Oct 26, 2012

My Style Outside of The FRILLS

This week's prompt for the Lolita Blog Carnival is to talk about your personal style outside of lolita fashion. Since Carnivale Salt is not strictly a lolita blog, you've heard me discuss many different styles, ranging from mori kei to western goth. While I am very interested in these fashions, and take a lot of inspiration from them, my daily style rarely conforms to just one. I'd like to describe my style as antique avant gothic, but the truth is that I'm not really sure how to describe my look. Even though I think I have a pretty interesting style, I'm not the most photogenic of people, and I tend to only take outfit shots if its a special occasion. The following is a smörgåsbord of photos from the past year so you can decide for yourself! From most recent:

Most recent and current hair and glasses combo... This look consisted of a mid-length long sleeved sweater dress and long pearls. Somewhere between Edward Gorey and Edith Head. Channeling 30's spinsters. September 2012

Another recent look from shortly before I cut my hair short. I was going for Moon Flamenco for the club and put lots of flowers on my head and wore a stripy blue ruffley shirt, snakeskin leggings, and leather wedges. September 2012

Wearing my hair down for a fancy wedding in Los Angeles. I'm the one with the big hat on the left. I wish I had a better picture of this outfit, but as you can see, it was very minimal consisting of my minipleat stretch column dress and a very big vintage portrait hat, accessorized with chainmaile earrings and Vivienne Westwood bag. One of my British aunts kept teasing me that I had to wear my hat at a jaunty angle, and not back on my head, because it looked too witchy! May 2012

Eyebrowless and bright pink hair for early spring. I had bright blue hair a few months after this, but I can't seem to find any pictures.... This picture was from Midnight Mess in Tokyo during my trip in March 2012.

More subdued pink last winter. This picture was taken of my boyfriend and I
at a speak-easy themed show at a local loft space. I was going for bawdy turn-of-the-century feminist.
Wearing pants and swearing at stuff. The boy is wearing a bike tube as a bolo tie! February 2012
More winter hair. I miss these glasses!!! I think they broke in my purse :(.
I don't remember what I was doing when this picture was taken.... January 2012
I wish I had more pictures to show you! I'm really bad at taking outfit photos, especially outside of lolita and club looks!! I'll try harder in the future!! This year in my personal style was all about un-naturally colored hair, interesting glasses, and thrifting a lot. I'm excited to see everyone elses posts on the blog carnival.

Oct 25, 2012

Chicago Lolitas' Halloween Tea 2012

This past Saturday, I hosted a tea for my local lolitas at one of my favorite spots, Russian Tea Time. When I first became active with the Chicago area lolitas in 2008, it was a tradition of sorts that the community held seasonal formal teas, usually one in the spring, one around the holidays, and one in autumn. Our first fall Halloween tea was one of my favorite meets, so I decided to continue the tradition and host another edition of ChiGothLoli Halloween Gothic tea.


Everyone together taking obligatory shoe shots!!
I was a little nervous about the turnout, but after everyone arrived, we had a large group of 19 lolitas and friends! The theme was gothic, but some people ventured out in their best bittersweet, oldschool, and classic looks. I really enjoy themed meets because I feel like it encourages people to look their best. Everyone really did well!

Said shoe shot. Mine is the velvet boot with lacey tight at 12:05!
I didn't get many pictures of the tea service or the party indoors because the lighting was poor, and also because I've featured Russian Tea Time's service before. As always, it was very delicious, and with generous helpings! I love RTT because I usually have a lot of left-over sweets that I can bring home and enjoy with my coffee the next morning (yes, I'm a sweets for breakfast kind of girl!).

Russian Tea Time has lots of beautiful dolls that harken back to folkloric Russia.
I've always loved them but never got any good pictures!
Thanks Nina for this snapshot!
After tea, the group of us meandered over to the Art Institute gardens for pictures, and then over to State Street to visit Sephora and Beard Papa's, a Japanese creme-puff shop very popular with the local lolitas.

Like everywhere else right now, Beard Papa's is full of pumpkin items for fall.
I bet a pumpkin creme puff would be really delicious...
Choices of creme puff shells at Beard Papa's. The cookie-top one is my favorite.
All in all it was a very successful meet! In addition to carrying on an annual past-time in our community, I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to say goodbye to my local lolitas because I am moving to Los Angeles in a few weeks!!! I'm so excited!!! I will miss Chicago but I'm excited to have lots of new adventures on the west coast. Expect many related posts in the future. This is what I wore to tea.

