Dress Code: Glamour

The second time of me organising a meet and this time I did something a lot more casual and less themed/event-like. Which worked out perfectly!

| AP Crystal Dream Carnival Tiered JSK | offbrand (Dorothy Perkins) cutsew |
offbrand & upcycled cardigan | Meta Lace-up Bouquet OTKs | AP Elegant
Doll boots | Shinku Rose hair clips | Rose Marie Seoir choker | offbrand
necklaces | AP Crystal Dream Carnival pegasus ring | Twinkle Kitty Boutique
star ring | Glasses Lit glasses |

Since the theme was Dress Code: Glamour, or simply whatever makes you feel glamorous, fabulous and simply amazing, I took Crystal Dream Carnival out for a spin. This is a lot more casual than what I’d normally do with this dress, but since the print is simply magical I don’t mind. I actually enjoyed doing a more relaxed coord with this dress – with such an in-your-face border print it’s difficult to tone it down or wear it in a way that you feel you could just throw on and do something ordinary, so I’m glad I managed to achieve something like this whilst still feeling fantastic. And I managed to incorporate so many smaller elements that I haven’t had much opportunity to coord yet or at all even!

The meet was originally meant to be the one where we took a comm photo for the last Tea Party Club Annual, but since we decided to use the photo we took at DMC instead, it opened up the meet to a fewer more options. Which worked in my favour as I’ve had such a mad, hectic September that the 23^rd was the only day I could host – yet this clashed with Thought Bubble, a comic book and comic artist convention that many in my local comm wanted to attend, which would’ve made for a comm photo not reflecting how massive a comm we are! Because I’ve been literally everywhere and doing everything all month, I was very close to calling it quits and calling the meet off, so I could rest, but I didn’t because I knew that once I was there I’d enjoy myself a lot and would’ve regretted not hosting a meet. So the fact that there were only four of us, myself included, helped since it was a very casual, very relaxed meet and I didn’t feel like I had to do anything beyond the usual to remain a good host.

How do I stay a good host?
(Also, check out the chandeliers!)

The theme had actually come down from the exhibition at a local crafts gallery that had the same title. What I didn’t realise until we got there was that this wasn’t much of an exhibition. We wandered round what looked like a museum shop until I asked a staff member where the exhibit was – and she pointed to literally four small display cabinets in the corner! That wasn’t going to fill the time I had allowed for it, it took us maybe ten minutes tops to see what was in the cabinets. The exhibit description suggested something a lot more lavish and bigger than that. Luckily, everyone laughed it off with me and we went to find somewhere that served tea and cake.

Lolitas as you know them.

Lolitas goofing off when you don't look.

This place ended up being Creams in Leeds’ The Core. Honestly, I’ve walked past that place so many times and never even realised what a treasure it hid! Creams had lovely, airy and elegant décor, lots of tea, desserts and even savouries at very affordable prices and more than enough room for all our poof. I’d love to go back there again – it might not be a ‘proper tea house’, but the fond meet memories have now made it one of my favourite places in Leeds! It was great to spend hours chatting, struggling with our giant cake slices (seriously, look at the size of them!) and just having a good time. Of the three attendees, I knew one from before whilst the other two were new to the comm (for one it was her first Lolita meet ever), so I sincerely hope that they’ll attend more and that they felt comfortable and welcome at the meet (they certainly didn’t look like they were keen on running away, which is a good sign).

That cake had me defeated. So much sugar!

After this we had planned a dinner at a local Japanese restaurant with some of the C.L.A.M. Lolitas joining us after their Thought Bubble adventures, but unfortunately they couldn’t make it due to getting stuck in a queue and having to rush to catch their coach home. So we proceeded just on our own to have more food, more chatter and more laughs.

I am so, so glad that I didn’t back out because I would’ve missed out on a very fun meet and probably wouldn’t have met these lovely frillies (or at least not at that time). I came home absolutely shattered, but happy. I won’t be able to make any Leeds meets until the Winter ILD (still going to some other things in the meantime), so it was great to host something small that didn’t require too much planning or energy. As nice as large meets are, small ones are fantastic too!