12 steps to become a (gothic) aristocrat - continuation 2

(Me and my once again so goofy facial expressions.. Left picture with tons of make up and right picture with less make up.)
A very silly video of one of my outfits (the upper pic).

Hello, sweethearts!

First of all, I want to thank you all for following my blog. It really does inspire me more to explore and find more information to share with people now when I luckily have time to write again (after christmas I was very busy again, and that's why I need to be apologize for the fact that I did't have time to write to my blog frequently).
Sorry for the very big delay due to my unstable living situation. I have been without a proper internet connection for a long time..

But, how would it sound if I wrote something less aristocrat related to my blog sometimes: like what I have been shopping or doing, or what I'm thinking daily (I study philosophy too, so I have many thoughts that I would love to share with people sometimes)? Tell me your opinion! :)

The topics for my today's texts are:

1.) Basic clothes: skirts, pants and dresses

2.) Basic clothes: blouses, corsets and vests

3.) Basic clothes: outer and shoes

25.12.

Aristocratic style

"BASIC CLOTHES: SKIRTS, PANTS AND DRESSES"
I will add pictures later when I have a good internet connection.

Skirts:

The most basic clothing, and the most important too, is a good quality, beautifully draping long skirt with enough hem. There are many kinds of skirts with different cuts, colours and even prints available. Some skirts are also frillyer than the others, and some skirts have a high waist part (I usually prefer skirts with high waist because of my long back).

Pants:

Pants aren't very common clothing when it comes to aristocrat, but very useful if it's cold outside: You can wear pants underneath your skirt and no-one will notice, haha. That's one trick that I learned from the fact that it's ridiculously cold sometimes in Finland (it's not very cold today in South Finland, but in North and near Russian border it must be very cold).

Usually pants are very suitable clothing for more masculine aristocrat and look great with vests, gilets, jackets and goats of any length, and even with plain blouses.

There are many kinds of pants available for aristocratic style: high waist pants, leather pants, suit pants, historical lookin baggy horse riding pants (I don't remember the name in English) and even ripped jeans or what ever you prefer yourself. I personally prefer high waisted suit pants and leather pants with over the knee boots when wearing pants in aristo.

In pants the quality of the fabric and the fact that they fit properly (not too tight or too loose, and enough length) are the key things. If you want to buy good quality pants you should invest in them too - for example the pants that I use are tailor made at MaxMara for my long legs. Italian suits are pure love, but expensive too.

I used to dream of having a certain kind of pants from Moitié, but once I tried them on they were missing over 20cm of the length my legs require, so Moitié's pants are a total no-no for tall people.
I have been so unlucky with Moitié: I buy many things only to notice that they fit me perfectly otherwise, but the length isn't enough (especially when it comes to lolita dresses)... It makes me so sad sometimes, but luckily brands like Juliette&Justine and Innocent World have long enough dresses to offer for tall people too. However, Juliette&Justine's clothes are often so hard to find and I need to save some money before I can ask someone to go to some store in Japan for me - before I will have my trip there myself. Plus, I usually prefer European second hand because it's much more ecological than to buy from the other side of the world.

Dresses:

Then we come to one of my favourite topics: dresses in gothic aristocrat. Well-fitting dresses are very difficult to find online, especially if those are brand dresses and even more so if you want to find a long OP dress from Moitié. However, knock-off makers like FanPlusFriend make dresses with a reasonable, even cheap, price, but I can quarantee you that the quality isn't usually the same. That's why I prefer to make my dresses myself and wait before I can find a good enough dress from Moitie´or some other brand. I'm very picky when it comes to dresses although there are many beautiful and even suitable vintage dresses too (second hand, second hand!).

The most important thing in this case too is the quality and the way the dress fits - people should always remember to wear clothes that fit their own body structure. For example, for a long time I used to wear too big clothes on me because I didn't want people to see how skinny I am (I was bullied for years because of it), but recently when I got more self-confidence from modelling and from the fact that I realized that it's just okay to be skinny (I even get paid because of my unique looks), I have started to wear clothes that really fit and suit me. And people have changed their attitude a lot: before many of them bullied me and made nasty comments of my looks, but after I got my confidence and wore the clothes I really wanted to wear, they have started to tell me how much they like my looks or how much they envy me because of body structure.
Some people still make nasty comments on my looks, but you know what? I don't care, I'm proudly myself and won't hide myself behind the baggy clothes anymore. This is why I always talk about how important it is to wear well-fitting clothes and not to care what other people say. Arsitocrat and lolita have given me so much more self-confidence. u_u

Again, I went very off-topic, sorry.

There is a HUGE variety of different dresses around there, just decide what your style is and choose the type of dress that pleases your own eye.

~~

25.12.

Aristocratic style

"BASIC CLOTHES: BLOUSES, CORSETS AND VESTS"

Blouses:

Blouse is another big part of the whole aristocratic outfit. A well-fitting shape and size, and good quality (good sewing, good materials that drape beautifully (like certain type of polyester) and beautiful details) are the key things when it comes to blouses. Aristocratic blouses have often puffy sleeves, they aren't too tight and the materials are luxurious looking: beautiful lace and small details are very common in a good quality blouse, but if you cannot afford Moitié or other brands (such Western brands as D&G and Prada used to make beautiful blouses too) it's always a possible option to buy a very basic blouse and self-modify it into a bit more aristocratic looking by adding more lace, changing the buttons, making it a suitable jabot, altering the size and fitting etc.

