~~My Life, My Style~~

Inspired by a fellow Etsian's blog on fashion Whistling Gypsy , I decided to make my own "style file" and deconstruct my own unique fashion choices. 

MY Inspirations

~ Japanese Lolita Street Style!

~ Native American

~ Nautical

~ Japanese School Girl

For now lets look at Lolita...

~~ Japanese Lolita Style~~

This is probably the most influential of my inspirations.  Recognize the dress??  :-)

Every Sunday in Harajuku (Tokyo, Japan) on the bridge leading to the temple, young girls dress in the Lolita or cosplay styles and gather to talk, pose for pictures and otherwise hang out in their costumes.

While living in Japan a friend of mine and I decided to dress Lolita and BOY were we a hit.  As the only gaijin (foreigners) dressed Lolita we were a big hit for the tourists and other Lolita girls on the bridge.

What is Lolita?

~~Strangely it is based on a Russian novel by Vladamir Nabokov, a story surrounding a middle age man in love with a 12 year old girl.~~~

Weirded out yet?

Don't worry too much.  Lolita style is not as heavily connected to "sexually precocious girls" as it may have been from the start. 

Mostly it is based on Victorian and Rococo period clothing.

Japanese girls who dress Lolita mostly strive to look cute or beautiful rather than sexy.  There are also different types of Lolita. 

Gothic Lolita

~~Combines Lolita with gothic styles of the same period.  Think mourning clothing~~

Sweet Lolita

Personally my favorite Lolita style. This is more influenced by Rococo and Edwardian style (which I LOVE!).  In our picture above, my friend and I are definitely fitting the sweet style or ama-loli.  Pinks and other sugary colors are a MUST. 

You may have seen this kind of style recently popping up EVERYWHERE

Punk Lolita

Heard of Steampunk?? This is its origin.  This huge fashion craze started with lolita and morphed to include elements of fantasy, gear heads, goggles etc.  Those of you on etsy may agree with me that "steampunk" has gone a bit out of hand.  BUT it was once an interesting and unique underground style.

Wa Lolita

I saw this style alot in Harajuku.  This style combines traditional Japanese clothing with Lolita style.  See the wa lolita girl here?

Overall...

Lolita style fits with my love for all things history and culture related. Many of my jewelry items have Lolita influences such as these:

Click here to see more on etsy!

Click here to see more on etsy!

Click here to buy on etsy!

Click here!!

Back to my Personal Style

From the Lolita style I have taken away a love of LONG over the knee socks, lace and frills, big bows and soft colors.  Its so funny as I start to hit this style hit the American mainstream.  Walk into any Forever 21 and you will find: dusty pink and lace!

