Things I Love For Autumn

In this edition of "Things I Love...", we're talking about the things I love for autumn outfits!

Leather

Whether it’s on my shoes or my bag or my belt, I love adding touches of leather to my clothing in autumn. I usually go with faux leather rather than genuine leather for my own outfits. Leather isn’t just for autumn, of course. This is just when it works best with my wardrobe and my needs.

Plaid

Plaid (or tartan, if you prefer) prints and wovens can make a stylistic nod to schoolgirl uniforms or to the coziness of plaid flannel. It’s classic, goes with a wide variety of styles, and it comes in almost any color you could want.

Heavy Knits

This tends a little more toward mori kei than most of my lists, but I’m a huge fan of heavy knits, especially cable knit sweaters. While they might not always be perfect for the vintage or lolita aesthetics I tend toward, heavy knits are an essential autumn item for me. I love cable knit cardigans paired with plaid skirts. I love cable knit tights as part of a monochrome outfit that layers texture upon texture (whether that’s in mori girl or another style entirely).

Heavy knits are just so darn cozy. To me, they’re the uniform for sipping apple cider and reading a book on a gray day in October.

Corduroy

And another type of fabric that isn’t necessarily in my usual vein: corduroy. Corduroy pants are a pretty common autumn wardrobe choice hereabouts, and corduroy makes for really cozy clothing. It doesn’t pill or look too informal like flannel, but it still gives just the right amount of warmth.

I’ve got a couple of corduroy pencil skirts, myself, and I’ve been considering adding a corduroy JSK.

“Autumn” Colors

This one might seem like a no brainer given the name, but an autumn color palette is pretty essential to the way I go about dressing in the fall. I wear a lot more brown and ivory, add in touches of forest green and burgundy, and dust off my burnt orange. I pull out the quintessential autumn color palette from back when “doing your colors” was a thing that people did.

And “doing my colors” is probably part of the reason why I love clothing in autumn so much: it’s the color palette that looks best on me.

Do you have any autumn essentials that I haven’t mentioned? I’d love to hear about them. 

Subtlety and Wa Lolita?

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My taste in Lolita is, I find, sometimes very different from what the style would invite from me.  I tend to prefer subtle coordinates over flashy ones, and I find that in my own life many prints are just a little too out-there. Perhaps it's the fact that I favor classic and perhaps it's my love of using the pieces I buy in as many outfits as possible, but I simply don't gravitate toward louder coordinates.

As a result, Wa Lolita is a bit of a sore spot for me. I’ve seen a lot of tips and tricks on how to select and wear elements of wa Lolita – my favorites are these from Make Lovely and Les Fleurs Noires – but the style, even with these tips, is still rather loud for my taste. As a result, I started asking a question that I find really important:


Is it possible for this style to be subtle?

I think it is possible.It might seem like rather a challenge to add wa Lolita influence to coordinates without having them look loud, but in my reading and my own exploration I've found a few ways to create wa Lolita looks that are very subtle.

The Pirate’s Guide to Busty Fashion

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“The code’s more what you’d call guidelines than actual rules.” – Pirates of the Caribbean

I’ve had a larger chest since I was probably 13 or 14. I got busty fast, and without the comfortable warning I would have received from family precedent. In the decade since then, I’ve heard a lot of rules about how to dress with a larger chest. Some of them are right. Some of them are wrong. Some of them are optional.

And, as you’ve probably figured out, I’m not really one for “rules.” They can be good guidelines to get you started, but it's so much more important to do the things that make you happy and comfortable.

Here are my "essential" guidelines for busty girls, though they really aren't what you'd call rules.

Cutie on the Clock: Being Cute When You're Strapped for Time

Getting into alternative fashion takes time, and if you're anything like me you probably don't always have time to frill yourself up. That doesn't mean you have to give up on your cute (or spooky, or foresty) inclinations. You just need to get a little creative.

I work in an office and am usually pretty strapped for time, so I know this feeling all too well. These are the ways that I bring my alternative leanings into my life when I just don't have time to dress up.

Bento

I am a huge fan of character bento for making me feel adorable when I don't have much time to actually be adorable. Now, character bento might seem like it's going to take up a ton of your time, but it really doesn't have to. My favorite way to do my bento is to do a bunch of freezer-safe bento additions every few weeks, then eat off that stash for another few weeks.

The first step for me is to make cute milk buns because they are easy to form into animal shapes, much more freezer friendly than rice, can be filled with thick fillings if I am so inclined, and make my lunch cute with the absolute minimum of effort. Some batches end up with food coloring in them, but most are white.

 I also have a stock of plastic cupcake toppers from the local dollar store. Nothing says cutesy and spooky like a mini kebab on a stick topped with a little black bat.

And, as an added bonus, I can eat healthy and still look forward to every day's lunch!

Yes, this was as tasty as it was cute!

Femme Up Your Shirts

One of the things I work very hard to do with my wardrobe is buy almost exclusively pieces that can be worn with a wide variety of outfits. I love my cutsew and blouse collection because I can wear them dressed up with lolita or in a more "normal" office outfit. Granted, my coworkers have pointed out that I apparently always look cute, so normal isn't going to be exactly where I land, but it certainly doesn't hurt my mood any!