I wish I had a better shot of the details! My blouse is beaded and has a very beautiful lustre,
but it doesn't really show in the photos :(. ***
OP: Black Peace Now
Blouse: Vintage
Bloomers: Metamorphose Temps de Fille
Tights: Vera Wang
Shoes: Bordello
Accessories: F21, VoodooDolly
Coat: KidsYoYo
Stole: Vintage
Thanks for looking! Do you have any Halloween traditions with your friends or your fashion community?

Oct 14, 2012

Three Lolita Prints I Would Like to See

I'm a little late to the party for this week, but I recently joined a wonderful ring of lolita bloggers for our very own Blog Carnival! A Blog Carnival is a group for weekly blog prompt, and is intended to bring lolita bloggers together and help each other keep our blogs active! While my blog isn't exclusively for lolitas, I do dress in lolita fashion, and participate in the lolita community. This week, our prompt is about prints! I tend to choose dresses for their design rather than the print, but I do have a few things I've been dying to see.....

The Bug Collector: Butterflies, Moths, Beetles, and Bugs

"A moth, butterflies, and bees" by Wenzel Holler c. 1650
From my banner and previous posts, you've probably deducted that I love natural history, and I especially love early 17th century natural history illustration and engravings. I would love to own a lolita dress with a tiled, all-over print of illustrations of various insects, perhaps with labels and arranged in a grid like a scientific preparation. A black print on ivory or white would be beautiful, but colored illustrations against a solid background would be stunning as well. Perhaps with velvet or grosgrain ribbon trim.... I would love to wear a dress like this with a straw hat, doctors bag, and maybe a brass magnifying glass on a watch fob for a Victorian naturalist inspired look.

Surrealist Photography
"Composition" by Maurice Tabard, 1919.
The Met Musuem, New York
Perhaps an unconventional choice for lolita, but I would really love to see a dress with a surrealist photographic motif, maybe in the style of Juliette et Justine or Jane Marple. Surrealist photography usually is black and white, and has a collaged or layered composition. This kind of textural image could really be interesting in a textile, and could lend itself to interesting details, such as draped sleeves or hems, in a lolita dress! Surrealist photography often has sexual imagery, so one would probably need to choose a photograph that was safe for work!

Black Cats
Found on Tumblr
I know Angelic Pretty's recent release Cinema Doll features black cats, and there have been other brand releases featuring black cats in the past, but I really want something spookier!! I am the proud mom of a extra cuddly and really not at all spooky black cat, and I really want to own some related dresses!!! In spite of this, I haven't really been enamoured with any of the black cat prints that brands have released, and am holding out for more. Common Moitie, black cats on gravestones with skulls, please??

Check out everyone else that joined in on this week's topic:

Dark Mori Checklist


Many of you might be familiar with the Mori Girl Checklist, a popular meme that originated in the Japanese Mori Girl Mixi communities. To those not in the know, the Mori Girl Checklist is a sometimes tongue-in-cheek "code" for mori girl fashion and lifestyle. With the advent and evolution of the Dark Mori style, the idea of the Mori Girl Checklist has been appropriated as a code for Dark Mori girls. I find I identify with almost everything on the list!!! Maybe this is why I feel such an affinity towards this style <3 nbsp="nbsp">


Source: Finnish Lolita Designer Rosa Nitida


Dark Mori Style and Lifestyle Checklist 
Fashion:
  1. Wants to look like a witch or a dark fairy from the woods
  2. Likes to wear Dark, dusty colours, but also jewel and earthy tones.
  3. All white outfits can be pretty for a ghostly look.
  4. Vintage clothes are a must
  5. Antique, used or ragged laces and silks
  6. Flowers, Leaves, feathers, or antlers make pretty headpieces.
  7. Natural stones, bones, taxidermy and silver jewelry is best.
  8. Leather accessories (belts, pouches, cuffs, corsets…)
  9. Anything Furry could work
  10. Knitted Items, Handmade is best
  11. Layering is the key,
  12. Medieval, Victorian, Folklore and 1920’s inpirations
  13. Ethnic Clothes
  14. Hats. Big, quirky and always decorated.
  15. Floral patterns and animal prints
  16. Might have some Lolita or Steampunk inspiration
  17. Helena Bonham Carter is a great style icon.
  18. Dramatic silent movie make up, tribal paints or very natural look works fine.
  19. Legwear is fun to experiment with. Wearing stripey socks can add to the traditional witchy look
  20. Can look flirtacious, seductive at times. Corsets are welcome for this look.
  21. Crushed velvet
  22. Prefers Dresses and Skirts, longer the better.
  23. Shawls, ponchos and hoods.
  24. Laced up boots, pointy shoes, victorian heels and clogs.
  25. Braided hair, messy curls, or dreads are good hairstyles.