Love it!!

~~~~Virginia~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~As we know, Japan has gone through incredible hardship as of late.  It affects me deeply as I consider it a truly special place for me, and almost a second home. I stayed in Nagano for nearly 2 months in the mountains a few years ago, and returned again to study abroad in Tokyo for 6 months.  It was a short time overall but it was enough to feel at home. 

I fully plan on going to volunteer or aid somehow when things are more under control. I found a great site that can tell you more here:

Japan Volunteers

~~A Knight's Tale~~

As part of the Indie Free Spirits Team on Etsy I was completely inspired by a challenge presented to us, to design a piece representing our heritage and "Who do you think you are?".

It took about two seconds to figure out what I wanted to do and who I wanted to base my piece on.

My Great Great Uncle Gordon, the knight.

Although he passed away three years ago, during my childhood I had been able to speak with him at family gatherings, and even played his Steinway piano at his house in New York when I was 12.

Please ignore my 12 year old lack of fashion sense  Don't you love the ballet bun and scrunchie though??

My Uncle Gordon lived a full and interesting life. He's one of the few people I know who i can "google"  and find out nearly everything about his life. In fact the New York Times has his obituary online which you can find here

In short, he was a lawyer, graduated from Columbia Law School, was President of the Maritime Law Association of the United States from 1928-84, and during that time as an admiralty lawyer represented the Swedish America Line in the great case of the sinking of the Andrea Doria. 

The Andrea Doria was similar to the Titanic in its day, and when it sank in 1956 it marked the last great sea disaster before transatlantic flight became the usual travel rather than by sea. 

He edited the English translation of the Swedish book "Out Of The Fog, The Sinking of Andrea Doria" seen here:

Then, my uncle was knighted by the King of Norway, King Harald. This side of my family is very proud of their Viking heritage and my uncle was not any different.  He was also an accomplished organist and even got a job for my grandmother in one of the New York City choirs when he was playing for them.

And so, with his life in mind I knew exactly what I would design, an epaulette constructed out of antique blue fox fur my grandmother sent me.  The fur would harken back to our Viking heritage as well as back to a time when fur was not evil but fashion.

My Grandma had used pieces of this fur during the 60's to make a collar for a coat.  She had gotten the fur from my Great Grandmother Morton who worked in a textile factory long before.  We aren't sure how old the fur is but the lining is hand stitched. While many have qualms about using fur I have no problem recycling antique and vintage pieces.

Therefore my concept for the epaulette became this:

I wanted to make a piece with a connecting necklace of pearls and blue-green amazonite. The connecting piece was to be of three strands of pearls and chains, the number three drawing to my Uncle's ties to Christianity and his organ playing.  The pearls, while freshwater, link to the sea while the color of the amazonite look like a ocean water on a clear day.  The epaulette itself was created with a knight's armor in mind with its military edge and silvery blue colors. 

It transformed as I constructed it and I added blue grey feathers, and a blue shell from the beaches of Vietnam.

In honor of my Uncle's work with maritime law I also added a silver button from the Navy. It depicts an eagle clutching an anchor in its claws.  Silver colored flying swallows also flock along the chain with lines of freshwater pearls and amazonite. 

As for the photoshoot my friend and photographer, Sarah of Casablanca Color Studios and I went to Harkness State Park, home of Eolia mansion, the old estate of Edward Harkness in 1907.  It was a beautiful place for a photoshoot, the weather was still cold but the smell of spring was in the air. 

See my final product on etsy here!

~~Zombie Apocalypse~~

I don't know if its because of all the talk about December 2012, or the weird weather, the dying flocks of birds around the country, the unrest in the Middle East...orrr what?  But, for the past 6 months or so, and becoming more frequent, I have been having dreams of zombie apocalypses, including last night.

They tend to change from night to night, but last nights was the longest and most detailed. These zombies were like a hybrid, half the traditional monsters and half the zombies that I made up for a book I'm writing. 

In this one zombieism was contagious (airborne) and it started in the US but spread to other countries, like eventually Europe and the Middle East.  In the dream, I was exposed to it from a movie, that somehow had been embedded with the disease. My friends and I ended up fleeing to Europe and stayed there for awhile until the disease reached there too. 

Then there was weird stuff, like the wildlife going crazy.  I ended up somehow on the west coast and the buffaloes were going wild. 

Okay, this buffalo looks pretty tame.... but in my dream, they were smashing into people's houses. haha

