On Saturday February 18th Rome witnessed lolitas from all over the world descend upon the city to participate in Vitae Essentia’s tea party under the theme of Divina Commedia (i.e. Dante’s Divine Comedy). Yours truly had the absolute pleasure of attending and will now duly report my thoughts and experiences.
Event banner taken from the event's Facebook page.
| Alice Girl Velvet Cake OP | Annzley corset | handmade garter belt | Fan+Friend hoop skirt | Cutie Creator tights | Vivienne Westwood x Melissa Anglomania heels | Antique Beast Hecate headdress | Lady Lucks Boutique flower clips | Eulalia earrings | offbrand necklace |
Although I’ve talked about my coord already in February’s coord roundup post, let me add to that just a little. Dante’s Divine Comedy is basically about the afterlife: hell, purgatory, and heaven, and whilst I could’ve done something angelic pretty easily, I really started out with a pretty lazy event option way back when I first bought the tickets. This OP was still new to me and it seemed like a practical piece to build upon, much more than my white items, and with this gothic and hellish was the only route available. The ero part came later, as I saw more people get very OTT with their planned looks (and honestly, I’m grateful for that, my original idea would’ve been way too plain in comparison). It’s a little funny how I somehow managed to add layers and reveal more at the same time through the coord’s evolution. The fairly generic dark makeup and hair finished the look, making me look vaguely silent film star-esque. At some point after the event I was struck by the fact that this is one of the more inexpensive outfits I’ve put together, the shoes are probably the most expensive element and the one closest to brand (on par with the headdress), which just goes to show that it’s not what you wear, but how you wear it that determines whether an outfit looks good or not.
Divina Commedia took place at Galleria del Cardinale Colonna, which was located pretty centrally (Di Trevi Fountain is but a short walk away) and which is a beautiful XVIIIth century gallery. It was the perfect venue for an event that marketed itself as a “luxury tea party”, offering both stunning surroundings to match the opulence of lolita fashion and plenty of privacy given that not only the actual gallery is on the first floor, but that the building is tucked away just a little to the side. Whilst originally the event had a different venue, to me this change was for the better. Were we surrounded by much more beautiful, historic architecture and the original venue was a hotel, which always means having more non-lolitas around to contend with as you queue to enter.
And although attracting some tourist attention was inevitable whilst we queued outside, this was a very short chunk of time. Both the VIP and the regular ticket holders’ entries ran perfectly on time and the organisers, with the help of some additional staff, staggered entry into the check-in desk itself. This significantly reduced crowding around the desk, allowing those checking the tickets some freedom and alleviating the stress of having a crowd of eager lolitas around them, as well as kept us safer by eliminating waiting around on old, pretty steep stairs.
Event tote bag collected, I entered straight into the first of the three rooms which hosted the vendors. On the one hand, the selection was on the smaller side compared to some of the other events that I have been to. Yet on the other, the vendors that were there had plenty to offer and each brought something unique to them. The VIPs, who had half an hour of extra shopping time, definitely got their money’s worth and some of the vendors started selling out very quickly upon regular ticket holders getting in. For example, by the time I’d gotten in, the illustrator Loputyn was very low on stock of her art books (which sold out fully not long after) and Summer Tales Boutique had already several pieces reserved for the fashion show marked as going to some lucky customers after that. Still, I was able to do a round to check out the goods and make the purchases that I wanted to without feeling like I had to rush to beat the others, which is exactly the sort of relaxed atmosphere that one wants at a luxury tea party.
Relaxed was the theme of the day (besides Divine Comedy) as the organisers managed to achieve that which is very hard to do: a balance between an interesting schedule and free time to mingle, between structuring the day and having flexibility in case things changed. Whilst I wish that it was made clearer that VIP tickets were the only ones that came with seating for the fashion show (or that everyone simply had seating), I can only blame myself for my shoe choices. The organisers split the fashion show by brands, with a break between each, so that everyone could rest a little, take more photos, socialise, eat snacks, give your feet a rest, or all of the above. The word on the street was that there were supposed to be three brands participating in the fashion show, but in the end there were only two: Summer Tales Boutique and Fidel David (currently rebranding his clothing under the new name: La Spina), both of which completely deserved the rounds of applause they received. As Fidel David’s models needed a little bit more time for changing, in the end the Q&A portion of the event was scrapped in favour of offering the attendees more socialising, photo, and shopping time, which was honestly an excellent decision. This is what people come to international events for and since it wasn’t fully clear who the Q&A was going to be with, puzzling most of us, people probably would’ve kept out of that room to pursue the other activities anyway. The organisers read the room very well with that and I commend them for it because letting go of a carefully crafted schedule is not easy.
After this slightly longer socialising break it was finally time for the food portion of the tea party. Once again, VIP gained entry first, though as they could choose their seats, it still meant that friend groups could sit with each other. The food on the day was restricted to sweets only and as excellent as they were, they were still only sweets. Some savoury options were definitely needed, as were vegan options, and as the food was served buffet style, the venue/caterer should have provided a few extra members of staff to help with maintaining the queue in an orderly fashion. Whilst most of this next part is guesswork on my part, supported by my experience in organising big meetups and some flying gossip, this is where the change in venues has cost the organisers a little bit, but I understand that the sacrifice was made in order to work with the budget they had from the ticket sale based on previous costings. Those of us who have been to events like this before had prepared for it ahead by bringing some other snacks to keep us going. Those for whom this was their first event probably had a pretty tough lesson in how to prepare oneself in the future.
Nonetheless, this is a minor fault in the grand scheme of things that does not detract from how big a success Divina Commedia was. As I mentioned before, most people who come to these events want to shop and enjoy spending time with other lolitas, which is precisely what we had the most of. There was no stressing over waiting in the queue for the official photographer because there was ample time to take some in between the activities that were scheduled. No-one needed to rush to finish their food because by that point the event was done with planned things (except for the usual closing things like group photo and the best dressed prize). The number of people in attendance was comfortably large without people getting in each other’s way. And the later event start time, whilst accompanied by a later finish than what I am used to, meant absolutely no rush with getting ready in the morning, which ultimately helped in giving me enough sleep to power through a long day in event-level frills. Even though I don’t think I said “hello” to everyone I wanted to or taken as many pictures with other people as I would’ve wanted to, I still spent almost every moment at the tea party with friends, old and new, admiring everyone’s creativity with theme interpretation and goofing around like the very improper cheeky demon that I was.
For anyone reading this to pick up on some tips on what worked well and what to do with their own event, the main takeaway is: do not try to do too many things in one day. The success of Divina Commedia lies precisely in how relaxed the schedule was (no doubt far less relaxing behind the scenes because no well-running event does so entirely on its own accord, it’s through the dedicated work of the organisers). Sure, a break in between the fashion shows helped, as did the staggered entry into the venue, but ultimately what the Vitae Essentia team of organisers accomplished best was creating an atmosphere of joyous community reunions and meetings in gorgeous surroundings - everything else was extras on top.
And as that is something that translates far, far better into visuals than words, please, do enjoy the vlog from the event. There is also some footage at the end of the modest haul that I have brought with me (inclusive of the non-lolita bits and the presents from friends, just to bulk it up a little).
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