Historical sewing plans: inspiration

Dear readers, am I tired! The Japanese language proficiency test (日本語能力試験; nihongo nouryoku shiken) was today. I have to wait 'till September to get the results, and by then I'll be home already. I really don't know whether I made it or not. It depends on kanji I think, the other parts went okay. I did N2, which is the second-highest of a total of 6 levels. For a job in Japan you probably need N1 which is near-native, but I don't think I'll ever go that far.
However, now that this test is over, it's awfully clear that I've only got a month left in Japan! The lessons are almost finished, and in the last weeks I want to travel around a bit with friends (perhaps even to South Korea!).

After that, I'll be back home again. Back to my lovely sewing machine which I've missed so much <3
And then... I'll be sewing like mad! I've got so many plans! Mostly historical. A wonderful person gave me a wonderful book for my birthday: 'Patterns of Fashion' by Janet Arnold, the 1660-1860 version. I really want the other versions as well, but let's start with this one.

So, my wish list. I used to have Lolita Dream Dresses, but now I have historical ones. I do have sketches of the actual dresses I want to sew, but for now I'll show you my sources of inspiration. In chronological order:

1500's: Italy: Renaissance. Da Vinci & Lucrezia Borgia.
While I don't think the silhouette would look that flattering on me, I do adore the sleeves. I just love how elaborate and detailed everything is. The hairstyles, too <3 Plus, I've always had a crush on Leonardo da Vinci.

Da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine.

1600's: Holland: Baroque. Vermeer & the Dutch Golden Age. France: Louis XIV.

Again, I don't think it's very flattering, but I love it because it's my heritage. I have always loved the paintings from the Dutch Golden Age (Rembrandt and Vermeer, to name a few) and through researching fashion I've discovered even more (Ter Borch). It was the time of Louis XIV, the Sun King of France and, to me, epitome of luxury and love for arts and elegance. Holland was one of the wealthiest countries in Europe and arts like painting, music and architecture flourished. 

Ter Borch.

Vermeer.

The Sun King, Louis XIV. Most fabulous man ever.

1700's: France: Rococo. Marie Antoinette.

Cliché, probably, but whatever. I love the decadence of this era. I really want to try to make a robe à la française, with the double pleated cape-like back. 

like this.

but this is pretty too...

 

1800-1820: England: Regency. Jane Austen!
A brief period of simpler, classical fashion before the hoop skirts came back in the Victorian time. I love Jane Austen's books and I love the screen versions too, particulary the BBC-series of Sense & Sensibility and Emma. My secret goal is to make dresses based on 5 of Austen's heroines; Elinor & Marianne, Emma, Jane & Elizabeth. Of course I like Fanny and Catherine and Anne as well, especially Anne, but I don't have a specific image in mind when I think of them. And it would be a bit too much otherwise... (as if it isn't already!)

BBC's Emma: Mr. Knightley & Emma.

BBC's Sense & Sensibility: Elinor and Marianne.

BBC'
s Sense & Sensibility.

 1850-1870:  England: Victorian (but only a small part). American Civil War.
To be honest, I don't care much for Victorian fashion. This must be shocking because Lolita always claimes to be based on Victorian (children's) clothing, and most historical sewing blogs I've found swoon over the period, but I just don't like bustle skirts. But I suppose I can't get away with completely ignoring Queen Victoria's reign of 63 years and 7 months, so I'll post the dresses from her time that I don't find too bad (the ones with round hoop skirts instead of bustles).

The same dress, two versions: with a jacket for daily wear...

and bare shoulders for the evening!

The Young Victoria. Vic's wedding dress even has its own Wikipedia page. Quite an achievement!

Speaking about wedding dresses, wouldn't this one be marvellous?

 1900-1920: French Belle Epoque, English Edwardian, and a little later: Downton Abbey.
I've discoverd this era through Downton Abbey, although the series begins when the Edwardian era stops, and flows into the roaring 20's (which I love as well, but won't cover today). There are lots of pretty dresses to be seen on the Crawley sisters, so I've added many more to my wishlist.

 Next time I'll post some drawings of dresses I'm planning to make. I do fear that most of them will continue to be Dream Dresses instead of Real ones for a long while, 'cause I really won't have time to sew a lot... :(

More rain...

The rainy season, although apparently not as heavy as normal, continues to pour water down on Nagasaki almost every day. Even if the day seems to start sunny, sooner or later you'll be caught in a downpour. Therefore, I never go out without rainboots. 

I liked my first outfit with them, but patterned tights make everything better, don't you agree? They certainly cheer me up on gloomy days like these!

First try.

New version!

