12 Steps to become a (gothic) aristocrat - continuation

(Me and my very simple casual style about a year ago - I remember doing my English's exam at school before this picture was taken, so yes, I do wear both aristocrat and lolita at school too.
Photos by halktia @ Helsinki Winter Garden)

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Here I have a little Christmas related quiz to you all:

1.) Where did you spend your Christmas this year?

2.) What song would describe this year's Christmas the best?

3.) What did you plan to wear/wore on Christmas Eve?

4.) What would you say and do if I now entered to the place where you're at the moment and gave you a very big hug?

5.) If there was something negative to say about my blog, what would it be (and yes, I love concrit)?

I have become such a hug-giver lately...

~~

24.12.

"DIFFERENT STYLES"

Basic Gothic Aristocrat - feminine:

I would claim and be almost sure about the fact that the most well-known style in Aristocrat is this type of a feminine Aristocrat, as featured on the picture. There are many variations of this kind of Aristocrat, but the main feminine features stay the same in every kind of outfit: there's a long skirt, frilly well-fitting (not too loose or tight) blouse, accessories (hats, headdresses, gloves, rose corsages, jewelleries etc.), a coat or a vest and a handbag of many kind. And, as the title says, gothic aristocrat has naturally its gothic features too: dark colours (not necessarily, though, if you know how to pull of colourful gothic - it's possible to be gothic in pink too, you know!), crosses, roses and especially gothic make and hair up of certain kind.

It's VERY important to have the right kind of make up that fits your own style and facial features! Remember to use lots of foundation and fake eyelashes (not necessary if your own eyelashes are long enough, but I would still recommand those), no matter what the style is. Hair is one huge part of the outfit too and it should be done in a right way. Long hair is usually the best solution when it comes to aristocratic style because, as aristocrat is slightly historical fashion, women used to have long hair in 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Aristocrat has just transformed it into more modern and casual. So, wigs, curls or straight hair and detailed hair accessories (my personal favourites are prefer pearls, roses, hats and headdresses) are a must.
Just remember that this is only my own personal opinion and if you prefer less make up or don't want to do your hair, then you don't need to obey my tips, naturally. However, I'm trying to speak from experience and these are some very simple facts that I have learned by trying different things.
What I can say for now is that make up and hair are atleast a half of the whole outfit itself.

Skirt is usually NEVER placed on hips = skirts are supposed to be worn on your waist, not hips! I wonder why some people don't get this very simple fact (maybe because of the jeans - yuck, I absolutely hate them... jeans aren't even ecological). Even some lolitas don' get this very basic thing although it's a very important part of the whole outfit and look itself - it will make your legs look longer and your upper body smaller (unless you're obese since lolita is a style that makes people look much wider than they really are - even a skinny person like me looks almost normal weight). All in all, it creates an illusion that makes you look more elegant and doll-like. Okay, I'll stop the rant here, it went very off-topic once again.
Just wear skirts as they are supposed to be worn, god dammit! Haha.

Basic Gothic Aristocrat - masculine:

If here is a feminine side of Aristocrat, there must be also a masculine side too.

Basic masculine gothic Aristocrat is quite well-known too, but not as popular as the feminine side of aristo is. I would almost claim that it is because of the fact that most of the people that are into lolita/aristocrat/gothic styles etc. are girls or women. it's a shame because we need more masculine beauty in this style too. However, I know quite many girls that pull off masculine aristocrat very well - and that's something that is very admirable. I have tried it for a few times myself and every time I end up looking like a girl because of my tiny body structure (I'm tall, but my size size EU 34/US 4(?)) and too feminine facial features (round cheeks and small nose). However, now when I have tried the masculine version of this style, I luckily have a reason to stick with the feminine side of aristocratic style and lolita.

I would say that there are three type of masculine aristocrat:

1.) Men that wear feminine aristocrat, but make it look more masculine (almost like "visual kei'ish aristocrat" - like Kamijo's style when he sang in Lareine.. Oh, I absolutely love Kamijo's style, especially during Lareine - he was unbelievably beautiful with his long blonde hair and red lipstick)

2.) Women that wear masculine aristocrat (like some of my friends- I'm not sure if they want me to tell you that they are really girls, though, so no links to this one, sorry).

