#LolitaChristmasChallenge

Me and Mari from New vogue Children decided to have a bit of fun this Christmas. From 1st of December to 24th we'll be posting coordinates to our instagrams  under the #LolitaChristmasChallenge hashtag.

1. Pick a theme - it doesn't have to be Christmas related. It could be anything: your favourite season, colour, pattern, animal, place, food...

 2. Create a coordination around that theme from 1st to 24th of December.

 3. Take a picture of your coordinate (either worn, on a dummy or simply laid out) and post it to Instagram.

 4. Remember to tag all your coordinations with #LolitaChristmasChallenge.

5. Be creative & have fun!

I've decided to do a tartan theme since it seems I keep collecting tartan and plaid dresses. Those interested  on what I'll come up with you can follow my instagram @mimiparapluie

Mari chose Bunnies as her theme and you can follow her coordinates at @caranette

Hope to see you in the challenge! 

Madame Parapluie

Lolita blog Carnival: Fall meet up ideas

Harry Potter meet in Viapor fortress or Tavast Castle

Finland has some amazing castles that would work amazingly for a meet up like this. My favorites for Potter themed meet up would be either Viapor in Helsinki, with its cafes and tunnels giving lovely opportunities for both photo's and dining, or Tavast castle in Hämeenlinna with amazing architecture.

Leaf picnic (with a quick getaway cafe if there should be rain)

The city I live in has this big amazing park area with all sorts of trees and lakes and perfect little nooks for picnics. And now that it is autumn it is filled with the most beautiful colours. So I had this idea about a picnic on a glorious sunny autumn day themed after the autumn colours. Guest would wear said colours while having steaming hot tea and hardy sandwiches among the gloriously golden trees, maybe even enjoying the water organ show when the evening falls. And if it should rain there are the cafes at the docks nearby.

Autumn Accessories sewing bee and tea

There is nothing nicer than adding the new season to your wardrobe and what better way to do it than a little sewing bee with your best friends. Or crafting bee. Personally I'd love to have a beret decorating meet up but haven't had the time to organize on this year but I will keep the idea in mind for future reference.

Other participants

Poppy Noir
Vanilla Bear

Lolita reads: Autumn special

Ah, Autumn... My favourite time of year. I love the cool air, the colours and of course chilly autumn days where I can just curl up on the sofa and read to my hearts content. Over the years I have noticed that there are certain types of books I return to every year around this time. 

For the craving of Fairy tales

During this time of year my favourite fairy tale book is definitely Moominvalley in November and other late period moomin books. I love the whimsical gloom of the books and find them deeper and more mature which I think suits the season perfectly. It has this lovely sense of melancholy and letting go.

Other fairy tales I love during autumn are the classic Grimm brother's tales and Perrault's stories and stories about fairies and other spirits of nature.  

Halloween means Horror

Or atleast gothic romance and a lot of vampire stories. It's a pattern for me to read gothic, horror or vampire stories during autumn in general and especially in October. During this summer I aqruided a beautiful edition of In a glass darkly by Sheridan le Fanu and  will likely read it along with Dracula and maybe some of the Vampire Chronicles.

Perfectly poetical

I love poetry at Autumn. Last autumn I read the sonnets of Shakespeare and this year I will probably read some Percy Bysshe Shelley or maybe try to tackle Dante... Not to forget my perennial favourite Charles Baudelaire. I haven't quite decided yet. I like poetry all year around but find romantic, slightly melancholy type the best during autumn.

Other poets that I'd like to read this autumn include my eternal favourite, Edgar Allan Poe and perhaps Kalevala which I haven't read through yet and would like to.

So my dear reader, which books are you planning to read during this season and do you have any preferences that seem to come around every year around the same time? Do share in the comments.

Madame Parapluie

Lolita Blog Carnival: Skills every lolita should have

Well time to get back to doing these. And this topic is really important to me so what better way to start.

