Lolita reads: Queen of fashion.

Last time I reviewed fiction. This time it's time for a little bit of fact as we educate ourselves on the wardrobe of Marie Antoinette, with Caroline Weber's Queen of Fashion, what Marie Antoinette wore to the revolution. We follow her journey from the modest Austrian Arch duchess to the Queen of France and finally on the steps of the Guillotine. 

The book isn't written like traditional biography though the timeline does follow Marie Antoinette's life chronologically.  The writer puts the fashion choices of the queen in to historical context but is more concerned with the actual dresses and the evolution of her style than telling the story of the French revolution. 

Sometimes the text jumps back and forth which is a bit of bother but not big enough to ruin the book for me. 

Personally I like the way the book is written. It's easily understandable and nice to read and not too scientific making it a fun read for everybody.  I especially enjoy the descriptions of The Grand Mogol and the queen's gowns during the first phase of the revolution. 

"Exotically named  the Grand Mogol, in reference to putatively luxury-loving Asiatic grandee, her boutique boasted large windows filled wit displays that were designed to divert foot traffic from Palais Royal. With their artistic  arrangements of bonnets, shawls, fans, spangles, furbelows, silk flowers, gemstones, laces and other accessories, the displays set up a bewitching siren's song. Once lured inside, ushered through a door by liveried  footman, potential customers found themselves in a setting as luxurious as an aristocrat's salon." 

Doesn't it sound so much like depiction of  a lolita boutique's window displays and space? This is why I find this book so inspiring for lolitas. Our fashion was inspired by these times and the book paints them beautifully for us to gaze, with the help of numerous well picked illustrations that help one to imagine how everything would have looked. 

I do feel that this bookl isw most inspiring to lolita like me who enjoys the historical inspirations of lolita fashion more than the kawaii culture side of things. I find the fashion history in the book to be endlessly inspiring with the morbid details of the fashions of Guillotine survivors, the royal mourning customs and the idea of bringing a little bit of meaning to your outfits with well picked accessories. I even learned somethings I had not known previously. 

I could go on forever with how much I love this book but I shall just leave  you, gentle reader with another beautiful, if melacholy quote. 

"And so, shedding the ragged black dress in which she had faced her accusers, Marie Antoinette slipped in to her plum-black shoes, a fresh white underskirt and her pristine white chemise. To complete the ensemble  she put on  the white deshabille dress Madame Elisabeth had sent her from the Temple and the prettiest of her muslin fichus around her neck. She even removed the dangling black ribbons from her makeshift widow's coif, the result was a pared down ruffled linen bonnet as colourless as her hair. Paler then ever from her severe recent blood loss, the queen became a figure of pure, radiant white. " 

Madame Parapluie

P.S. If you have any books you'd wish me to review leave your suggestions in the comments. I am always happy to receive book recommendations. 

Lolita reads: The little white horse

Welcome to my new series where I review books which I feel are inspiring or otherwise interesting  to lolitas. Today's topic is the the Little white horse by  Elizabetha Goudgen which has been filmed under the name Secret of Moonacre (though there are quite drastic changes from the book).

The little white horse was first published in 1946 in London, England. It has whimsical fairy tale like style which makes it nice reading for lolitas of any style. I would compare it to Harry Potter which is no wonder as J.K Rowling has said she was inspired by the Little white horse. 

The story opens at 1842 when Maria Merryweather's father dies and she has to move to her second cousin's manor in Moonacre, where she has many whimsical adventures. The book has a pinch of romance and a lot of fun. The characters are intriguing and have clear personalities. My personal favorite is Maria's King Charles spaniel, Wiggins, who is both quite selfish and greedy but also a welcomed comedic side kick whose exploits always manage to make me laugh.

"Wrolf and Zachariah treated her now as an esteemed colleague, and Wiggins, though his expression in her presence was by no means agreeable, had sufficient self control not to give verbal expression to the sentiments within in his breast. For one he as not quite sure what Wrolf might do to him if he did and another, he was not unaffected by the charming sweetness of Serena's manner toward him."  

As the story progresses Maria begins to realize that not everything in Moonacre is as nice as it seems and it falls to her young shoulders to try and fix the discord that has ailed the valley and her family  since ancient times. 