Lifestyle:
  1. Likes anything spooky or creepy
  2. Collects oddities
  3. Might be attracted by witchcraft and esoterism
  4. Might tend to have a « natural »lifestyle
  5. Believes in Fairies, and Spirits
  6. Crafty Girl
  7. Has a familiar/pet, and most likely a cat or rats.
  8. Rather solitary girl,kind of an introvert
  9. Might prefer Dark Music scenes, from traditional goth, ambiant to Black Metal.
  10. Likes Tribal Fusion Dancing
  11. Strangeness over Prettiness
  12. Loves books. Old Bookstores are a favourite place.
  13. Somewhat rebellious, strong willed and free-spirited, but still Lady Like
  14. Romantic, Melancholic
  15. Might have little quircks, superstitions
  16. Loves Tea
  17. Folklore, Fairytales, Legends and Myths from the North are favourites, but might like Oriental cultures as well.
  18. Loves antiques.
  19. Thrifting is a favourite activity
  20. Always thinks « warm and cosy »
  21. Might be a bit messy, but always with style
  22. Might drink alcohol on occasions. Mead and spicy wines drunk in a horn, or strong alcoholin a pretty flask.
  23. Collects bottles and fiols
  24. Likes to take walks in the Forest, after the rain, at dusk or event at night.
  25. Preraphaelites, Arthur Rackham, William Bouguereau or Brian Froud are favourite artists.
Originally posted by Strega's Forest over on Tumblr.

Oct 7, 2012

Witch from the Woods: Dark Mori Style

Collage from Tumblr. Photo sources: Strega's ForestFeather & Moss Curiosities, and Necrosarium


Within the last year or so, a buzz has been growing around the idea of a darker version, or sub-style, of the mori-kei style. For those of you not in the know, mori kei, or mori girl, is a street fashion look originating in Japan that embraces the aesthetics of a rural, woodsy lifestyle. Mori kei fashion is heavily layered, and often incorporates heavy knits and lace to evoke a charming, hand-made feeling. While many dark romantic types identify with the solitary, girl-living-in-the-woods ideals of mori-kei, we often associate ourselves with the darker aspects of the woodland fairy-tale: the woods witch, the wandering sage, the Miss Havisham, the village priestess, the Gretel.

Dark mori, sometimes referred to as Strega style (as proposed by Hydrangea Velours, curator of the tumblr blog Strega's Forest), or Black Forest Mori (as proposed by Shady Oaks at her tumblr), is the incarnation of this fashion that revels in the melancholy of the forest. Dark mori uses variations of blacks and greys where traditional mori kei uses whites and cremes. Raw edges and tattered lace are used to give dark mori garments a worn look. Accessories can feature dried flowers, branches, bones, horns, and raw stones, and makeup can vary between completely natural to elaborate and tribal.

Dark mori girls and boys can draw inspiration from nature, from the Northern Rennaissance and Pre-Raphaelite art movements, Gothic literature, bronze-age and pre-Christian civilizations, folklore, fairytales.... Since dark mori is a fairly new idea, there are a limited amount of definitive resources floating around the net. Although this is true, there are quite a few good tumblr blogs with a dark mori theme. Here are a few:

Strega's Forest - stregaforest.tumblr.com
Shady Oaks - shadyoaks.tumblr.com
Dark Starts - darkstarts.tumblr.com
A Dark Forest Girl (Lots of good all-white and "old-school" mori kei as well)
The Reliquatory (lots of dolly-kei too) - reliquatory.tumblr.com

I'm really enthused about this style and have been trying to dress within this vein. I hope I can make this blog a good resource for dark mori fashion!

Oct 5, 2012

Curious about Curiosity Cabinets: How to start your own Wunderkammer


Collecting is a hobby that can take many forms, but displaying your oddities in the form of a Curiosity Cabinet is the ultimate way to showcase your collection, and visually communicate your interests and aesthetic. Curiosity cabinets, or Wunderkammen in the original German, have a rich history and have been a popular method of displaying personal collections for centuries.

I adore their collection of crucifixes! 
Note the mingling of oddities with books....
Source: Tumblr
Step One: Acquiring a Cabinet

While not one-hundred percent necessary for a more general oddities collection, a nice touch, and really, the defining touch to your Cabinet of Curiosities is, of course, the cabinet! Finding a suitable display case can be a treasure hunt of its own, but there are plenty of options commercially available if you are willing to spend the money. Thrift stores with large furniture selections usually have hutches or china cabinets available that could be fitted to work, and of course, ebay always has (sometimes pricey) selection of antique apothecary shelves available for purchase. 

