Keeping cool in style over the years… Nuffnang Competition!
Oct 18, 2010 by Violet
This post was sponsored by Nuffnang and Panasonic Air Conditioning.
For more information on sponsored posts please click here.
Over the years I’ve gone through a whole lot of styles. I didn’t always like pink things, in fact when I was growing I was the biggest tom boy! I’ve been going through my wardrobe to clean out and make space for things and it’s kind of been like taking a journey back through time!
I’m pretty happy with my current style. It’s not perfect but I think it represents me pretty well where I am in my life right now. I wouldn’t change it for the world.
| But I’ve been at a lot of different stages in my life and each had its own look. Not many of you might remember but when I started my blog I looked more like this:
That shade of red has always been my favourite, I spent a year in it then and maybe 4 years with that colour in high school. My look was much more toned down during this time. Even before then I had short black hair like this…
Back in those days I was a Lolita. I wore Lolita clothing pretty much 24/7 and I loved it to death. I was obsessed with it completely and uncontrollably.
I couldn’t find any photos because before that I was quite camera shy so I made you an artist’s representation of how before that… I was really into punk and alternative styles! I wore red eyeliner all the time and I had spiky blue extensions. I even had blue/green hair at one point but I still can’t find photos of it on my hard drive. Apparently I was wearing this style was before I understood the importance of labelling photos for future reference! XD
Back in those days I was also a pirate ;) Historical re-enactment for the win! I need more excuses to wear my corset again!
Now you’re probably wondering what the point of this is right? Well the one thing that all of those fashions have in common is that they are full of layers and very un-summer friendly. Australia is hot. With the exception of Melbourne right now everywhere I’ve lived in Australia has been ridiculously hot. If I was picking fashion based on climate I pretty much failed miserably. So the question is how do you keep cool in summer when you’re wearing like 20 billion layers of clothing? I’m not proud of this but…. A funny thing happened when I was going through my accessories section. I picked up an Angelic Pretty bow and it was exuding Lolita…
So much so that I was accidentally pulled through a time machine vortex which was swirls and swirls of petticoats and frills. I was lucky not to be crushed by the sheer weight of the petticoats.
It took me back in time… but as I didn’t have a camera for my magical adventure you’ll just have to make do with my time machine induced “artists representations”. This was me:
Unfortunately this was the climate I was in:
See the thing about Lolita clothing is that under the dress is a blouse, under the blouse is a petticoat and under that petticoat modesty says wear bloomers… plus socks or stockings. Pretty much the only places you’ve got to sweat are your knees and arms if you’re wearing a short sleeve blouse. In Summer it’s not fun. Bloomers are great for protecting modesty but they are also insanely hot to wear under so many layers!
But I was a crafty Lolita.
I used a trick which has been in play since fridges were first invented…. underwear (in this case bloomers) in the freezer!
Epic cool = EPIC WIN!
And this allowed me to be cool and breezy as I did the miserable walk to the train station to work in the mornings.
Hopefully you enjoyed my little walk back through memory lane ^_^ COMPETITION TIME!! So Panasonic and Nuffnang are holding a giveaway for those of you who are just coming in to Summer (like me ;_;) Panasonic have just launched a new range of Eco air conditioners which are aparently both smart and stylish. They’ve even won awards like “Good Design” Award. They have also launched a smart phone application to help people with choosing an air-conditioner easily. Here’s what they say about it:
They are also starting to make little webisode things to explain the technology in simple terms. Here is one of the videos/TV Commercials from their site: So the prize for this competition is an air-conditioner from Panasonic’s new range PLUS the installation into your home! That’s pretty damn awesome, I want one… I need an aircon XD What you need to do is leave a comment answering the following question:“What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done to stay cool in summer?”You know what my craziest thing is so I’m looking forward to hearing all about yours :P This competition is for Australian residents only and you can view the full terms and conditions here and the information from Nuffnang here. *edit* Please note that the date has been extended until the 25th of November. The updated terms and conditions can be found here: http://www.nuffnang.com.au/wp-content/themes/nuffnang-2.0.1/uploadedstuff/2010/11/Terms-and-Conditions-of-Entry-for-Panasonic-Air-Conditioner-competition-v2.pdf The update Nuffnang information is here: http://www.nuffnang.com.au/blog/2010/10/18/competition-win-a-panasonic-air-conditioning-unit-just-in-time-for-summer/ Good luck, I hope you enjoyed this post and I can’t wait to see your entries! |
LOL this post was hilarious, it’s awesome to see all of the fashions you wore before you got into hime-gyaru! Too bad I’m not in Australia, I want an air-conditioner! xD
I want one too ;_; Haha I’m glad you enjoyed the post!