The writing style is whimsical and easy to read pulling the reader in to the story excellently. There are even a few songs included in the book, which I have always found rather charming.   

A more fashionably inclined reader will enjoy the descriptions of Maria's clothes and most particularly her boots, which are lively and will surely give some outfit ideas as well. 

"And the boots she had on today were calculated to raise the lowest spirits, for they were made of the softest grey leater, sewn with crystal beads round the tops and were lined with snow white lamb's-wool. The crystal beads, as it happened, could not be see, because Maria's grey silk dress and warm grey wool pelisse, also trimmed with white lambs wool reached to her ankles, but she herself knew they were there and thought of them gave her a moral strength that can scarcely be over estimated."

The edition I read sadly has no illustrations but a quick googling has made it quite clear that there are absolutely charmingly illustrated ones out there. To me it's a bit sad that I couldn't find an illustrated version because all the styles of illustration I've looked at are charming and quite inspiring.

All and all The Little white horse is a charming story of girls just at the cusp of adult hood, akin the likes of Alice in Wonderland, Little Princess or Kamikaze girls which all feel like classic reading for lolitas to me. It has a bit of fashion, tad of tea parties and a lot of whimsy that most lolitas will enjoy. I can wholeheartedly recommend it to any lolita. 

Madame Parapluie

My new almanac.

I rescently got this beautiful almanac from Ladurée. I've had quite dark calenders during recent years so a light one is really nice fora  change. But this one is so much more than a calender. It has recipes, life style advice, beauty tips... 

The book itself is filled with lovely detail, like these pages for the start of every month. Some of them look like antique wall papers. 

The recipes are by Ladurées chefs and sound really delicious. I haven't had time to try any but I am quite sure I will.

My favorite detail has to be this cute macaron charm on the book mark. I think it's just the perfect addition to this almanac and completes its style. 

My only complaint is that the book is quite big and thus quite heavy and a tad hard to carry around in a smaller bag. But for everyday it's a very good choice.

I would really recommend this almanac for especially classically minded lolitas. It does kind of echo the styles of Innocent world or Victorian maiden.  It's elegant and gives some fanciful elegance to everyday life. 

Madame Parapluie

A grand hotel

At monday me and Flowerthief joined his friends who had won a trip to the Grand Hotel Tammer in Tampere. The trip was quite lovely and I am happy I was invited to go along. We returned yesterday. 

My outfit from monday:

Headbow: Hennez & Mauritz

Blouse: Vintage

Dress: Innocent world

Stockings: For the life of me I can't recall

Shoes: Baby the stars shine bright.

A picture of our hotel room. It was a lovely room with some antique touches. They had really concentrated on the decor in this hotel making it really special.

On tuesday we visited Särkänniemi amusement park and had dinner in a nice restauraunt in the amusement park grounds.

A view from the restaurant. The light was so lovely for a brief moment I was quite mezmerized by it. 

My outfit for tuesday:

Headbow: Handmade

Blouse: Vintage, modified

Bolero and dress: Innocent world

Stockings: Seppälä

Shoes: Fluevog

The hotel was simply lovely. I think I am in love with art deco now...

Mademoiselle Parapluie

On Etiquette and Espionage

 Etiquette and Espioage is the first book in the Finishing school-series by Gail Carriger. I read it recenty and fell in love. It reminded me of the first time I read a Harry Potter book. Naturally I can not wait the next instalment which will be published on November.

The series is set on an alternative Victorian age with a lot of Steampunk influences. As the series name suggests it takes place on a finishing school whic will teach you to poison, stab and spy with the utmost cordiality at the Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing academy for young women of quality.

The story begins when Sophoronia Temminnick is send to the academy by her mother. Of course the mother doesn't know that the academy educates young women to be not only ladies of quality but also top notch spies for the Great British empire. Sophronia has been spotted by a academy alumni as covert reqruit.

The relationships between Sophronia and her friends Dimity Plumleigh-Teimgnmott, Lady Sidheag Maccon, Agatha Woosmoss, Vieve and Soap are pictured lively and are definitely one of the best parts of the book. The adventures they get into are made better by this.

What I must add is that the book has absolutely brilliant lore about vampires and werewolfs that I shall leave for you to find out when you read this amazing book.