3.) Men that wear masculine aristocrat

So, basically masculine aristocrat can be done right with feminine features too, but the line between masculinity and femininity in aristocratic styles is very unclear. In the end, it's the person itself who decides what the style she/he wears is. However, few big and important differences in masculine aristocrat are that you can wear pants with your blouses (high waist pants, placed ON the shirt are usually the most elegant ones) and the clothes can be less detailed. In masculine aristocrat you do not need as many accessories either, and your hair can be cut short (although, I personally always prefer long hair, no matter what the style is). You don't need so much make up either, but some make up should be preferred too, though (in general, I like to see men wearing make up since it looks simply more elegant when your skin looks flawless and clean).

Often even as simple thing as a well-fitting black/dark coloured suit with elegant gothic details and accessories, like crosses, roses, walking sticks, bags and hats goes for an aristocratic outfit. It's so often all about the make up and hair!

Elegant Gothic Aristocrat (EGA):

EGA (Elegant Gothic aristocrat) is a style that is usually used when talking about Moi-même-Moitié's (Japanese brand that sells very good quality clothes for gothic lolita and gothic aristocrat - Moitié's clothes are designed by an artist and musician called Mana) aristocratic clothes and outfits that include clothes from this particular brand. I usually prefer to use the title EGA when I talk about Moitié's gothic aristocrat clothes, but some people do use it in diferent occassions too. It's not wrong either, but as a big fan of Moitié's clothes, I want to use EGA only with Moitié - otherwise I use the title "gothic aristocrat".

EGA includes both masculine and feminine sides in aristocratic style, and they are usually more or less gothic. Moitié prefers quite clean and simple cuts in clothing and high quality materials, so I can quarantee you that they drape beautifully on most of the people. However, many Western people cannot fit into Moitié's clothes since the max. waist in women's clothes is usually 64cm and in men's clothes 71cm. Luckily, I fit into those quite perfectly although length is always a problem. It's a sad fact, but styles like lolita and aristocrat simply look better on thin people (in most cases) - aristocrat is a great style for tall people, though! Outstanding height makes the whole outfit look more elegant and that way aristocratic - that's why models are tall too.

Moi-même-Moitié

Madame Aristocrat:

Madame aristocrat is a bit less well-known type of aristocrat, so naturally there aren't many people doing this much brighter and colourful style. Madame aristocrat is often much more accurate when it comes to historical aspects, and that's why corsets (underneath your clothes) are very popular.

The biggest difference in gothic and madame aristocrats can be seen in colouring: madame aristocrats can use red, brown, light colours (like in Rococo era) etc. etc. Even stripes and different prints that cover the whole fabric, and more decorative cuts in clothing (ruffle etc.) are typical for madame aristocrat. The variety of styles in madame aristocrat is much bigger than in gothic aristo mainly because of the colours and different patterns, as I mentioned.

However, the line between only historical clothing and madame aristocrat is very unclear sometimes, so as in any style in general, it's the person itself who defines what his/her style is.

Erotic Aristocrat (ero-aristo):

If lolita has its erotic style (ero lolita = erotic lolita), aristocrat must have that kind of variation too! As the title says, erotic aristocrat shows more skin or more underwear than normally. This type of aristocrat isn't maybe appropriate for public use, but it's fun for overnight parties with close friends and for photoshoots, for example.

Here's a photoshoot that we did with last summer with my friends (I'm wearing a bit different ero-aristo here):

10.7.2010

There are many kind of erotic aristocrat, but as I haven't had many chances to try this kind of style out, I don't know much about it. Few simple tips for girls, though (I don't know about men, I'm sorry):

1.) The less you are able to show skin, the better. Corsets and lace are extremely erotic and the more you can cover, the more interesting the outfit is.

2.) Beautiful hair and make up are even more important in this style, so make sure that those are well done.

3.) Show your shoulders and neck (neck corsets, and neclaces, pearls etc. are a nice touch too). As we all know, vampires do like necks and pale skin, right? Haha.

4.) Wear high heels and show your ankles.

