When I think
of “Lolita fashion con”, I think Tea Party Club anniversary events and then
some. Honestly, they have pretty much all that I need in a Lolita event, but as
they are now giving us a jaw dropping preview after another in preparation for
this year’s 10th anniversary, they prove that there’s always another level of extra.
28 Jul 2017
21 Jul 2017
What Inspires You When Building A Coord?
This is
always a fascinating question. We’re all individuals and despite loving the
same fashion, we look at it and experience it differently, leading to people
creating beautiful yet varied coords with the same main piece for example. Everyone
has their own process and will find different things inspiring, so it’s not
just interesting to see how this looks for others, but could also help us
improve our own outfits.
18 Jul 2017
Man Meet
You might think that something like
Man Meet would be isolating for those who have no interest in Ouji or
Aristocrat fashions. But a good comm makes sure that everyone is welcome to
attend and will find a way that works for everyone – in this case, this was by
providing an opportunity for matching by asking the Oujis what will they wear
and the Lolitas to dress in a similar colour scheme or theme. It’s the Ouji
accessory thing, but with you matching them rather than the other way around.
| Resailan Jewelry Box JSK | Bodyline blouse | Resailan Jewelry Box tights | AP Elegant Doll boots | handmade hat | offbrand jewellery | |
Arrr, parrots are overrated! |
I knew about my Ouji match since the
Cardigan Meet, as the topic of Man Meet came up whilst we were crafting, so as
soon as I heard “navy” I knew that this would be the easiest colour for me to
match with. And despite having no interest in that style previously, I really
got into Pirate Lolita, although I didn’t find as many truly outstanding,
polished perfection cords as I had hoped to when I looked for inspiration
(though I’m sure that at Under the Sea in Amsterdam there were more fabulous
Pirates, I just didn’t have the energy to browse through so many photos from
this long ago). Luckily for me I only needed two bits: the hat and the
necklace, the rest I already had at home (the replica gun was my Dad’s 30th birthday
present). I must say, I’m pretty happy with this, it only goes to show that my
wardrobe really is at the point where I genuinely could do pretty much anything
without having to buy loads of expensive bits. There were some really epic
pictures taken of my matching Ouji and myself, we had a blast of a photoshoot
and the replica gun proved very popular, but I don’t have these yet so this
will have to do.
We spent the day at Kirkstall Abbey,
which was actually two parts: the abbey ruins themselves, which are almost a park
and free of charge, and the Abbey House Museum, which is where we started. The
museum has an absolutely wonderful lower section which is a rebuilt Victorian
era street with as many items from the local area as they could find. You could
wander inside the shops, learn about Victorian lifestyle in mostly rural but
growingly urbanised and industrialised Yorkshire and get a feel of town life of
ordinary people. Shame that it was so dark inside because the photos would’ve
been absolutely incredible!
What every Lolita would be in Victorian England: an Importer of Foreign Fancy Goods! Currently known as Taobao resellers. |
Upstairs the museum had an
exhibition on fairy tales, mainly their origins and meanings, which developed
into displays of toys throughout history. Although our favourite parts of that
side of the museum were the old automata, which were both the first moving
stories and the first arcade games, in a way. Some were creepy (the fortune
teller was a creepy little doll), some were fascinating (the oldest one they
had was over a hundred years old and looked a good as new), some were funny
(the haunted house was kind of Scooby Doo level by our standards) and some kept
us quite captivated (like the murder mystery one). You had to exchange a 10p
coin to obtain a vintage penny the machines needed to operate, but the
experience was totally worth it. The museum staff seemed to like us quite a
lot, so they even opened one up to show us the insides as the machine was
working! (As well as totally stood by us when we had a bit of your typical
photos-taken-without-asking incident, they were absolutely wonderful,
supportive and understanding!)
After a quick lunch we then moved to
Kirkstall Abbey itself where there was some sort of an art trail event going on
with lots of artists displaying their sculptures, paintings, works for sale
etc. And where better for a bunch of Oujis and a few Lolitas to take some epic
photos than in medieval ruins? Though let me say, as soon as I was done with
photos I rushed to change my shoes – the AP boots are gorgeous, but not made
for walking, I was really grateful to my past self for bringing a change with
me. However, for London I shall double up by both putting gel insoles into
these AND bringing a change of shoes to spare my feet the pain at the tea
party.
After getting enough photos, but
still not feeling quite like parting ways, we made our way to the local pub for
some refreshments and more chatter. Since we were quite a small group, it was
really easy to talk to everyone and feel like you’ve had sufficient opportunity
to catch up with people. We even somehow got not one, not two, but three “slip
of the tongue” cheeky insights into Dreamy Masquerade Carnival from one of the
organisers (I can’t say details, but one was about things we could buy, one
about an as-of-yet unannounced vendor and one about who one person in our group
will model for – all very exciting!).
And then we
drifted apart as time came for us to catch our trains home. It was such a fun
day out, I was really tired from working all week before and a delayed return
from a work trip the night before, but I’ve absolutely no regrets – in fact, I
would’ve regretted not going to the meet far more! Except that now my next meet
will be the tea party in London, unless something happens or I change my mind
about something, so I better find a way to keep the hunger for dressing up
satiated.
Have you ever
done Ouji or any other kind of Boystyle? Or if you haven’t, would you? What’s
your favourite of the lesser Lolita substyles?
14 Jul 2017
Plans derailed
Whether you overestimated your needs
and wants or whether what was on the photo on the online sale genuinely does
not reflect the reality, even the most careful shoppers have gotten things
which later turned out to not work as well as we thought. Although I sincerely
hope that none of you have more than five of these!
11 Jul 2017
Metamorphose Skirt Lucky Pack Unboxing
I clearly lack self-control this year (or just gained confidence that the income I'm spending won't suddenly disappear) because I got myself a lucky pack from Metamorphose temps de fille. Honestly, brands, I get that when we buy lucky packs online then the contents are already hidden inside a box, but don't be skimpy and give us some bags, please, at least the plastic ones! One day I'll buy a lucky pack directly from the shop, not online, and I'll have all the fun taking things out of the bag for a change.
7 Jul 2017
Traveling To Japan For 10 Days - Packing Challenge
This is as hypothetical for me as it
gets: I wouldn’t do Japan for only 10 days (not with having to account for time
difference taking away a whole day going in and a whole day going back), I
wouldn’t pack just Lolita with me and I wouldn’t have just my 23kg suitcase to
use (I have in the past, but my next trip is most likely to be with others).
However, let’s rise to the challenge and if
I were to go to Japan for such a short period of time and had to wear only Lolita, this is what I’d pack.
4 Jul 2017
Lolidrobe Reassessment Post 2017.2
I hit a spending streak and am
starting to seriously lack storage space for all this stuff. I need to fill my
time better so that I’m not mindlessly browsing all these sales (though so far
I’ve had little luck).