Oh and heres the books website from which I took the pictures. It's hilarious.

Mademoiselle Parapluie

Silks, ribbons and roses

Click for a better view

Click for a better view

So I did a little craft project during the last two days. Silk ribbon embroidery is so fast to do. I absolutely love how it turned out and I am never going back to polyester satin ribbons. These are so much prettier and so much easier to manipulate.

I just realized this tote is going to match my new dress beautifully but more on that later...

Mademoiselle Parapluie

Inspired by: Moomins.

I love moomins, there is no denying that. They were and still are on of my favorite fairytale/ fantasy books and definitely my favorite comic. Even the Moomins anime is brilliant. So I thougth why not do one of these inspired by posts about them. 

Moominmamma

Moominmamma is the corner stone of life in Moominland. Without her nothing would work. She is very much an archetype of mothers. Gentle, wise and caring are words that I'd use to describe her.

When it comes to style moomins are arather difficult topic. The most characters don't even wear anything. Mamma has her apron and her bag. And in some cases just her bag.  So I really don't have a lot to work with here...

Moomin mamma by mimielizabetha featuring black hair accessories

So of course the handbag and the apron were a must. Other than that I wanted to use the colours that are  quite iconic to her so red and white were the obvious choice. I also wanted to make the look quite mature as she is the eldest of the Moomin women.

Snorkmaiden

 Snork maiden is the girly girl of the moomins. She is mostly depicted as Moomin's love interest and its being said that she is as curvy and faboulous as Marilyn Monroe, although the curves are in different places.

I believe that Snorkmaiden would have a very girly, airy sort of style, with flirty elements. After all she is never awake during winter so why bother with heavier fabrics.

Snork maiden by mimielizabetha featuring indian jewelry

I chose to put her in florals as she likes flower quite a lot. Also I just had to include the anklet because it's her signature piece. Also I don't think she would wear stockings so I didn't put those in here. The I added a whole bunch of girly elements like pearls, lacy gloves and a parasol... I just think she needs to have a lot of pretty things on her. Her haistyle would of course have bangs and possibly curls.

Mymble and little My

Mymble (or Mymble's daughter) and little My are without a doupt my favourite characters in the moomin universe. They are a bit more spunky, bit more snarky than the other female characters in the moomins.

My is the spunkier of the characters so I would say her style should be that too.  Her older sister would have a bit classier look. What makes them alike however are the hairstyle and the shoe choices. I absolutely love their boots.

Mymble and little My by mimielizabetha featuring mojo moxy boots

So for Mymble I chos something a bit more classic and mature with some girly elements like the lace collar on her cardigan and the golden watch necklace. Also her boots have bow details and the pattern of the dress is very intricate.

Little My as I said before is a little spunkier so for I went with a shortish tartan skirt and a striking black and white colours  scheme. I also added the striped parasol for her because in my favourte drawing of her she has a striped dress. Both she and Mymble would of course have their buns because that's part of their signature.

I hope you enjoyed my ramblings and the looks. Have a nice day.

Mademoiselle Parapluie

Inspired by: Old school lolita.

I have been feeling rather nostalgic lately and thusly it's time to visit good old, old school lolita. Ah those time retangular headdresses, black and white, knee socks, clunky shoes and simple or no prints. When everybody dreamed of Vivienne westwood rocking horse shoes and hoped that brands would finally start shipping abroad... But I digress. Let's get down to business and bring this stuff to the new decade.

The black and the white.

Black and white... the legendary and notorious combination. Legendary because it is so iconic, notorious because it's so easy to do poorly( And because most of started with doing this one.. Poorly). And also one of my favorite colour combinations. It is infinitely stylish when done right. 

There's is really two ways to do black and white. Either you get a black dress with white lace or you wear a black dress with a white blouse. The latter is easier to do nicely but I find that the first really gives a more old schoolish air. 

Inspired by: Old school 1 by mimielizabetha

So here's something in black and white. The dress as you can see is mostly, even the lace is black apart from the embroidery which is white. It's really a very ligth way to do black with white lace. To counter balance this ligthness I added white blouse and socks which will bring out the white embroidery rather nicely.  Other old schoolish elements in this look are the mary jane shoes and the mini hat.