Hehe it’s really cold here in Canada… but summers, as short as they are, are REALLY hot and humid! Even if I can’t participate, I thought I should share a little story! I live with my parents and in the basement, my dad has a room that he transformed into a wine cellar. This room is like a gigantic fridge; it’s always really cold in there and it’s locked. One really hot summer day (I think it was over 40C that day) after eating a million popsicles… I had the brilliant idea of chilling in the cellar with my laptop! I stayed there for a while and my mom was really scared when she came to the cellar to get some wine for diner; she thought I was at work and wasn’t expecting to find my at home, chilling in the cellar. Her face was priceless XD
Anyway! Good luck everyone with that contest! :D
ROFL! Omg I can imagine your Mum would freak out! That is so hilarious! :D I wish you could enter!
I love those flashbacks!! In the past at the old place we lived in, we used to sit in an inflatable pool out the back filled with ice. Freezer burn, anyone?
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I’m glad you thought it was funny XD Omg living up north in Townsville I always wanted an inflatable pool!
Hi Violet,
Hailing from Brisbane, I feel your pain. Summer here is the worst!!! In summer, I will do just about anything to stay cool. I once bought one of those little blow up pools, filled it with water and ice and say in it out of the balcony. So cold, but so, so good. I’ve also been known to be found sitting in those industrial sized fridges when I worked in hospitality and most commonly, lying on the tiles at my parents place and just rolling over to another spot when the floor isn’t cool anymore. I got the idea from my dog, who does the same things. Totally works!
Bec
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Ick Summer in Brisbane was pretty miserable >_< I can remember the tiles in my house in Townsville too, reading books on the floor=epic win! Thanks for your entry :D
LOL OMG I DIED WITH THE FROZEN BLOOMERS.
:D It was pretty silly!
the last 2 Summers its been so hot that all ive worn around the house is my bikini so i started putting my bikini tops in the freezer! similar to your idea i know, but if i couldn’t wait for it to freeze then I’d just pop a few ice cubes in my bikini top lol ahhhh instant relief! and they melt so fast!
Ahahaha! I am so imagining having icecubes in my bikini XD
When I was younger, I would sit on my swivel chair, open the fridge and sit at the fridge with the door open, occasionally turning on my chair to make sure I cooled my back as well!
XD My Mum would have killed me if I did that!!
I used to do the same freezer trick with my lifeguard t-shirt! Except we would dunk the shirts in the pool first :).
That sounds like heaven!
This isn’t a legit entry but… at the end of last November it got really really hot in Sydney, like 40C hot. I was studying for 5th year exams and my housemate was doing her preparation for internship. My top floor apartment is an insulation FAIL (hot in summer, cold in winter). One Sunday the place seriously felt like an oven. I got in my car and drove 40min across the city to my parents’ house for the night (they have air conditioning :D).
My housemate did the “crazy” thing… she took the bus into the city and did a (voluntary) evening shift in the emergency department, because the hospital is air conditioned! :P
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XD I would have totally done that too! I’ve been known to spend whole days in shopping centers if it’s too hot!
Oh Violet!! Hahaha <3
I can't believe you went to that extreme measures just to keep cool in your lolita clothing xD!! Hmmm..the craziest thing I've done ..
