Museum in Aarhus

This saturday I went to a meet-up in Aarhus with just two of my friends. I had hoped for more people to show up, but everybody else were busy with their exams or work! 

(I guess it's that time of the year. I'm busy with university projects and exams myself, but I took some time out for Lolita)

We met up at the local trainstation and then walked in the sun towards the Women's Museum! 

As soon as we got in we were met with female power all around! It was a beautiful old building, with a beautiful old painting of elegant victorian ladies in the hallway. Lolita felt so very appropriate!

Of course the first thing we wanted to do, as fashion forward ladies, were visit the exhibitions of historical women's fashions. I was very impressed with their collection of historical undergarments! So many beautiful slips, bloomers, corsets and nightgowns! It made me want to make some for myself, or at least purchase some more elegant sleepwear. 

They also had actual everyday costumes from important women through time, and they were just stunning, especially placed in this old house. The one above was one of my favorites because of the lace!

Afterwards, we went to the top floor where they had their "Storm P." exhibition. Storm P. was a comic artist, who also drew covers for womens magazines. He had a very interesting and empowering view on women, especially considering that he started working in the 1910's (if I remember correctly)! While most of the women he drew were not designed to be aesthetically pleasing, they often had the upperhand, and the men he drew were tiny and weak in comparison.
The pictures above are not by him. They're a selection of some of the work that inspired his own.
I thought they were just beautiful!

There were some more psychological and emotionally involving parts of the museum as well, but I didn't take any pictures. I was too busy being frightened by women releasing bats out of their mouth when I opened the door to cabinets and such.

Afterwards we went out for tea at AC. Perchs Tea Salon! When I heard that one had opened in Aarhus, I just had to go visit, as the one in Copenhagen is my all time favorite place to get a good cup of tea and scones!
We just managed to squeeze ourselves in, but otherwise, the place had been fully booked for the entire saturday!
People stopped and stared at us from outside the windows. It was hilarious!

All in all, it was an awesome day! The museum was a cultural treat, and the scones a tasty one.
I can't wait until the next one!

LBC: Historically Inspired Coordinates

For this week's Lolita Blog Carnival the theme was to create a coordinate centered around the historical aspect of Lolita fashion. If you've done even the teensiest bit of research, you'd be able to recite the eras that inspired Lolita fashion if you got a crash course in your sleep. Rococo, the victorian era, the 50's..
My first thought was to do a Regency inspired coordinate, but well, I already did that back when we were all doe eyed with romance at Valentine's Day. So this week I'm diving into another era that I'm very fond off- The Tudors and the renaissance.  

For this coordinate what came to mind first, was brocade, and then Metamorphose's "Dim Light" print. I originally wanted to center my coordinate around a very simple brocade JSK, resembling the one that Jane Seymour was wearing for the portrait that I picked as my icon for this post, but I went with the Metamorphose JSK because of the simplicity of the cut, and the oppulence of the print. 

I wanted a very simple JSK with a square neckline, that would let me stack on the jewelry without getting overwhelmed! This coordinate is obviously very much about all the bling!
I chose a simple black blouse, but with giant sleeves, like the ones the royal ladies used to wear back in the day. I wanted something light, though, to make it a little less "heavy". I don't think a kneelength dress would be able to justify giant, heavy sleeves the way a floorlength gown would.

I decided to go on Etsy to find some Tudor-inspired jewels, and as you can see from the coordinate, I had plenty of luck!
I found some really interesting little artisans on there.

The huge gold and burgundy jewelled necklace is from After Dark, who also stocks a pair of matching earrings!

The beautiful girdle is from RecycledRockstah, and the Anne Boleyn pendant is from Moon Garden Designs.

I think that for this coordinate, I think you could keep your hair straight, or you could actually wear some good oldfashioned curls and bangs! Both could do.
Last but not least, I stumbled upon a pattern for the Tudor headdress from TheTudorTailor, so you could actually make your own! For this coordinate, I'd make a black one with red gemstones and white pearls.

That was it for this week, folks!
Want some more historical inspiration to inspire the nerdy Lolita in you?
Check out the links below!

Breidholt
Sidhe Banshee
New Vogue Children

LBC: Romantic Coordinate and Happy Valentines!