Clunky, clunky shoes.

As dear readers might have noticed, although I use mostly quite dainty shoes, I do still have a thing for big stompy boots and occasionally lolita shoes too. Back in the day it was asid that bigger your skirt was, the clunkier and stompier your shoes should be. It was to give outfit some balance.

The most desired of all those deligthfully stompy shoes, boots and whatnot was and still is the Vivienne Westwood Rocking horse shoe in its many incarnations. They were immortalized in the novel Kamikaze girls as the chosen foot wear of Momoko and bougth  Vivienne Westwood a place in lolitas hearts everywhere.

Inspired by: Old school 2 by mimielizabetha featuring a leather shoulder bag

And of course I chose them to be the part of our next polyvore. I have sort of hate love relation ship to these particular shoes. They look really nice (if the have wooden soles), but are hell to walk in. I wanted to make this look all about the shoes so rest of this is very simple.

Ode to the headdress

The headdress is possibly the thing that weirds out people the most about lolitas. Yes we have a poofy skirt and lots of lace but the headdress. It's a piece of cloth absolutely drenched in ribbons and lace. Combined to with the early sausage curls it look positively curious albeit very cute. I still love the combination to bits.

 In recent years the headdress is gone through a revision. No more ruffled oodles of lace and frills just a simple band of fabric or quality lace to match you dresses. Especially classic brands have released many of this kind. The subtle beauty of this type will hopefuly bring the headdress back.

Inspired by: Old school 3 by mimielizabetha featuring mid heels

So obviously there is a headdress here. To balance it's frou frouness I added a luxusuriously ruffled skirt and a shirt with a bow tie. This isn't very matchy matchy but as one of my friends says: "The longer I wear lolita the less I care about matching perfectly."

Last tips!

With what else than headdresses, black with white and clunky, stompy shoes, can youadd old school flare to your look? Simple! By eliminating bold screen prints and going for the simple florals or solid colours with white lace instead. Or wear tartan, polkadots or other overall prints instead.

Other really oldschool items include one pieces worn with aprons, stripe socks and lace edged knee socks, bell or princess sleeved blouses, removable collars and capelets (which I personally think are really cool).

When it comes to wigs ditch them unless you own one with ridicilously tight sausage curls in which case go for it. In old school years hairstyles were much much plainer (not counting the sausage curls which take forever to make) braids, bob cuts and simple pig tails. Also one must note that old school make up was plainer too. Fake eyelashes were almost never seen and circle lences were unheard of, so keep it simple and natural. 

So that's all this time. Are there somethings you miss about old school? Please do share your thougths. 

Mademoiselle Parapluie

The culture of Salon

 About Salons

Recently I read a book called Salons of five centuries, which talks about the culture salons of European history from reneissance to the romantic era. I found this book extremely interesting not only because I am a history buff but because the whole idea of a salon is charming. The intelligent conversation, the culture, plays, art and music. In those times there were nothing to entertain people so they chose to do it themselves.

The salon was decidly a feminine space and thusly it was clear that this antiquated culture resonated to me as a lolita. There were so many similiarities with the salon and with the meetings I enjoy with my friends. Salons were elegant and though we are not yet on their level we are aiming for elegance and beauty. I don't think that our simple gatherings will ever change history like the gatherings in Paris before the revolution or be as civilized as the lovely salons of reneissance Italy, but I hope they are as joyous and happy as them.

I know some of you may think that I am silly for thinking of things like these, but I would love an arts meet up where one could for example do quick scetches of other lolitas, or maybe musical one. The idea of a place where everyone could pursue their respective talents while talking with other lovely ladies is charming indeed. Maybe someone would recite poetry or read loud, or there migth be music or even small plays. The book about salons has given me endless inspiration and I can't wait to make some of these ideas to come to life.

Mademoiselle Parapluie

Inspired by: Great classic detectives.

I love watching old detective shows as much as I love watching Criminal minds. They have a charm that modern criminal shows never seem to get. Maybe it's the clothes or the lack of disrupting
modern nic nacs. Of course it helps that the scenery of said shows is rather gorgeous. Fresh countryside... Manors, dainty villages... Well anyways after watching a lot of Poirot and Marple and Holmes I thougth why not to draw inspiration from them.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is the brain child of the brilliant sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He is a genies although a bit strange. Lately there have been some successful movies about him but I do prefere the old television show for I feel it is more loyal to the books.

