Man Meet vol. 2

It’s weird to think that our last Man Meet  has been over 2 years ago now! It was time for a repeat and since I have one pair of pants and some jacket options, I decided to host it this time.

| Metamorphose Wizarding Lesson shorts | Infanta Swan Lake blouse | offbrand jacket | Angelic Pretty Crown Ribbon OTKs | Hush Puppies boots | handmade tricorn | Ebony and Ivory clip | Innocent World Original Crown Tassel clip | Puvithel heart brooch | Wicked and Whimsy, Jane Marple, 4 Aces and offbrand rings | offbrand belt | offbrand earrings |

Trying to smirk and it not working.

So I stick to being a little broody and distant for now.

Not going to lie, I got very much into ouji through this one look and it was fun reviving my male alter ego, Paul. He first made an appearance in January 2015 during a joint birthday fancy dress party themed Over the Rainbow – where everyone had to dress as the opposite sex. I last minute decided to abandon my previous idea and go for a realistic boy look, bought a wig from one of those shops that cater primarily to people with African hair, did my makeup side by side with YouTube – and the rest is history. Paul is very much tied to this wig, although I doubt that I will wear it every time I wear ouji. For this particular outfit I felt it looked nicer and fit the bored princeling feel better than my own hair. The jacket used to be my Mum’s from the 80’s before I saved it from going to a charity shop. I’m just glad that this outfit looked as nice worn as it did in my head, though as my last ouji outing pre-Grand Embassy was also navy and wine, hopefully next time I’ll manage to put a different colour spin on these shorts.

The original Man Meet idea comes from the Tokyo International Lolita community, who actually call theirs Man Meat – in lieu of them going for barbecue. And as there is one good Korean barbecue place in Leeds, I decided to uphold that tradition. It was very lucky that the restaurant was also able to accommodate our one vegan and one vegetarian oujis too, so that they wouldn’t have to sit there with only drinks and watch us devour all that meat. And considering how each meat platter comes with a set of sides, trio of sauces, a bowl of rice and a bowl of lettuce, we had to do some serious tetrising around to fill all of that in.

All that food!

Clearly only men can handle this much meat.

Although originally there were a couple of people who were going to meet us after lunch, things didn’t work out for them, which meant that everyone present at the restaurant was everyone attending the meet that day. That made for a more relaxed atmosphere, as we could take our time eating, chat and just enjoy each other’s company. As usual, conversations ranged from lolita specific (namely the upcoming events) to completely unrelated (like work, as we realised several of us are at various ends of the university student experience). I also “happened” to have bought a Boz Roland coat during the meet. And when I say “happened to”, I mean that I realised my Wunderwelt store points started expiring and I wanted to buy something. Nothing appeared that would’ve really caught my eye – other than the men’s size Rolands, one in black and one in white. And as I’ve heard that the men’s size fits broader shoulders and bigger busts a little better, which a couple of the attendees confirmed, I basically managed to order one between us placing our order and our drinks arriving. I’ll regret it later, besides, I still have time to build up another pile of points to spend.

Once we were finally done eating, we headed into town in search of a decent photo spot. Originally we were going to try Victoria Arcade, however, as we were a larger group and the security were watching a little too closely, we decided not to risk being told to move. Instead we ended up in an alley nearby, which offered several cool spots for great manly pictures. We even managed to witness police catching someone shoplifting – you know, just your regular excitements on a Saturday in Leeds. The pics were super fun, especially our group one (minus two). We look like the coolest boyband and I feel like MC Melody Doll better watch out. First we came for yo wives/girlfriends/princesses, now we comin’ for that EGL rap scene!

I'll let you know here once our new album drops. In the meantime, I feel like we should decide who fits which boyband trope - suggestions welcome, based on either 90's boybands or on current K-pop ones!

While Man Meet is inclusive of everyone and I made sure to have an outfit thread in case anyone wearing lolita wanted to match one of the oujis, in the end we only had one lolita in attendance. Her outfit still ended up matching our one pink ouji, though that was completely unplanned. No typical kabedonning took place, although we did take the opportunity to pose with our lolita in the role of a boyband fan. At least her feeling awkward and giggling in this worked with the photo – though I do hope it wasn’t too much!

Overwhelming a fan by showering her attention - isn't that what boybands and oujis are for?

Once everyone had a photo they were happy with, we moved on for some bubble tea (which I didn’t get as I don’t like it and don’t feel like spending £3-4 on a drink I could make at home). Sadly, I had to leave not so long afterwards, as I had a specific train booked. Now that I’ve moved out, I’m not so flexible with Leeds meets and especially this time as I managed to take advantage of a 10p sale and get my return tickets for 10 pence each way (so 20p total). That bargain was enough to compensate for the early morning and cutting my meet short. And dealing with some really annoying middle aged men on the train back – though they were also offset by some random girl I bumped into on my way home from the tram stop, as she was absolutely in awe of my outfit and was super sweet about it. She turned into an apartment building not far from mine, so she might see more of me at the weekends if she times it right…

We’re hoping to make Man Meet an annual thing, just like the Tokyo comm does. It might not always involve barbecue, knowing Leeds I’m sure at least one Man Meet will end up in a pub (because what could be more manly than a pub?). By then I’ll have my Roland – and if things work out, well, maybe Paul will even make a return. Who knows, everything is possible at this point.

And to wrap up, I’ll squeeze in this casual outfit from the day after Man Meet when all I’ve done was pick up my Haenuli order from the post office and blog a bit. I’m super glad that I’m able to do the zip all by myself, this will likely make this OP a staple this autumn. As fun as trying out proper ouji was, my heart lies firmly with lolita and presenting femme. Plus, while my ouji shorts fit me at the waist, they are a touch too tight at the cuff – and I managed to make an outfit that required taking off like 4 things before I could comfortably use the toilet – so lolita feels much more comfortable in simple physical terms too.

| Dear Celine Magic Book OP | Resailan Jewelry Box tights | Innocent World Art Nouveau headbow | offbrand beret and shoes | Fantastic Grim Jewellery necklace |

This is my comfort zone, both for fashion choices and photo poses.

I love the dark hues on this OP print, even if they don't match anything I own. Would love to bring out the greens next time.