Parasol Tips For Summer

Summer is here! It is June, and for those of you that aren't under the current gloom that currently hangs in heavy clouds of the Highlands, there might actually be sunshine. 

There's two ways to go about parasols; one is going for the proper lace and/or fabric parasols designed soley to keep the sun off and look amazing while doing so, and the second is just to use your umbrella (which actually means shade!) which is good for both the rain and still keeps the sun off if in a dark and opaque colour (obviously transparent ones don't work so well, and can actually act a bit like a greenhouse in the summer!) and are also an option for those who think actual parasols are too frilly and fancy. If anyone asks you why you have an umbrella up in the sunshine, just look confused at them and say "to use as a shade??", because they are clearly not being practical! If you live somewhere like Britain where the summer weather is highly changeable, having a shade that is also waterproof can certainly come in handy. There are also quite a few Goth and Goth-friendly designs for umbrellas on the market, so it should not be difficult to find one that suits your tastes. 

When it comes to lace parasols, not all are made equal; for one to effectively act as a shade, the main canopy needs to be as opaque as possible, which means either a dense lace, or a mixture of fabric and lace. Do not be fooled by the costume parasols with thin, open lace; often the lace is not very pretty in person, the mechanisms cheap and break easily (I know this from experience, buying a few when I was an inexperienced babybat) and they provide very little shade. A white and opaque parasol will reflect light away as well as shade you, and can be incoprorated into both all-white outfits and black and white outfits, whereas a black parasol while more traditionally Goth, can itself get quite warm. A black fabric parasol with white overlay would be best, both aesthetically pleasing and reflective on the outside and absorbent on the inside, so that sunshine that gets under the parasol is not reflected back onto you! Also, all sexes and genders of Romantic Goth, Gothic Lolita, etc. look equally awesome with parasols; they are not a gendered thing. 

A D.I.Y. option for a parasol is to take the mechanism of an old umbrella, strip off the waterproof fabric/plastic carefully, and copy the pattern in a fabric of your choice. This is a good option for those who don't like the lacy aesthetic of the traditional, Victorian and Edwardian style of parasol. You can opt for bold stripes, or a funky Halloween fabric, or do something really cool with block colours and the remains of ripped up tights for a Deathrock or Horrorpunk style. The limits are the limits of your creativity and skill! I will making a "Frankenbrolly" later this summer by using the ornate handle off a wrecked vintage umbella, the canopy from one of the pagoda-style umbrellas, and a new metal pole for the shaft, ready for autumn (not when the rain begins, but when the rain intensifies...) and I will post that up here when it is made, with a bit about how I do it.

Red Hair, Black Ribbon and White Lace

❀ Summer ❀ Meadow ❀ ❀Anachronism❀

It is still Red & Black Week, the bloggery event being organised by Victorian Kitty of ::Sophistique Noir:: and this is my second Red & Black Week post, although as the photographs are only from the bust upwards, they are mostly white, which while making for fabulous photographs (thank-you Raven! check out his photography business at ::Chance Photography::) is not really inclusive of a lot of black. This is because the original plan was to wear my floor-length tatters skirt (the one featured ::here::) but two things happened that meant I had to wear rather boring trousers out into the meadow instead. The first was that I stood on the hem of the skirt and tore it (oops!) and the second was that it had rained recently, making the grass rather wet and full of slugs and snails, and I was not really wanting to pry slimy creatures off my skirts nor to wander around in skirts soaked and muddy for the bottom inches. 

By the time I went out into the meadow, on this occasion only for photographic purposes, the weather had cleared up significantly, and the view behind me across to the mountains was gorgeous. All these lovely photographs were taken by Raven, who is rather wonderful with a camera. I did the digital editing because I wanted to give everything a summery glow and he's not into doing that sort of thing. Raven spent as much time photographing the view as he did me! Just so you know, I haven't really changed how I look apart from the colour balances and contrast. 

Gazing into the distance.

Photo by Raven, Tweaked by Housecat

While on that occasion I was in the meadow to model my outfit, more often I am there as a beautiful place to sketch or paint in, for even if I am not drawing what is around me there, it is such a pleasant place that makes me feel inspired. I have the same attitude about drawing in the garden, although as my garden is a tad over-looked, I tend to wander across the street to the meadow instead. 

The meadow I am standing in is literally across the street from my apartment. It is on the brow of a hill, with glorious views down, across the river and to the mountains. There was still snow on the mountains a couple of weeks ago! Trees shade parts of the meadow and a burn (stream) runs through it. I feel very lucky to live in such a beautiful place. When I moved to Scotland it felt not just like moving to a different country but to a different world, as if I travelled to Middle Earth. There are castles in the midst of lochs (a sort of lake), snow-capped mountains, ancient standing stones and a history that blurs with myth and magic. 

What is that deep and profound thing out of shot?

Photo by Raven, Tweaked by Housecat

This outfit, however, is not inspired by Scottish history or even by Tolkien-esque fantasy, it is inspired by a this ::recent post:: (post contains painted artistic nudity) at ::The Kissed Mouth::, an absolutely fascinating Pre-Raphaelite and Victorian-Era art history blog that isn't the least bit stuffy. I loved all the elegant ladies wandering about outdoors in beautiful white and pastel dresses. While I am no fan of pastels, I do rather like their outfits, and I am prepared to wear white, even if usually in stark contrast to black. Generally, I simply prefer darker, richer colours. 

♫ A daydream believer... ♫
Photo by Raven, Tweaked by Housecat

It is also pretty much the type and style of outfits I was wearing back a short while ago where the temperatures soared to 33℃ according to the thermometer in Raven's car, and when I would have probably ended up with heat-stroke if I had worn all black. When the weather gets that hot a lot more white and grey enters my outfits, despite my usual preference for darker hues, and I wear lots of cotton and looser clothes. The tatters skirt is wonderful in that it is warm in winter and cool in summer, and I can wear thin stockings or even bare feet and sandals with it in summer, or layered thick tights and long lace-up boots in winter. 

Dandelion Clocks

Photo by Raven, Tweaked by Housecat

As it was rather warm out, I opted for minimal makeup. Instead of lots of foundation and eye-makeup and such like, there is just sun-screen, primer, and concealer with a bit of kohl around my eyes, a touch of silvery white eye-shadow  and some bright red lipstick to match my hair. I keep my skin clear and youthful by not wearing much makeup most days, washing my face with water, drinking well and remaining hydrated throughout the day, and wearing sunscreen. I even wear sunscreen in winter if it looks vaguely bright out. I am terribly pale by nature, and if I burn I go very red indeed, and if exposed to too much sun, but not enough to actually burn me, I develop freckles.

This outfit is not really Goth at all, definitely more in the lands between general anachronism and Aristocrat and Japanese street-fashions and subcultures. I guess bright red hair is too vivid for historical anachronism and probably also for Lolita and Aristocrat fashion, but as I like it I will ignore that. I am far more interested in keeping cool in a physical sense and appeasing my own tastes than in abiding by the "rules" of subcultures and fashions. It sort of boils down to "It's a free country and I can sit in a meadow in white lace with a parasol and bright red hair if I so wish... Unless there the grass is wet and there are too many slugs, which will ruin my dress and force me to stand."