First C.L.A.M. Meet

 

Another great thing about living in Yorkshire (and trust me, Yorkshire really is the best, even despite its weather) is the abundance of nearby Lolita comms that are perfectly accessible via train or bus. Last Saturday I made my debut at C.L.A.M., the Lolita and J-fashion comm for the North West (I believe the acronym stands for Cheshire, Liverpool and Manchester? Not sure of the “C”, to be honest :P) and joined them for a meet in Manchester.

| IW Revival Sweet Teddybear JSK | vintage blouse | BtSSB Heart Marble
Chocolate and Sugar Coated Cookies Tiered bolero | AP Dolly Chiffonheadbow | Bodyline shoes | Mufish tights (layered over plain offbrand
ones) | Chocomint, Etsy & Risu Rose jewellery |

This was also a debut for my latest acquisition in the dream dress department, Innocent World’s Revival Sweet Teddybear JSK. Since the meet was meant to be leisurely inspired by the by-then-long-gone Valentine’s Day, I thought that adding reds and hearts was enough on theme for me. The Baby bolero actually tied this look together pretty well whilst keeping me snug.

The meet had two stages: a little housewarming party with an indoors picnic at the new flat of one of the Lolitas and then the cat café. Unfortunately, when they were booking the cat café I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to make it, so I wasn’t booked in for that. In retrospect, given the train ride home and a return to work the following day that might’ve been for the better but it’s still a shame.

However, I genuinely had a blast at the housewarming. The initial comm newbie awkwardness ended fairly quickly and I felt as comfortable as with my own comm. We had a laugh at watching vintage Bollywood clips, all of which was started by this little gem here (warning! you’re watching that at your own risk):

Almost 10 years now I was massively into Bollywood. I still like it, but won’t necessarily watch every single thing just because it was made in India. I’m a bit more selective and know what I want, yet the knowledge stayed with me and that broke the ice with our lovely host. The day ended up being strewn with various more or less funny/tacky Bollywood clips, some of which brought about absolutely tonnes of nostalgia for me! (And you bet that I’m listening to some of those right now.)

We then proceeded to play Consequences a little – and as you may remember from my last meet post, this can end up hysterically funny or disturbingly bad. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos of the finished ones, but suffice to say that a few times perfectly innocently started sheets reached me with a magnificent singing penis or the word “dog tits” written/drawn below the fold. As I say, it’s not really British unless it’s at least a little rude. ;P

In the end it was quite sad to have to leave these beautiful, funny people, as well as Manchester itself (because whatever you might think of it, Manchester is pretty cool – especially compared to where I am) and board that train back to grey reality. But I had an absolute blast and enjoyed myself so much. Definitely will be keeping an eye out for more C.L.A.M. meets I could join!

1 Main Piece 2 Drastically Different Looks

Since we tend to spend a fair amount of money on our main pieces, it’s only reasonable to expect that we’ll get as much wear of them as possible. Not all styles or prints are particularly versatile, but by thinking creatively and accumulating enough builder pieces it is possible to get looks that are almost polar opposites of each other out of one main piece.

Final Dream Dress Unboxing!

The last of the dream dresses, the one I hunted for the longest, the one I began doubting ever actually existed and started suspecting it was just a Photoshop prank... It's finally mine! *cue Mine Mine Mine from Pocahontas*

Stand Up Comedy Outfit

Last Friday my boyfriend and I went to see Jack Whitehall, a stand-up comedian and sometimes actor. It was a bit too cold to wear Lolita, but I’m adopting a new attitude whereby if I can frill up, then I will (and like a true Northerner I shall deal with the weather for the sake of looking awesome).

| Magic Tea Party Bears Paradise skirt | Axes Femme blouse
and poncho (pictured on the selfie) | Sosic Shop shoes |
offbrand tights and beret |

My lipstick was actually bright pink, but it didn't
photograph that well in the arena lighting.

I definitely shouldn’t have left my coat at home, but fortunately we were indoors or in the car more than we were outside, so I did not suffer for too long. But this gave me all the more reasons to find something warm to wear with Lolita, especially boots and a coat, that wouldn’t ruin the look.

We had the tickets for pretty much a year, from the moment they went on sale, and it did not disappoint. For any of you unfamiliar with Jack Whitehall’s work, I recommend starting with this clip, it’ll give you a good idea whether you like his kind of humour or not.

We absolutely loved it, even his support act was great (he was called Tom Lucy, if I remember right). But Jack’s routine made me laugh so hard my eyes filled with tears and I was desperately trying not to let them ruin my makeup (which fortunately, it remained intact). There were genuine unplanned mishaps there as well, like part of the set catching fire, but they were all dealt with very professionally and Jack still managed to turn them around into truly laughable moments. He said that one of the next ones will be recorded for his DVD, but I kind of wish that it was this one that was recorded – not just for the sake of my own memories, but because those truly were “what were the odds of that” kinds of mishaps and they added an extra layer to the whole show. Plus, Leeds has a bit of a reputation for letting a few of the riskier, potentially more offending jokes land, which may not have gone so well in a different place and potentially not be included in the show, so I feel like we got the full lot!

What was the last non-meet time you dressed up in Lolita? Were you practical/weather appropriate or braved the environment looking fabulous? Did you enjoy it? I know I’d definitely love to do this again: both dressing up in Lolita for a night out like this and seeing Jack Whitehall live, both were totally awesome!

Coord Inspired by Your Favourite Dessert

So the LBC topics tend to come round a little, as there was a similar one to this in November, but I think that’s a good thing, especially with coords. It’s always good to revisit similar themes to see what we’ve done before and compare it with our current take on it. This allows us to grow and to better our coording skills instead of getting stuck in a rut.

Frillies You Find Inspirational

Although I’ve already done something similar in the past, this time instead of going into great lengths and detail I would like to do a shoutout to a few more Lolitas whom I find inspiring.