Then, in a weird part, we flew back to the east coast, and I was eating dinner on the deck of my dad's house.  As I was eating, I looked up, and the sky was filled with thousands and thousands of planes, because apparently flights had been canceled until that day. 

The sky was so filled with them it glittered.

It reminded me of the strange apocalyptic dream I had two nights ago which was mainly about a solar eclipse and solar flare.

I'm assuming this one came from all the talk about the crazy solar activity this year, but what was different about this dream was the solar eclipse. 

In this one I was sitting out on my lawn at home, taking pictures of my eye (its a dream, it doesn't have to make sense) but suddenly the sky went dark.  I looked up and the moon was crossing into the sun, causing an eclipse.  Then as the sun became completely covered, a HUGE solar flare whipped around and flew over the earth, going over my head in a warm rush.

Super weird and creepy huh??  Do I have more of these dreams because I think about them more than other dreams I have?  Or is something going on in the world right now....

dodododododododo(twilight zone music)

~The Feather Debate~

So today I was trying to order more feathers from an online feather shop.  I ordered two of my usual long feather earring pads and finished the other thinking nothing of it.  Then I got an email from the seller saying that the feathers were no longer available. :-( He then sent me this:


Hi Virginia
I do not know if we will ever see the saddles again. With the popularity of earrings and hair extensions it has caused that breed of bird to possibly go extinct.
Thanks
Frank


Now I know for a fact this bird will not go extinct in the new future...as it is a chicken.  However it is a specially modified chicken that has been bred by fly fishing enthusiasts that use their long feathered birds for making flies for fly fishing.

These feathers are created through selective breeding by small time farmers.  They are not genetically modified, but rather selected. From people I have talked to they usually eat the roosters and don't let the whole bird go to waste. I've felt about as guilty using these feathers as I have eating a chicken sandwich.

Okay....maybe this one would make me feel a bit guilty....so cuuute.


However, I did just finish watching Food Inc.....OMG.

Now PETA has been shoving graphic images down our throats for eons...I understand based on studying non-violence, and Buddhism, but I don't when it comes to denying the fact that humans are omnivores.  HOWEVER, I REALLY don't agree with the fact that American foods are made out of cows that are being forced fed corn which causes Ecoli, or chickens that have been genetically modified to the point that they can't carry their own body weight....UGH.  Its not the fact that we eat meat that is disgusting...its the fact that we have turned meat consumption into a capitalist assembly line; that is disgusting. There is no respect for life or food anymore.

As Feathers of Artemis however, I have really striven to stick to a "Native American" philosophy when buying or finding my feathers.  In other words I am all about "recycling", I use what is no longer needed or I use the entire bird.  In that way I like buying feathers from hunters that eat the bird but have no need for the feathers.  Or I find feathers that have molted or even from birds that have died naturally (disinfected of course).  When I buy feathers that are on a pelt, I try to make sure that the whole bird has been utilized rather than thrown out. 

 However, if this growing trend for earrings and hairpieces forces these small companies to go big, I don't know if I will continue to buy these feathers.  What are your thoughts?

I Heart History Challenge~Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette, my original inspiration for starting Feathers of Artemis.  It all started with a painting. 

I had designed the painting as a tribute to a gate I had loved in Japan.  The gate was beautiful, ornamented with dragons and phoenixes on the top, but nearly bare underneath.  

The gate, as I was told by an old man, was so beautiful and heavily ornamented on the top, yet it was nearly a ruse, as it was truly the base that was most important.  The ornamentation of dragons acted as guardians, yet only through the plain part of the gate could the Emperor himself only pass

My painting reflected that, with the ornamented top, but it was her long smooth bare back that was the portion only touched by kings. 

It was then I made the headband

It was my modern version of Marie Antoinette. She had lost her model ships, live birds and towering hair  (in fact, lost her whole head..)

Instead she was simpler, like her days she spent frolicking in le Petit Trianon. The pink feather was adorned with golden shells I had gathered walking the beaches of Florida, and nothing else.

She was simple, but just as elegant as ever.

Want to know if my earrings are durable? They have been field tested...by 30 Seconds to Mars

WOW!!!!!  All I can say is WOW!  What a night. SO for all you out there who don't know 30 Seconds to Mars is:

Nom nom.  Lead singer Jared Leto.

So last night my best girlfriend and I get ALL gussied up to attend his concert.  I mean the whole nine yards.  BLACK makeup, fake eyelashes, cute dresses....etc.  I also made us earrings especially for the concert (OH and purple feather hair extensions).  My earrings I took a lot of time on, with long black feathers, chains, and even swallow charms and a tiny key on each.  Little did I know the BEATING they would receive.