Happy Valentine's day, you guys!
I know not everyone celebrates it, but since a bunch of my readers do, I suppose I should recognize it a little bit. It seems Denmark is getting more and more into American holidays. It has been mentioned on the news on multiple channels, at least, and they've been talking about romance and stuff. Well, I have a small hope that my date will do a little bit just to create a bit of a fuzzy, romantic atmosphere..

And if I could, I would want to do it dressed in an outfit like the one below!
(smooth transition... Don't say anything! I rocked it!)

This week's Lolita Blog Carnival is, of course, all about da' romance! We had to come up with some romantic coordinate ideas, but I decided to just make one epic outfit!

I wanted to center it around Baby the Stars Shine Bright's "Soirée of the beginning of my memories" print, and to make it extra cheesy, I chose the pink colorway (also in part because I really like the darker pink and pale green accent colors)

This dress reminds me of the romantic courtship back in the day, because of the old-fashioned victorian ball depicted along the bottom. I don't know if it is inspired by a specific book or tale, but it immediately made me think of Pride and Prejudice, the greatest love story ever told
(Romeo and Juliet? Juliet whom? She was like, 12 and wanted to marry a guy she met the night before! Yes, I used my Elsa voice)

Bonnet picture is from Oregon Regency Society.

Because of my "Jane Austen" inspiration, I'd pair it with a regency poke bonnet, or take inspiration from Regency hairstyles. That means putting up your hair in light curls in the back, and curling the hair by your ears. For hair accessories I'd go for pearls, tiaras or pink feathers.

If you want to make your own bonnet to bring a bit of historical romance to your coordinate, I recommend this tutorial! I used it myself, and it's very simple, really. You don't even need to sew!

To keep the regency feel, I'd go for a bolero rather than a blouse. People on the street might not get the feel immediately, but it would be both a nod towards the spencers commonly worn back in the day, and to keep the low neckline of the dresses worn at the balls back then, but add the little round sleeves that were so common.

 I like to put themes in my coordinates, even if they're not immediately recognisable to other people.

For this coordinate, I wouldn't wear typical Lolita shoes, but rather pink kitten heels, as they do more closely resemble shoes worn during the regency. Heels were usually low, and the tips of she shoe could be either pointy or rounded.
For socks, I would use either lace-topped ankle socks, or sheer lace tights, depending on how cute or luxurious you wanna go.

A pair of lace gloves to finish off the coordinate!

For the rest of this coordinate, it depends on your choice of headwear! If one wanted to use the bonnet, I'd keep the jewellery simple. A pendant and light bracelets would be beautiful! If you choose to go with regency hairstyles and such, you can afford to go a bit more heavy.
Pearls and diamonds were popular choices during the regency.

This is my idea of a romantic coordinate! With a touch of period drama!

Want to get more inspiration for your date? Check out the links below!

Whimsical Adventures of Me

Beyond Kawaii
Sweet and Simple
Pretty Little Habits
New Vogue Children
Under the Parasol
Pink Lace + Glitter
Breidholt
Lolita Glamour
Daily Fuckery
Vanilla's Traumfabrik
Her Lumpiness
Hello Batty
LadyAtropa

Mini-Review: A Royal Affair

Today I'm gonna talk about the pride and joy (at least in my opinion) of danish movie culture.

As a dane, I am of course not aware of how widely known this movie is, outside of Denmark, but when it came out it was a big deal! Which felt really strange to me, as usually historical movies doesn't really get that much attention. This was the first real big historical movie production in Denmark, though. As soon as I found out that for this project they were gonna use the story of Caroline Mathilde, Struensee and our crazed king Christian, I knew that I had no choice but to go see this movie in my local movie theater. It is one of my favorite eras of danish history, if not my most favorite one. 

The story takes place in the mid to late 18th century, and is about how the german physician Johann Friedrich Struensee changes Denmark through his influence on the crazy king of the danes, Christian the 7th. The king behaves like a spoiled child. A popular example of this was something that an english traveller witnessed in Copenhagen- According to him, the king was throwing furniture and other valuables out from a balcony to the masses, though we don't get to see this in the movie. Struensee becomes a fatherly figure and best friend to the king, who has married his own cousin from Wales, Princess Caroline Mathilde. Caroline Mathilde is an intelligent young woman, fascinated by the forbidden works of Rousseau. She finds her equal in the new royal physician. They start a love affair, and plan to transform danish society in a more progressive and liberal direction. For this, they use the naive king's influence to get their reforms past the royalist government. As far as I remember, they even implement free speech this way!