Sherlock  has been given a very iconic look on the old television show. He wears neutrally coloured tweeds and a deerstalker when roaming the country side and smart frock coats and tophats while in the city. I prefere the aforementioned look so that's where my inspiration comes on.

Sherlock Holmes

At first I thought giving him a cape but then I remembered this coat. It is so Sherlocky that I just had to use it. I added other neutral toned items and victorian styled boots. The earrings feature Watson too so you'll always carry your sidekick with you!

Jane Marple

Jane Marple is definetly my favorite. I just have a soft spot for little old ladies with great minds and she undeniably is one. It seems like the lovely village of st Mary Meads has a never ending strorage for shady characters which give her the experience to solve any mystery.

Miss Marple's style is very cute in my opinion. She uses soft materials and warm colours which make her appereance sweet and unasuming. She likes to keep warm so cardigans are a staple in her wardrobe.

Miss Marple

For miss Marple I wanted to choose something warm and cute so a cardigan was a must! I also added a nice paird of fingerless gloves and sensible shoes. And a hat. She always always has a hat. Also the brooch had to be added. It's so cute!

Hercule Poirot

Hercule Poirot is the dandyish, belgian detective who trusts in his little grey cells. He started his career in the Belgian police force but moved to England after his retirement to get away from the first world war. His fame was in it's full glory between the wars and so was his style.

Hercule is famed for his grand moustache and tailored suits with an oldfashioned air. He is always dressed appropriately and always takes account of the situation. He uses mostly neutral tones but at home he likes to use a jewel coloured smoking jacket which I find very decadent.

Hercule Poirot

For Hercule I chose neutral tones and  tailored looking clothes and a brooch that reminds me of his watch chains. Also the moustache needed to be added it is so iconic part of his look. The shoes are my decadent touch because they are so beautyfully embroidered.

Thank you for reading this! What should I be inspired by next? Leave your suggestions below!

Mademoiselle Parapluie

Lolita blog carnival: My lolita playlist

This week Lolita blog carnival subject was lolita playlists. My taste in music is quite wide. I listen to classical, melodic metal, movie soundtracks and even pop so it was rather hard to pick out my favorites.

Niccolo Paganini is one of my favorite composers. I especially like his work for violin. For some reason I really really love violin music. It has a romantic gothic element that I enjoy. Plus violins are very pretty...

Kokusyoku Sumire is one of my favorite bands. They are so quirky and dark.Their music inspires me. Oh how I wish they would come to Finland.



Lotr soundtrack is the thing I listen to while traveling to meet my friends. It's the best traveling music ever. So epic. Makes every train trip that much better.

Other music that I like to listen to are Malize mizer and Moi dix mois, Nigthwish, Embacy of silence, many many classical composers, Lolita complex and many other things.

 What exactly is this lolita blog carnival thing?

Lolita blog carnival is a group of lolita bloggers who agree to write about the same prompt every week to hear many opinions about things related to lolita and also to promote eachothers blogs.

Other participants this week:

Kira kira shoujo
Geisha Baby

Ramble rori

Sweet lolita doll
Sweet and simple
Swirly purple and green crayons
Parfait doll

La petite princesse
Pop*Princess
Dollhouse diaries
Princess Palace
Le boudoir
Commercially alternative 
Stranger and stranger 
Hello Batty

Mademoiselle Parapluie

Antique Doll

Tältä näytin tänään käydessäni kirjastolla hakemassa ison kasan klassista runoutta. Halusin näyttää vähän antiikkinukelta ja mielestäni se onnistui ihan hyvin.

This is how I looked today when I visited the library to get some nice poetry. I wanted to look like an antique doll  and completed the task pretty nicely.

Ylläni oli/I wore

Bonnet: Handmade by me

Paita/ Shirt: Second hand

Leninki/Dress: Juliette& Justine

Päivänvarjo/Parasol: Lumiebre

Laukku ja sukat/ Bag and socks: Offbrand

Kengät/ Shoes: Minna Parikka

Mademoiselle Parapluie