Happy International Lolita Day
everyone! Whether you got to hang out with other Lolitas or had to spend the
day at home/work/elsewhere, I hope that you enjoyed yourself and managed to do
at least one little Lolita-related thing to match the occasion.
Ever since learning that I can make
my comm’s Winter ILD meet I knew exactly what I wanted to wear and how. I’m not
entirely sure where the idea actually came from, it was simply there and since
I had months to prepare, I managed to get every single piece for my outfit,
with a lot of them being offbrand.
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| | AP Crystal Dream Carnival JSK, headbow and ring | Meta Snow Crystal OTKs | Soufflesong Ice Prism blouse | Chocomint star clip | offbrand white star clips, boots, boot toppers, capelet and jewellery | Peacockalorum hand muff | |
For the meet itself we were actually
on a boat (and yes, we did play “I’m on a Boat” at some point as well). It was
only a canal barge, but still made for something different and as the interior
was really lovely, we all really enjoyed it.
To add to the little twists, our
Secret Santa wasn’t your usual gig either. Instead of everyone being matched up
with people, everyone was asked to bring a gift, wrapped and all, with the only
guideline being ‘get something that you’d like to receive’. When the time came,
it was almost like a raffle – but still not the same as a raffle. We all had
raffle tickets and we started from the person with the lowest number. The idea
was that everyone had to go and pick a gift from the pile, then open it in
front of everyone. The next person could then either do the same OR – and here’s
the truly evil twist – they could steal a present that someone else had opened
and then the theft victim had to go and pick a new present from what was left
in the pile. Not particularly in the Christmassy spirit of giving, but it did
make for quite an entertaining and character-telling game. Nobody tried to
steal the gift that I picked, nor the one that I bought, however, one person ended
up having their present stolen from them twice.
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| Photo by Holly. |
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| Photo by Holly. |
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| My Secret Santa present and raffle win |
There was also a raffle filled with all
kinds of cute prizes. I totally didn’t anticipate to win anything, and yet
brought home a pair of Swimmer headphones. Now, I’m a bit of a headphone enthusiast
so these are miles behind the quality and the standard that I’m used to with
the pair that I currently own – but at the same time my headphones don’t have
cats with bows on them! If only there was a way to combine the two…
The rest of the meet was your usual
socialising, chatting, eating (we had a deconstructed afternoon tea, with
sandwiches being served first and sweets coming after), dancing, taking photos,
admiring everyone’s outfits, more chatter and more photos. Because of how long
our boat trip took, it was already dark by the time we got off it to take some
full outfit shots, but the bit of street where we ended up taking most of the
outfit shots worked just as well (except that it was at the entrance/exit to a
car park and we had to move out of the way a few times).
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| Team Fluff & Faux Fur! |
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| Photo by Holly. |
I admit that I was a little too
tired to engage in everything full on, at some point I needed a moment to just
zone out, yet in the end I enjoyed myself a lot and I know that I would’ve
regretted not going a lot. This will be the last time I get to meet up with my
fellow frillies this year, next one will be in January 2017 (it feels like 2016
had barely just started), however, it won’t be the last time I wear Lolita this
year, definitely not!
How was your ILD? Did you do
something fun or unusual? Or, if circumstances forced you to stay at home or
work, how did you manage to incorporate a little bit of Lolita into your
busy/tiring day? I love comparing how everyone celebrating, it’s inspiring both
in terms of what things to do during a meet as well as what we could do at home
to have a cute moment of engaging in the fashion without attending an event.
I always forget ild. But I took pictures of my wardrobe. I was stunned over the ammount of accesory I have. Does it count?
ReplyDeleteAnyway happy ild and the coord you have is stunning! Just add a crown and it would be the Snow Queen.
Of course it counts! Are you getting ready to create a wardrobe post?
DeleteA lot of people commented that this coord was very princessy. I remember eyeing snow queen-esque crowns, but the ones I liked were very much outside of my budget, but maybe next time I could polish the look to give it a more royal wintery feel. :)
Exactly.
Delete-Crowns can be bit costumey, so it isn't element I would spend much on either(even some crowns are extremely pretty). Maybe can you make one yourself?
I'd love to, but if I tried to make a crown it'd look even more costumey. I really like the onesthat Voodoo Dolly (?) does, but they sell out so quickly... And as cute as the mini crowns are, they can be a little bit too costumey too. When I did a dry run I tried on a bonnet, so maybe I'll take it in that direction (a bonnet with a crown printed on? or is that too much?).
DeleteThat looks/sounds like such a fun meetup, and what I found amusing is that the Secret Santa with the staling is exactly what my work tends to do at our Christmas parties!