How all of this plays out, you'll have to see for yourself! The movie is Ah-Ma-Zing, and I'm not even saying this because I'm danish and I love the story. The actors and actresses are talented and believable.

What I find to be quite impressive, too, is the many grey-zones that the movie puts to good use, if you just keep your eyes open and have a tiny bit of historical understanding of society and norms. The movie doesn't fall into the trap of "It's Good vs. Evil". King Christian 7th is shown as being both cruel and selfish, but he is never evil. He wants to do good and he wants to be a good king. It's very apparent that Struensee is a good influence on him. Struensee isn't portrayed as being a saint, either. He has his faults. The same can be said for Caroline Mathilde, who is neither sweet nor angelic. She is strong, and intelligent, but has very little patience for King Christian and his crazy, and she doesn't trust him.
You come to understand where all of the characters are coming from. Even the royalists who work against Struensee and his progressive thinking! After all, they're not trying to be mean. They're doing what is natural to them, and they're fighting for what they believe in and what they think is right, too. 

The only reason we support Struensee and what he's doing, is because we were born into the age we live in, where freedom of speech, the liberation of the printing press and similar things, are a vital part of our everyday life! Back then, these things seemed mad! You couldn't give free speech to the masses! That would cause an uprising, you know!? And this was even before the French had beheaded the king!

Another interesting part of this story, is that we get to see what happens to a man who was clearly born centuries before his appropriate day and age. The world was not ready yet, though it would have been, just a hundred or 150 years later. He would have been seen as conservative today, but he could have been considered invaluable at court in the mid to late 19th century. As long as he could keep his hands off the queen.

Have I said to much? Well, go watch it!
To me, it's one of the only good things to come out of danish movie theaters in a long, long time. I'm not a fan of the strange stuff we tend to put out, otherwise. Like "The Green Butchers", "Fidibus", "Blinking Lights".. Strange stuff. And all the crime shows, even if the international world seem to love those... Bleh.

Mini-Review: Lost in Austen

Recently I was lucky enough to find the TV-series "Lost in Austen" on DVD (for cheap, even!) in a local store, and I just had to re-watch it! 

This TV-series is a personal favorite of mine, and I recommend it to anyone who appreciates period elegance, "Pride and Prejudice" and a little bit of escapism.

"Lost in Austen" is about Amanda Price, who get's to run away from her sad life in modern day London to the world of her favorite book, "Pride and Prejudice". Here she encounters the characters that she loves so much, and she turns the story completely upside down. Much to her own desperation as she tries to keep things from getting too out of line.

"Lost in Austen" might at first glance sound like a teenage girl's fanfiction adapted for the tv-screen, but hear me out! This TV-series actually succeeds in staying mostly true to Jane Austen's characters!  Mostly, because they have planted some small surprises along the road. 

Not because they need to, to force the plot along. It only serves to make the characters more human and 3 dimensional. Nothing is black and white in "Lost in Austen"- A gold star in my book.
What I also find to be an interesting concept, is how it gives us a glimpse into what could realistically have happened to these characters, if things had gone slightly differently in the original story.

I like how they have done what they can to make the characters react in a likely way to the modern girl's strange habits and looks. They could have done more, though, and that is the only critique I really have for the series. They let Amanda go about regency-period England without a bonnet, for instance. And as far as I'm concerned, Amanda even does a thing or two that could get her arrested, but then again, that wouldn't make for a really good story, would it?
Apart from this, they have put in plenty of little interesting details that are period accurate and adds to the atmosphere. 

The series is fun, with plenty of clever jokes, likable characters and is good for a lazy afternoon. 

There are only 4 (reasonably long) episodes to enjoy. 

I wish they'd make a season 2, but then again, it could take it too far. It stands alone elegantly as is, as a bit of lighthearted fun.

So, if you have read Pride and Prejudice or watched the films, and even if you haven't, I say dive in!
You can watch the trailer here.