5.) Wear light and airy fabrics.

6.) Keep your jewellery on - it makes the outfit look even more interesting.

7.) Smile and don't forget the elegance.

I don't recommand ero-aristo as your first outfit attempt, though. Try it out after you have the feeling of that you have experienced enough when it comes to your own style. It might be fun, who knows! Or atleast I had fun...

Casual Aristocrat:

As the title says, casual aristocrat is casual. With casual, I mean clothing that is appropriate for school or work, for example. Casual clothes are usually simpler and the whole outfit isn't as outsanding as aristocrat usually is: it includes atleast a simple long skirt/pants/suit, a blouse and only a few accessories. Hair should be done in a simple way, unless you have a wig, and the make up can be simpler too. In the end, it only depens on a person what he /she considers as casual - someone's casual can be someone's fancy. the most important thing in a casual outfit is that it should be comfortable and approperiate for the occassion.
I put an example of my own casual version of aristocrat at the beginning of this entry.

The difference between goths and aristocrats?

A so to called "normal person" doesn't usually see any differences between goths (especially Victorian goths) and aristocrats, and no wonder since those are often very similar to each other. These two types of gothic fashions have many similarities which why, I will say it again, the line between a goth and an aristocrat is very unclear if you don't know well enough about these both styles. I started as a goth, so I know quite well what the difference is:

The person is what she/he defines herself/himself.

However, I could list few differences that here that come to my mind when comparing goths and aristocrats to each other:

-Aristocrats wear more often the combination of a black skirt and a white frilly blouse.

-Aristocrats wear often Moi-même-Moitié, Atelier Boz or other Japanese gothic related brands

-Aristocrats' clothes are often much better quality because they don't buy their clothes from typical gothic stores, and they make many of their clothes themselves. It's almost a crime in lolita and aristocrat to use bad quality clothes that fit you poorly.! I won't be claiming that the best goths have poor quality clothes because, as I have many gothic friends, the best ones usually know that it's important to invest in quality too and many of them sew clothes themselves.

-The rules in aristocratic styles are much more strickt than in typical gothic styles: In aristocrat it's much more important to use enough accessories and do your hair and make up well - No, not "well".. I mean perfectly! Haha.

-Aristocrat includes stronger and more defined ideology behind it: romance, elegance, good behaviour, politeness etc. (Not claiming that gothic styles don't have this kind of similar ideology)

-Aristocratic style has also often quite many Asian features in it too because of the Japanese origin (although the inspiration has come from Europe, as I mentioned before).

+ many others

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BONUS:

Kodona and other boystyles:

Aristocrat shouldn't be mixed with so to called boystyles. It's almost as big mistake if you mix aristocrats with lolita. Aristocrats are often called as the big sisters and bigbrother's, or mothers and fathers of lolitas, kodonas etc. because of the much more mature look of the style.

I don't personally know much about kodona or other boystyles, so it's hard for me to tell more detailed information about them. Anyhow, I hope that the pictures that I put here help to see what the differences are. Boystyles are as their title says: more boyish, and lolita girlish.

However, if someone wishes that I would give more information about different boystyles, I can always ask more accurate info from my friends that know better about the styles. :) Feel free to ask me if you are interested.

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I hope you all find my text today more or less useful although the information and facts shared here are as basic as they possibly can be. So, don't hesitate to ask me for more detailed information and details. I will be more than happy to share my thoughts and opinions with people, and naturally I would be hoping the same from other people too.
So, no wonder that concrit is once again very highly appreciated. :)

As a Christmas present, I will be recording a video for you guys.

My friend is planning to interview me, so we will see what she comes up with. I hope you will be looking forward to that also, although I feel so silly every time in front of a camera, haha. I'm not sure yet, but because it's so timeconsuming to write subtitles on videos, i have planned to speak in English too.. I'm more or less nervous about it, so don't get mad at me if I say something silly. Haha.

I hope you all will spend a wonderful New Year as well!

P.S. So many followers already! Thank you for the interest towards my blog, everyone. I'm absolutely flattered by the fact that people have liked my texts. I hope that you will be following my blog in the future also.

Lots of love,

Iira