As you may have noticed, butterflies are a favourite of mine. I like them because they're colourful and playful, and the symbol of Psyche, the Greek mythological girl who became the lover of Eros/Amor. He symbolizes the heart and she the soul. So butterflies are not only pretty but also symbolic; all the more reason to like them :)

More butterflies, this time in the belt. It's a vintage one my mother found. When I was little I played Mary Magdalene in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar (though it's a bit embarrassing to remember) and we wore clothing from the 70's. I had a green dress with wide bell sleeves (and, if I remember correctly, shiny sequins too), and a belt with a butterfly as clasp. I think my mother bought me this belt because she remembered how much I loved that outfit (even though it probably looked ridiculous. I just loved big dresses!).
So, to continue the hippie-style:

Actually I don't think the boots look so good with this skirt so I cropped them off. 

And now for something completely different! Uniqlo has collaborated with Laduree (the macaron shop from Paris, as all of you probably know) and the T-shirts they've brought out are really nice and cheap.
So I dressed up as a pink cloud and a piece of candy.

 

These socks have polkadots and ribbons on the back and were not even 300 yen :3

 

Well, I'm going to leave you with this. The first version of my final paper on persecuted Japanese christians in the 16th and 17th century is finished, but I have a proficiency-test coming up that requires more studying...

More tights :3

Just a quick update about two new pairs of tights I ordered from Rakuten. I think I'm slowly turning into a Cult Party Kei-girl with all those pastels and patterns. I'm not very good at layering though, so I don't think I really follow the 'rules', but well, does it matter as long as it's cute?

 Angels, crosses and butterflies <3

EDIT: I got them from here: http://item.rakuten.co.jp/mzhw/tj-tjt148/ 

Yes, I do think I've become an addict...

Rainy days

The rainy season has officially started. As a Dutch girl I'm used to rain, but I can't say I like it! And Japanese rain is a lot more overwhelming than the usual Dutch drizzle. The season will continue for about a month and after that it'll still be hot and humid. Not ideal weather for fashionlovers, but we'll have to make do with it...

The Japanese are completely adapted to the rain in this time of the year. Umbrella's are everywhere, but when the rain is heavy your feet get wet too. A lot of people just stop caring and wear crocs, but I won't give in to that! Besides, in open crocs your feet will still get wet and I hate that. There are a lot of cute rain boots being sold, but most of them are sooo expensive... Of course I wanted the pink ones with polka dots but they're more than 5000 yen. I'm only going to wear them until the rain stops again, so I just don't want to spend too much money on them. These were the cutest ones I could find for under 2000 yen. I would've preferred higher ones, but they have ribbons so it's alright. Ribbons make everything alright.


(They're secretly from the old ladies' department, shh!)

Here's my outfit for today. Just for class, nothing fancy. The rain makes it cooler so tights can be worn, but I don't think it'll stay that way. Every day is hotter than the previous one.
Also, I got my fringe cut. The hairdresser absolutely loved my dip dye :)

it has pockets!

 

 These see-through umbrellas are also ubiquitous. They're super convenient and cheap, only 250 yen in the Daiso!  

 

And well... Because I'm vain I don't want to wear my glasses in pictures, but this is what I actually looked like :p

Bunch of outfits

Just an outfit-picture-dump with my freshly-dyed hair! I've dubbed the colour "radioactive Barbie", although, as I hoped and suspected, the colour is starting to fade a litte already after a few washings. It's a little more true pink now and less neon, though still very flashy.

Well, here are some outfits I wore recently, either to go to class with, to a party or just to dress up at home.

"School girl"



with my cute Rilakkuma phone case <3

 

I always wear some sort of cycling shorts underneath short skirts like these.
They sell those everywhere here, to protect the schoolgirls in uniforms from perverts' glances and strong winds.

 

"Casual Cult Party- if such a thing exists"

That's one of the cheapest but also most uncomfortable dresses I own.
Made of unbreathing polyester with a very itchy collar, and almsot entirely see-through so wearing something underneath it is absolutely neccessary. But yeah, cute.

 "Spot the butterflies"

 

"Romance"



The shirt is a bit unflattering but I like the way it looks like a dress when combined with this skirt. I really want some white lace dresses, I love that romantic, innocent look.

My hair is in those milkmaid-Timoshenko-braids because 1. it's long enough now (yay!) and 2. I wanted to somehow hide the screaming pink because it clashed horribly with the softness of the outfit.

 

And some from before the re-dyeing! (Okay, I'll stop talking about my hair now.)

 

 

"Cute little bear"

 

"Flowy fabric & flowers"

no head because derp.

 

Say hi to my glasses!

 That's a lovely scarf by the way, I was surprised to find such a beauty at Uniqlo!

Well, I suppose you've seen enough of me for tonight :p Bye bye~