1. Clothing care and minor alterations

To me any adult who doesn't know how to replace a missing button should seriously reconsider their life choices. In lolita these sort of skills are extraordinarily important. The style is fussy and accidents happen so some basic skill with the needle will come in handy. I'm not saying that everyone should know how to make a lolita dress but minor fixes would be good. Same goes for recognizing and understanding clothing care instructions and possibly knowing when it is possible to ignore them. (I mean come on, the blouse is made of cotton, I do not need to dry clean it, dear any brand ever.)

2. Hair styling and make up

Lolita is an intricate style and to pull it of well it is good to know at least one great hair do and the very basics of make up. I believe in finding one great look you love and starting to vary from there. I for example love the bob cut weither it is straight and sleek or slightly curled and cute. In make up the principle is the same. Find something that works really well and work from there. 

3. Critical eye for quality and fit

As an expensive fashion it is important to know that you are getting what you are paying for when purchasing lolita clothing. If something is less than good quality to your eye and feeling you shouldn't buy it. Same goes for fit. Every dress should compliment one's body and if they don't (even with reasonable alterations) they aren't worth your money.

4. Social skills and graces

Let's face it. Wearing this style makes you highly visible in everyday life. So it is good to know when to be polite and when to shut people down and leave the situation.  No one minds the occasional "Why are you wearing xyz?"- question but no one should stand for harassment. 

 One also has to remember that the community is part of lolita, so having basic courtesy will make life much easier for everyone. 

5. One signature bake for picnics and tea parties

 In this community there will always be those events where you need to bring something. So just figure out something you can do perfectly again and again and bring that.  It doesn't need to be super complicated as long as it's tasty and you can do it well. 

Other participants

Vanilla Bear

Cupcakes and unicorns
It's witchcraft

Ruffle cloud

Lolita blog carnival

Madame Parapluie

Quick and cute: Moomin, welcome to moomin valley game.

As you all probably know I love Moomins. So imagine my excitement when I found a Moomin sim game for my smart phone. It's really cute and quite fun to play and I thought maybe there are some readers in my blog who'd be equally enthusiastic.



The style of the game is reminiscent of Tove Jansson's comics but I am not quite sure if it's directly lifted from them. Whichever, it's very nostalgic and cute. Playing is very easy and quite fun. The game is available in Play Store on android for free though there are some adds in the game and you can buy rubies to expand your valley more quickly but so far I haven't done that.

In the game you can decorate the valley and the moomin house. By decorating you get more items you can use to expand the valley and decorate more. You can also visit Moomin's friends which gives you more shells, party items and characters for your valley.

Over all the game is very cute and starts very quickly which kinda made me hooked after just a few minutes but it slows down significantly at the higher levels and becomes a bit more challenging. The activities the characters can do are well chosen and the animations are cute. If you like charming little mobile games this is definitely a good one.

Madame Parapluie

For the love of Tartan

I love tartan. I have loved it for quite some time and people who have known me the longest know this.  I feel it is a very classic, subdued, ladylike pattern event though it in our modern times has some punk connotations. 

With this said it is obvious that my wardrobe has a lot of tartan. I counted at least 11 tartan pieces ranging from dresses to blouses to scarves. One of my dreams is to have a coordinate made entirely of tartans but I am still missing shoes, a bag and hat so it's a long way of. 

This is my newest plaid or tartan dress. It's from Excentrique (my first Excentrique dress too!) and I love it. The hem is quite narrow making it perfect for shopping or having a casual tea time at The Ounce. It also came with a waist cincher which will likely go unused as I am not a big fan of corsets at this point of my life, but we'll see.

This is one of my hand made tartan dresses and it features my possibly favorite tartan, which is the black watch. The pattern has military history I find the colours very regal and strong though in this dress a made them a bit more feminine with the addition of the lace applique.

And of course I own a kilt. I wear it on my more casual days when petticoats just feel like hell. I love the colours in this piece and own a blouse in the same pattern. 

What  are your favorite pattern's dear readers? Do share in the comments as I'd love to hear if you love flowers or polka dots or tartan like me.

Madame Parapluie