A quick google search for "Antique Hutch" turned up this beauty,
but its easy to find similar models at any local thrift shop. 

If you are on a budget, a bookshelf can do the trick. The possibilities are endless, but remember that the display is just as important as the collection itself, so make sure to choose something that really speaks to you! A nice feature to have is a light source. Though not mandatory, it's nice to be able to really put your collection in the spotlight.

Step Two: Beginning Your Collection

Traditional curiosity cabinets were comprised of a combination of natural and man-made artifacts. Collectors would display sea fans and shells next to plater casts of grecian statues and sometimes obvious fakes "proving" the existence of mythical creatures (such as the "Piece of Skin from the Serpent in the Garden of Eden" below). Although for a while these collections were considered educational, their real purpose was to engender awe in their viewers, and capture an appreciation for the world around them. As the Age of Reason dawned, the organization of these collections began to be more motivated by scientific method and were divided into classifications for research. Eventually, wunderkammen evolved into modern natural history and art museums. Art and artifacts were separated from natural specimens, and the gaffs and mythological pieces were removed all together. 

This specimen was a showcase piece in the curiosity collection of Charles F. Gunther, a successful confectioner in Victorian Chicago who was well known for his vast and eccentric collection. In addition to owning many legitamate and important historical artifacts in his collection, he also was the proud owner of pieces like this, "A Piece of Skin from the Serpent in the Garden of Eden". Cataloging textile pieces from Gunther's collection was one of my jobs when I worked at the Chicago History Museum!
Modern curiosity cabinets in many ways harken back to the original wunderkammen of the Northern Renaissance. Most private collections these days are not intended for methodical scientific study, but rather to express one's aesthetic and interests, and to display items which whet one's curiosity and wonder. Modern collections do not have to abide by any traditional guidelines. Mechanical wonders, art, dolls, things found on walks, urban refuse, your cat's meal remains.... the sky is the limit! 

Cased Victorian Butterfly Collection featured on Shop Oddities tumblr. Available on Etsy here.
All this thinking about collecting is very exciting but beginning a collection can be daunting. Like building a wardrobe, a collection should be fairly thematic if you want to clearly communicate an idea or aesthetic. It is a good idea to choose a theme for your collection, or narrow the things you want to collect down to a few specific kinds of items. Once you have a basic collection down, you can build from there. Some ideas for themes could be Natural History (bug collections, bird skins, articulated animal skeletons), medical paraphernalia, funerary items, or religious artifacts. Ideally, these things should have some personal significance, but they can also just be things you think are cool!!
A collection of glass eyes which belong to the last lady glass eye blower in the UK:
From the Royal Berkshire Medical Museum Collection. I would die to have these in my collection!
Since a curiosity cabinet is a central part of your home's decor, its a good idea to discuss your collecting plans with your partner or family if you share your home. My boyfriend and I are both excited to start building our own oddities collection, but we have agreed together that we will not be collecting any human remains, pickled things, or mortuary ephemera, on his request, and nothing associated with black magic/summoning on my request. We have agreed we want to stick with natural history artifacts, medical equipment, and religious artifacts. 

DIY Curiosity Cabinet from the Jewelry Tutorials blog, who run the EtsyMetals blog ring. The linked article talks about what they do to inspire them as jewelers, and maintaining a curiosity cabinet is on the list!
If you are on a budget, or just aren't sure what direction you want to go with your collection, its also perfectly acceptable for your wunderkammer to be made up of little things that have no significance other than that you like them. Your curiosities don't have to be valuable, or rare, or even beautiful to be special to you. Maybe the most important function of a curiosity cabinet is to store and elevate items that have emotional significance to you. To have them somewhere where you can look at them and remember those feelings and feel proud of the object, and not just keep it in a drawer. 

Step Three: Oddities Odds n' Ends

So you're ready to turn your collection into a full blown curiosity cabinet. Here are a few useful links for where to get things you'll need or want, inspiration, research sources, and other like-minds. I only have US locations right now. If you know of any others, feel free to comment and I'll add them to the list!! Happy collecting!!! 

Those nifty glass domes: 

Oddities shops: 
Obscura - New York, New York http://www.obscuraantiques.com/
Necromance - Los Angeles, California http://necromance.com/
Wooly Mammoth - Chicago, Illinois http://www.woollymammothchicago.com/
Loved to Death - San Francisco, California http://www.lovedtodeath.net/
Evolution - New York, New York http://theevolutionstore.com/

Museums and Public Collections:
The Mutter Museum - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 
The Museum of Jurassic Technology - Santa Monica, California - http://mjt.org/
Ripley's Believe it Or Not Museums - your local tourist town http://www.ripleys.com/weird/