ReplyDeleteI really love your outfits, especially because there's so much focus on the dress due to nearly everything else being so monochromatic.
My partner and I were doing lots of photoshoots on ILD, so I actually forgot it as on!
Really? At my work I don't think I'd be tempted to steal anyone's present, but with Lolita - definitely. I had the disadvantage of being a low number, people who were towards the end were in a far better position to take something and not have to worry about someone else stealing it off of them. :P
DeleteThank you. With this print I feel like you have to make it the focus of the outfit. Putting too many things around (accessories, other heavy prints etc.) would just end up looking a bit tacky. Though maybe I'm simply yet to see an all-over CDC OTT madness done well. :P
Any fashion focused photoshoots at least? :)
Haha surprisingly some good stuff pops up at my work Christmases - I stole a cat mug with candy from someone last year!
DeleteMaybe you need ot be the one to do OTT with it? Though have you seen Rosalynn from Lolita Wonderland's outfit...she had the most glorious cape to match CDC. It was pretty spectacular.
We did four lingerie shoots (one with me as the model, three with another model we collaborate with a lot) and then post-apocalyptic fire twirling affair in the night. Thoroughly not lolita, but quite a great day overall.
That's neat! This year I still my first work secret santa, so who knows what goodies will be around :P
DeleteI SAW! It was a gorgeous outfit, although it still kept th focus on the dress print. But that was so royal, I'd love to get a cape like that *.*
Sounds fun :D
Oh my those headphones!! *so jealous* <3
ReplyDeleteLooks like a lovely ILD meetup and with the christmas and winter theme. Your outfits is so beautiful and well thought of, good thing you got every piece for it in time.
We have usually a random secret santa thing, that everyone brings a present of certain value and then we put them in a bag and everyone can pick one without looking. It has worked really well. :)
I didn't get to do anything lolita-related for my IDL, was busy with other stuff..but luckily dressed up a couple of days before it. *^_^*
~ Frillycakes ~
Haha, I'm open to offers. Honestly, as pretty as they are, I just wouldn't use them, I'm that much of a headphone snob :(
DeleteThank you. I had pleeenty of time to get everything, though with some pieces, like the headbow or the socks, I was worried that I'd have to compromise and get something else, so I'm grateful that in the end every item surfaced somewhere for me to get it.
When the whole "bring a gift you'd like to get" was announced, I thought our secret santa would work like that! It was quite a surprise to have that stealing element in there, but it was fun and I'm happy that the person who got my gift seemed to like it.
Yay for dressing up! ヽ(〃･ω･)ﾉ
I love your choice of outfit! It has such a snow princess vibe-- absolutely perfect for this time of year <3
ReplyDeleteThis meet looks like it was amazing! I have never heard of this version of Secret Santa before but it sounds absolutely hilarious. I really like that the activities at the meets you host/attend are always seem to be quite original or have an added twist to them!
It's a shame you were feeling tired. Well done for carrying on anyway and not missing out on a fun time with everyone else, as it's so easy to give into the blah feels and regret not having had a fun day out.
It's funny how 2016 seemed a fast year for you, whereas for me it's absolutely dragged!
My ILD consisted of hanging out with my bestie and thinking about fun, Christmassy things! I felt so bad for forgetting it was ILD, but pleased the lolita gods worked their magic and caused me to really want to wear a sweet coordinate for some reason :P
If only it was actually snowy around, just for tha photo - that would've upped the winter wonderland vibes so much!
DeleteThat was the first time of me doing that kind of Secret Santa. It's fun to do something different, but I think it could be why many newbies are not forthcoming with hosting meets. It'd be easy to feel the pressure to do the same and have a meet with a difference instead of just getting everyone to enjoy themselves.
It came in stages, at first I was fine, then tiredness hit me (and wearing contacts and false eyelashes didn't help), then I was ok again until I could crash at home. But I won't lie, I'm glad that 2016 is ending...
That's fantastic! I remember forgetting about the summer ILD, but fate wasn't quite so kind to me. It sounds like you had a great day! :D
The meet up on the boat is a great idea! Did you had it all for yourself? In my area we don't have small canals so also no small boats, only big ships to rent xD
ReplyDeleteI could never participate in such a Secret Santa haha
Yeah, we got the boat hired just for us (plus a few crew members to supervise). With so many of us it was a reasonable price to pay, about £25 per person, which included the boat trip, food and hot drinks (but not cold ones). But we needed a minimum of 20 people to pre-pay to secure the booking, otherwise we wouldn't be able to hire the boat.
DeleteHonestly, I couldn't have brought myself to steal anyone's present, but I think this would work best in a group of people who are quite comfortable with each other and know each other well. With people you know less well there is a chance that this could cause some tensions and things/actions could get misunderstood.