I remember when I was still in school; none of the buildings were properly air-conditioned and there would be days of 30+degrees in freaking hot and stinky portables :/ So what I used to do was carry a small water spray bottle around and whenever I got hot ..I used to spray that water on my face / legs / arms / ..down the back of my shirt or wherever ..and then …RUN. It's amazing how cool it feels to have breeze against any sort of water xD ! Mmmmmm. Just thinking back on it makes me smile since my friends and I all brought some sort of water spray / bottle / balloon ..and ran around throwing it at each other to keep each other "cool" (the worst would be when someone took the ice out of their bottle and put it down someone's shirt / pants unexpectedly xD)
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Ugh you can’t even imagine the heat and humidity in QLD, it’s miserable! A spray bottle is a great idea! Hehehe I can totally imagine the kind of mischief involved with ice at school XD
Frozen bloomers!!! Lol that is seriously the funniest thing I have heard all day- LOVE it!! A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do right :)
What a great contest!!!! I had to think hard but I thinkkk this is the craziest thing I’ve ever done to stay cool : )
Growing up in Western QLD 40+ degree summers were the norm so air conditioning was a must!
However I will never forget the day/night a few years ago that my old faithful a/c died! It was just me and my beloved puppy dog trying to get through the night knowing that I had to get up for work the next day- I had to put my dog in the bath tub and wet her down every hour (along with myself) because otherwise she would be so distressed puffing and panting and driving me insane! I also remember draping the bed in wet towels and emptying a Windex bottle and so I could fill it with water to spray myself whilst laying in bed! This ended up just making me feel revoltingly sticky and I smelt like a chemical factory lol it was not pleasant at all!!
In the end I think I finally fell asleep at like 4am and had to get up for work 2 hours later! Believe it or not I was pleased just to get out of the house and get to work so I could get some sweet air conditioned relief!!!!
Thanks for hosting this fab contest :)
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A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do <- couldn't agree more!! Oh my gosh that sounds so miserable *_* Poor you and the doggie!
Were your bloomers not damp when they defrosted?
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Not really because they didn’t have any moisture in them to start with, though I probably would have enjoyed it if they were XD
I fill a hot water bottle with ice cold water and carry it with me around the house. I haven’t yet tried it in public but it does the trick behind closed doors.
fickleredridinghood@gmail.com
That sounds so good!!
This isn’t a legit entry, but I wanted to share with you. On the back of the neck at C7 is an Acupoint for temperature regulation in the body. What I did was take stretchy fabric and sewed it into a tube with one end closed. Then I tore apart some diapers from the store. Inside of them are these clear pellets, or sometimes white. I filled the closed tube with them and stitched closed the open end. Then I spread the pellets evenly throughout the scarf/tube, and sewed every 3 inches. Finally I soaked it in water until it had swelled almost triple in size, and wore it around my neck. It was sooooo cool. It’s super easy to make, it can look stylish, and it will keep you nice and cool in summer. The pellets don’t leak water or anything like that so you won’t even get damp from it :)
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Omg that sounds like a great idea! I think they actually sell those at market stalls here. Anything to keep cool!
Okay, I’m not so proud of this one (but I want that air-conditioner!)…
When I was living in WA I once snuck into a neighbours backyard when they were on holiday in summer and used their pool.
Mwahaha! That’s a hilarious one!
I’m officially in love with that Pirate outfit. Especially the corset. Gorgeous.
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Thanks Ness! It’s completely hand stitched :D The time period we were aiming for was 60 years before the first documented sewing machine so I made the whole outfit by hand ^_^
I (still) sit in a wading pool in my backyard… sometimes complete with very small icebergs. Yup.
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Icebergs= win! I need to see if I can fit a wading pool in my living room!
Your post made me laugh so much! I love that you were willing to post photos of your former style.. I deliberately hide and censor photos of my former self online, they are scary!