First of all, a 30 Seconds to Mars concert does NOT bring a pretty crowd.  I am talking some husssskky, tough ladies out there, and for some reason many of them over the age of 40. It also brings out some, for all better words, DOUCHEY guys.  I'm sorry, its a 30 Seconds to Mars concert, not Slip Knot, not Metallica...ITS NOT OKAY TO HIT GIRLS

Here's my story:
So when the concert started ALL HELL broke loose on the earth. Okay OKAY, its Jared Leto.  Mega movie star and eye candy, not to mention a great voice.  But as soon as he came on stage me and my friend just go, "Oh no, he's a dirtbag".  Sunglasses at night and a full poncho cape thing? nono...

Anyway, so suddenly from behind I get VIOLENTLY shoooved.  Not just a crowd surge, but jabbing elbows pointed directly at my upper back.  I get shoved so hard that apparently I dropped my purse, which luckily got stuck to my friend's dress.  I look behind me to see this SHORT nasty guy, literally trying to pummel me to get infront.  So as I watch him try to hit me again, I freak out and SWAT at him to get off me. He freaks out and starts yelling at me for being a girl and not being able to handle a concert.  Then he goes after my friend! Yeah the crowd is moving, but he is going elbows first into my friends back.  So yell at him and swat him away again!!! Then he's after me.  He's freaking out, whining his ass off as his little girlfriend backs him up.  Now I have the girls in the crowd on my side.  They start yelling at him too, cuz they are getting pushed by me into them because of HIM. I start to signal the security guard and then finally I notice where I have been pushed....CENTER STAGE FRONT ROW.

Finally the crowds move around enough that the nasty guy is no longer directly behind me.  Then my best friend almost gets into a cat fight!  Some crazy girl is flailing around and freaking out to get in front too!  My friend, being a gorgeous 5'8" girl just laughed at this tiny failing thing, pointed to that girl's boyfriend and said, "Control your bitch"....direct quote.  The end.

So now the worst of the crowd surging is over and we are able to FINALLY enjoy the concert.  Unfortunately Jared Leto incited the crowd, encouraging them to crowd surf and get up on others shoulders. MORE THAN once my head was used as a launching point for people. (Guess being a 5'10" girl in heels is sometimes a bad thing at a concert). And yes, my long hair AND my brand new earrings were being pulled every which way.  I really expected to see bits of my hair and feathers everywhere at the end.  BUT guess what!  These earrings held up!!!!! Even when things got EVEN crazier.

Now I had been making eye contact with Jared Leto since I got to the front.  (Guess being a 5'10"girl in heels is sometimes a good thing at concerts).  He even yelled at me for not waving my hands in the air when he told me to.  SO at the end when he was inviting people onstage, guess who was invited up with him. MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Oh wait, girl behind me FREAKS out, thinks its her and LEAPS to try and get over me.  Onto my head.  OW.  Oh, and the earrings are still holding up...

Then Jared Leto points at me again and goes, "oh nono, this one, come on up".  So I am lifted out from behind the gate by the HUGE security guard that somehow takes ALL my weight and lifts me over like a rag doll.

The rest is history, just an epic moment for me and my friend (who got the security guard to let her in as well). Have to say though, Jared Leto is a BIT cracked out looking in person.  But it was still awesome and we sang the last song with him on stage. :-)

And guess what, my earrings were STILL in one piece.  Fan tested, 30 Seconds to Mars approved.

You can BUY these earrings Here!

How to Prune Your Feathers AKA Feather Care

Many people when they look at my feather earrings or necklaces, they worry about how to keep the feathers in-shape and wonder if they are durable.  In fact, its pretty easy to keep your feathers looking gorgeous for years! Here are a few simple tips.

1.) Hang or Lay your feathers on a flat surface!  There is nothing worse than when I forget and shove my own feather earrings into a jewelry box and later find them bent out of shape.  But if that DOES happen, no fear, there is another trick to fix them!

2.) FLAT IRON!!  Believe it or not, a flat iron that you use on your hair is PERFECT for flattening feathers as well.  They are in fact very similar to hair. Just be sure that your flat iron is on a lower setting so that they don't burn, and run the feathers flat through the iron. 

3.) In case they get WET, still don't freak out.  Once again, remember that feathers are very similar to hair.  What happens when you have unwanted wet hair, you use a blow dryer!  Do the same with your feathers!  Just be careful of any metal bits as they will heat up easily and burn your fingers!

4.) Last but not least, avoid getting your earrings dusty!  Feathers have natural oils on them that keep them in shape, and too much dust on them is hard to get off with out hurting the feathers.  Frequent wear will keep that from happening!! :-)

To go to my Etsy site and buy your own feather earrings!!