29 October 2012

Burlesque Gala!


Oh well, I've been so much away from the internet lately that posts are coming a bit late, but please bear with me! Let's take a little step back on the time machine, to the 20.10. Saturday night.

The night was full of clouds of glitter, seamed stockings, corsets, stunning glamour and wonderful people, in other words burlesque  Me and Hanna were together on the move again, this time in the dazzling Finnish Burlesque Gala Night that was held in the historical restaurant of Kaisaniemi. We didn't shimmy shimmy shake our booties on the stage, but we did work that night, selling shirts and chatting with the audience. Our cute title for the night was the old time Tobacco girls, and here's our costumes! We did the hats and the mods ourselves, glueing the final details to the last minutes as always. ;) If I ever make preparations perfectly in time, mark my words: it will be a bizarre event..


dress ~ Criminal Damage + DIY  / hat ~ DIY  /  boots ~ Minna Parikka  /  seamed stockings ~ What Katie Did
girdle ~Cherise  /  gloves ~ 2nd hand / tutu ~ Hanna's / belt ~ my sister's
tired and happy at 3 a.m.!


Sadly I don't have any pictures of the wonderful-as-always performers since I was mostly working, no time for swaying in the front row with a camera. All the glimpses we got were amazing though, I really love this underworld of glamour, tassels, joy and imagination. 


Kisses and hugs for everyone that I met that night, if you're reading this!

24 October 2012

Carnival of Souls


My brain is still spinning on rusted, heavy wheels after the weekend in Helsinki, but fun days and sleepless nights always take their hard toll. The weekend was made of treasure hunting, burlesque, a small bootcamp and veggie sushi to name a couple of things, but also a carnival of glowing lights. And that's what this post is all about.

These pics are from the Carnival of Light in the local amusement park that was just around the corner, and we went to absorb some of that warmly gleaming atmosphere in. I have a thing for Ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds (preferably abandoned) so I felt extremely excited to visit that place after so so many years! Chilly autumn air, circus lights, screams of excitement and fright all over the place and a slightly tipsy head in a good company went surprisingly well together. 

(I also felt damn lucky that not even a single clown crossed my path, you can't even begin to imagine the terror in my eyes if one of those red-nosed monsters would approach me..)



These are my dear siblings (one brother is missing here), and I kind of wish I had won those cute brown eyes in the gene lottery too!



The pictures aren't too great due to my little camera's capacity and the amount of natural light (and the lack of concentration, thanks so much red wine), but I wanted to share a glimpse of the enchanting ambiance in the park. :) I hope you enjoyed these pics, by now all those lights have shut down for their winter sleep.

18 October 2012

The Philosophy of Time Travel


Just an ordinary Sunday stroll with Hanna, a sweet friend of mine. Cruising in the time machine and all that, something that all normal folks do on Sundays. ;)

Well actually we just took some pictures on this little wooden bridge by the riverside and later on we took a walk in the city. For a moment we pretended to be travellers lost in time (you know, gasping at auto vehicles, modern people and such) and somehow I felt so deeply alive. At some point I laughed so hard that I almost cracked a rib in that tight corset of mine, in other words we had the most wonderful day!


The hat is vintage, the resin skull from MoonRavenDesigns, the brooch from Hyde's Vice, the shirt is Princess Coldheart by Lip Service and strangely enough, the skirt was made by me! And I'm pretty proud of it! I had no instructions, patterns or expertise in this kind of clothing, but all you really need is a reference picture, an ounce of enthusiasm, some conception of skirt's patterns, logic and a great deal of fabric. But confidence is the main ingredient in the process, anything is possible if you trust your own skills in something.

(Except maybe with flying, I really wouldn't recommend jumping off high buildings just because you believe you can fly.)



Frankly my dears, I wish I could dress up like this every day, but the modern world and time schedule is too difficult and hasty for this kind of attire. And I like my more modern style way too much to let it go for good, so this is more like fantasy, an ideal of how I could look like. For a long time I've thought that I'll start veiling myself with Victorian outfits more when I'm older, somewhere between 30-40, but now I think I might do it occasionally at this age too! You never know how much time you have in this life, so planning too far in the future is altogether silly.

And here's another silly thing; little giddy gif animation to show the mood of the day! I hear the call of the train again and I probably won't be back until next week, so I wish you all a lovely weekend!



16 October 2012

Alice in Wonderland Pop-Up!



I believe it's needless to tell you how much I love Alice in Wonderland. There's just something special about this story that draws me down the rabbit hole year after year; the mad and uncanny characters, tea parties, white rabbits, nonsense storyline, and the whole package really! I also have a keen affection in the art of pop-ups, so you can easily imagine my expression when I opened the first page of this masterpiece by Robert Sabuda.  I've got at least ten different Wonderland book versions and this one's definitely one of the best. Here's some sample pics!:


(And if you can't imagine my face when I opened this, it was something like this in the world of smileys: :----O  immediately followed by this: ___♥ )



And here's the last page, which was also my favorite from this bunch! The card attack blew me away and I can't imagine how long it took to create that, crazily talented people work in mysterious ways.




And here's the book in motion! (the video isn't mine in any way.)


 I'm already planning to get the other books as well, I know there's at least Peter Pan and 
the Wizard of Oz still waiting for me out there. I hope you enjoyed this post! :)

8 October 2012

"I guess some people are just born with tragedy in their blood"

dress ~ Skeleton Key Dress by Lip Service  /  trench coat ~ Asos  /  shoes ~ Arrogant Minnie
bag ~Lindex  / necklace ~Etsy (Dahlia Deranged)


Saturday night's outfit, featuring spine heels, little black velvety dress and hair that was still partly wet after the shower. Well, sometimes there's just not enough minutes for a proper hairdo! We also had about five minutes to take the outfit pics before the dark night wolfed down what remained of the daylight. 

And when the darkness fell upon this part of the world, we had a truly relaxed and fun night! Just the two of us hanging out at home couch and celebrating my birthday. With loads of delicious drinks and some great autumnal movies, naturally. Including one special favorite, Donnie Darko. If you haven't seen it, you definitely should! It's simply brilliant, the characters, the soundtrack, the quotes, the philosophy of time travel and the whole package really, I love it. And I swear that I'm going to dress up as Frank some Halloween!




This year's costume for All Hallows Eve is already decided, can't wait to put it on. It just needs a few adjustments and I'm good to go! Have you got any plans for your costume yet? :)