Unfortunately, blouses are one of the most hardest clothes to make, but not impossible. By adding beautiful details on your blouses, you will make the whole outfit look more interesting and unique.

Corsets:

Corsets, especially the ones meant for tightening and the ones bought from regular gothic stores, are truly a very dangerous piece of clothing when it comes to aristocrat. Usually they don't suit the outfit at all, so I would recommand people to leave corsets unless they want to look more goths than aristocrats since most of the people just can't pull off corsets well enough. Corsets are a clische that is usually suitable for a very dramatic looking gothic outfit - and when I say "dramatic", I really mean DRAMATIC.

Only corsets that I personally prefer for my normal aristocratic outfits are not made for tightening and are placed under your bust. They are mainly meant to keep the skirt in place and your blouse beautifully still. Usually that kind of corsets keep your posture good too which is good since elegant look requires more than decent aristocratic posture. However, instead of corsets, I would use wide belts.

So, I would say that leave corsets behind, especially if you're trying to find your first outfit. Otherwise the risk to fail with your outfit is very big.

Vests:

Vests are very common in different aristocratic styles because of the fact that they improve the posture of the holder.

Vests also have this very historical vibe in them and that's why they suit styles that get their inspiration from 19th, 18th or 17th century clothing. However, be careful when choosing a vest! Make sure that the vest fits you properly and isn't too loose or tight, the length is very important too - if you're short, don't buy long vests and if you're tall, don't buy too short vests. It's very simple.

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30.1.2011 - a delay and continuation Aristocratic style

"BASIC CLOTHES: OUTER AND SHOES"

Outer:

Jackets and coats are propably the most expensive purchase when it comes to styles like aristocrat and lolita. However, a bad quality coat can ruin otherwise so good outfit and make it look trashy and unbalanced. That's why I would recommand (especially for the people that live in cold climate countries like Finland) to invest in a good coat, so that you don't need to feel embarrassed later. The best option for an aristocratic coat is an ankle length, long, beautifully draping coat with plenty of hem and corset tightening (not necessarily if the coat fits perfectly) . By adding little details, like crosses, rose buttons etc. you can make the coat look more interesting - it's the same almost everything: small, little details = instant win.

In this case I would prefer tailored coat and Moitié, FanPlusfriend has some great replicas too, but I'm not so sure about the quality of them. So, make the coat yourself or get it tailored for your own measurements.

I personally prefer a long coat with a big amount of hem and small details, like crosses and such. I'm currently working on a new coat and I'm still thinking the colour of it: black, bright blue or red?

There are many different options for coats and jackets. Some are shorter, some are a bit more "pirate"-like, gilet-like and some are much more detailed and there are coats for basically every possible style. Second hand is one very good option as well when it comes to coats and jackets - some suit jackets fit aristocrat perfectly too and by adding the details yourself it might look just perfect.

For only a bit cooler weather, a short (about elbow length or shorter) cape goes well alone, but also on your coat if it's very cold. For a cape it's even more important that it's well made and it drapes beautifully. A bad quality cape might ruin the whole outfit in my opinion. Little details on the collar and the hem of the cape, like chains, buttons and crosses are always a very good option as well. By adding a fur collar (real or faux) or a stole etc. on the cape or coat, the outfit will have this kind of a more complete and luxurious - aristocratic - look, if you know what I mean. However, if you don't prefer fur and don't like the thought of it, don't use it because in the end it's all about your personal taste and style.

When it comes to shoes, I would personally prefer long victorian lace boots, elegant platform boots with heel (especially with masculine aristocrat - look Kamijo's pictures to see what I mean) and in some cases even normal high heels if you're doing more casual style. However, I would say that the safest option is to use boots, especially victorian era inspired ones. You can buy very good ones from ebay with a reasonable price!

And for a very dramatic look, I would use shoes with lots of platfor (like the moitié ones, if you know what I mean - I'll upload the pics later) and for a bit more casual masculine aristocrat I would recommend flat shoes too, especially suit shoes depending on the outfit and style.

And when it comes to gloves, hats and bags, read about them on my next post! I try to write it as soon as possible.

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I will be adding some pictures soon and update information about new sewing commissions.

When I have finished writing this small information package about aristocratic style, I will change the subject a bit. My blog will turn into my indie brand's homepage and I will upload some designs and sewing very soon for people to see. I will announce more information about the new commissions on 20.3. - at the moment I'm working on seven different commissions including mainly hats.

the name of my indie brand is ~Rosa Nitida~ for now on. I hope that people used this name when mentioning my works and designs. :)

I would be delighted if some of you could advertise my blog and ~Rosa Nitida~. It would be highly appreciated. Thank you very much in advantage.

Feel free to ask, give concrit and comment. People's opinions are always highly appreciated and I will edit my text the more people tell me about their thoughts (especially if I have forgot something).

If you need help in finding yourself a good coat, shoes, accessories, hats etc. (or if you're having troubles in finding any clothing) feel free to ask me for help. :)

Thank you very much for reading again.

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful weekend!

Lots of love and hugs,

Iira