As for staying cool in summer, one of my favourite things to do is take a bedsheet, spritz it all over with water until it is damp (but not dripping wet) then bundle it up and put it in the freezer for a little while, take it out before it gets too crispy-frozen, wrap it around myself and lay on the couch eating icy poles!
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Mwahaha no dignity XD I think these are the least scary photos of me, there are some shockers from a long time ago! I never thought of using a sheet! *plans for next summer*
ah, cute post. i always did wonder about lolis in the summer, cos you kinda assume that with wall the sweet colours its not going to be so heavy!
also, i really, really, really love your hair in the very first picture. how how how have you got that volume so neatly? whenever i backcomb curls i end up with a big frizzy mess.
Thanks Neko! The hair in the first pic is actually a half wig ^_^ I’ll write a post about it soon :D
OMG! I remember you from when you were in lolita on oz_lolita. Wow I would never have realised it was you on this blog! So different! Brisbane is icky! but atm its cooler!!!! yay
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:O I can’t believe anyone remembers me hahaha! Hopefully it’s not a disappointment! It’s been so long since I’ve been to oz_lolita. It’s nice to (re?) meet you XD
This one time, it was so hot I attempted to put myself in the bridge. The thing was, even though I was really little, when I tried to get myself in the fridge, it felt like the fridge was about to break so I quickly left it. Instead, I ate ice cubes and placed an ice pack on my bum so when I sit down on the seat, my bum would feel cold. LOL!! shame!
XD ROFL! Shame in the name of an aircon, heat does funny things to us!
Hi Violet!
The craziest thing I’ve done to stay cool in summer is staying back late at work so that I can hang out in the cold room!! It’s so cold in there it’s delicious!
Other than that I like to keep a bath full of cold water so that I can occasionally dunk myself in to lower my core temperature every now and then when the heat is unbearable at home. Economical but effective!
:)
Omg I wish my work had a big freezer! *_*
When I was younger and we played sport on a very, very warm summer’s day – our coach would tell us to imagine we were in an ice bath. I think it was an easy way for him to get 12 whinging teenage girls to be quite for a minute or two; but do you know what… It just may have worked!
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XD That is such a cute story!
We have an air conditioner installed in out house BUT it decided to die two years ago and we havent had the money to replace it. Unfortunatly it is un-fixable :(. I think i have tried alot of the same… kiddies pool in the lounge room, surrounded by 3 pedestal fans (black plastic on the floor). We have done the ice cubes in front of the fan, walking through our sprinklers and then trying to get back inside before it all evaporated but the BEST and bizarrest one was to help us sleep… i froze our sheets and our pillow cases!
alison@tizzbizz.com
Eeek unfixable aircon is even worse than no aircon because it just stares at you mockingly *_* Frozen sheets sounds awesome!
Loved all your outfits Violet, you really have gone through a lot of looks.
I wouldn’t say what I did was super crazy but since I’m really into food, when it’s super hot, I go to the supermarkets and basically look at every product in the fridge and freezer section. That way, I stayed cool while still finding out about all the interesting food items that I may wish to buy and eat.
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Thanks Thanh! Haha that’s a really good idea, I’ve been known to go shopping all day when it’s hot XD
About 10 years ago it was a week of over 40 degree heat, power restrictions in Victoria. We were doing a cooking course at Tafe. A bunch of us took it in turns to get down to undies and lay on the steel serving trolleys in the industrial fridges.
That is AWESOME! I think I wouldn’t have the confidence to do it but such a good idea!!
I tried to recreate the Simpons episosde where Homer attaches a tent to the fridge, with the fridge door opened. Just like the episode, it worked a treat for about half and hour and then the fridge overheated and spat the dummy. The half an hour of bliss in a house without air-con was worth it!
Ahahahaha! I know the feeling, I wish we had a bigger fridge to do that!
I’m a lolita in Hawaii and this is a fabu idea! What I normally do aside from cotton, cotton and more cotton, let my hair air dry.
I love cotton for keeping cool, I always wore cotton petticoats instead of tulle ones too XD