The real advantage to this is that wearing cute shirts with regular dress pants or skirts doesn't take much work but really adds some cuteness to the outfit as a whole.

Add Some Cute to Your Cube

I work in an office, and I know that it can be really difficult to wear alternative fashion in that sort of setting. However, I also know that it's worth it to bring some of your alternative style to your office setting. My cube has seasonal decorations (like my little woodland setting this winter) and some decorations that should be seasonal but instead stay forever (like my dancing skeleton who lives by my grammar books).

Even if I end up in a heavy sweater and jeans for the workday, surrounding myself with things that reflect my personal brand of weird is a really good way to keep myself happy.

My little display from this past winter.

Make Mine Music

One of the biggest time drains in my life is my morning and evening commute, but well-chosen music takes that from frustrating to the "me time" that I need. I have a number of old school mix CDs stocked with anything from folklore-inspired music to metal to guitar-driven numbers.

What about you? What do you do to express your alternative leanings when you're strapped for time?

Happy Birthday to Me and a Recipe for You

Hello, all!

Because it's my birthday (26 whole years on this planet!), I'm taking the day off from blogging. I love you to bits and will resume properly blogging for the next scheduled post.

But, because it is my birthday, though, I wanted to share a cake-like recipe that is pretty and tasty. Since I'm not big on frosted cake - weird, I know - green tea muffins are my treat of choice for this year's birthday. I mentioned this birthday this past winter when I went to The Cedar.

This recipe does look weird, I admit. Just trust me when I say that it will come together and form a rather tasty muffin.

Green Tea Mini Muffins
Adapted from an original recipe from Emilie Autumn, included with the first edition of The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls.

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (I recommend Greek yogurt)
2/3 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup corn starch
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tsp. matcha (powdered green tea)

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Place paper baking cups into a mini muffin tin.

In a large bowl, mix together the first six ingredients. In another bowl, sift together the remaining ingredients and, if needed, stir until the matcha is evenly blended. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture until just incorporated.

Fill the cups in the muffin tin 1/3 full with the batter and sprinkle granulated sugar on top of the muffins. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges.

Optional: serve warm with raspberry sherbet.

Inspiring Films: The Secret of Roan Inish

The Secret of Roan Inish is one of those movies that most people haven’t seen, or, if they have, they only remember it as “that one with the seals.” It’s a 1994 independent film, so it’s no wonder most people haven’t heard of it. I liked this movie as a kid, but never really thought of it as anything particularly special until I purchased a copy as a college student. I think I watch it more now than I ever did as a child.

A summary: Fiona, a young Irish girl, is sent away from her father’s work and life in the city to live with her grandparents in a fishing village. She hears stories about the family’s evacuation from their home on Roan Inish, her great-great grandfather, selkies, and her presumed-dead baby brother who was lost in the evacuation. And, as these stories take hold of her, she works to bring her family back to the island. It’s a simple little movie with a simple little story and I love it.

And it’s a great source of inspiration for mori (or hama) kei inspiration.

Things I Love For Summer

In this edition of "Things I Love...", we're talking about the things I love for summer outfits!

Gingham

I love gingham. It’s so darn charming! Gingham is pretty much the summer print, and it comes in so many cute colors! It usually comes across as very sweet, but the right cut can look just as nice in a classic coordinate.

However, I do tend to stay away from red and black gingham in my own wardrobe. It’s not that they’re not adorable – they certainly are – but they’re a little too picnic-blanket-y for my taste. My favorite gingham colors tend to be green and blue.

Eyelet Lace

I’m going to start this by saying that eyelet lace is not usually my favorite thing. My taste in lace tends toward the thick and fancy. However, eyelet lace and eyelet fabric are lovely for summer and I will make no attempt to deny that. Eyelet fabric makes a cute and summery-casual addition to an outfit as trim, and full eyelet fabric is lovely when made into a dress.

Sailor Themes

Sailor Lolita is a forever favorite of mine, and it’s especially charming during the summer. It conjures images of seaside adventures and boating. Sailor collars, anchor details, navy blue, and cute nautical details are just a fun way to add a seaside touch to summer outfits.

Straw Hats

I love straw hats, but I never wear them. Why? Because my head is large and I have a hard time finding hats that fit properly. *sigh*

Even if they don’t work on my head, straw hats are a great summer piece. They not only keep the sun off your face, but they look darn cute while doing it. Wide-brimmed straw hats are a unique choice that, with the right additions to the band, can look downright adorable. A more historical coord can use a straw bonnet. And, of course, straw boaters are a popular option.

The adorable straw hat picture from the palette above is from Freshly Squeezed Fashionista. She's a cutie and deserves your love.

Baskets

Summer is the perfect time for picnics, and baskets as accessories are a great nod to that. You can pick up a picnic basket or a basket purse to add an instant summery touch to your outfits.

Country Lolita

And, of course, along with the straw hats and baskets I have to mention country Lolita. Country Lolita is my perfect summer style because it is the coming-together of many of my favorite summer things in one adorable package.

Do you have any summer essentials that I haven’t mentioned? I’d love to hear about them.