Clamoween

This is Clamoween, this is Clamoween… It was the CLAM Halloween meetup this weekend and as a very non-Halloweeny person, I didn’t know I could be this excited. Yet here I was.

| Haenuli Just One Bite JSK | offbrand blouse | Innocent World Shanti OTKs | Hush Puppies boots | Ruha Garden headband | offbrand/handmade hair clip | Puvithel Crystal Heart necklace | Innocent World Strawberry Fields wrist cuffs | Violet Fane brooch | offbrand brooch | Brightlele wig |

This may be one of my favourite makeup looks. It was both a good eyeliner day and I think I cracked the code to getting the eyeshadow shape that I want.

Although for most of the day this apple (which is actually a Christmas ornament) lived on my head, I had to do some fancy closeups with me holding it. I guess since I love eating apples, I am more likely to be Snow White than Evil Queen though, so you don't have to worry about me offering you anything dodgy.

You’ve already seen the flatlay version of this outfit in a Lolita Blog Carnival post. The outfit itself hasn’t changed, though thanks to Instagram I was able to tweak my hair ideas (thank you for reminding me that I own a grey wig!), then simply came up with some darker makeup the morning of. Whilst I still think that this necklace in silver or gunmetal would’ve been a much better match, I am still not getting one just for this one outfit that is now in the past. Though at least the contrast wasn’t that stark when worn compared to on a flatlay.

The plan for the day was afternoon tea at Cocoa Cabana (and I am absolutely in love with that name!). As you may have gathered, this café-cum-cocktail bar specialises in chocolate, so naturally this is what our dessert section consisted of. The sandwich selection was alright, they were tasty, but nothing to write home about. I have very much enjoyed the scones and thought they were some of the best ones I’ve had – it helped a lot that they were still warm when they were served! Not so good for those of us doing cream first, as that just melted, risking stains on dresses, though I believe we had no accidents like this. An, very interestingly, instead of jam we got salted caramel for the scones, a combination which I did not expect to work and yet it did. As for desserts, they were very rich. This was definitely high quality chocolate and it wasn’t as sweet as you’d expect, as some of the chocolates had some very bold flavours (e.g. sour cherry). This was great if you don’t have as much of a sweet tooth or wanted to indulge in something more mature, for a lack of another word, or simply enjoy quality chocolate. I personally prefer sweeter treats, so I only ate 3 out of 4 sweet treats, passing one to someone else.

Display at the front of the cafe.

Sandwices weren't particularly impressive looking, though they were ok. The hummus ones were really nice!

The dessert section, on the other hand, looked divine! This is what we all came for!

Whilst I knew that this meet would end up being quite big, even I was surprised at how well attended it was. I believe there were around 20 people on the day, and that’s after one person has had to drop out. It was great to meet some new people too, whom I hope to see again. Sometimes it’s hard to chat to fresh faces at bigger meets like this, as you may either want to catch up with friends you’ve not seen in a while or simply sit too far away, so it was great that I have managed.

Sadly, our reservation at Cocoa Cabana was only for two hours, so as accommodating as the staff there were, we didn’t want to overstay our welcome and headed to a bar nearby for some more chill and chat time. As usual, conversations spanned a wide variety of topics, though my personal favourite was a discovery of a “new substyle” – UwU Goth. Just like ‘bittersweet’, it’s not a real substyle (sorry if you think otherwise – and I will lump ‘pastel goth’ into this too) and it’s a more accurate representation of the kind of sweet x dark aesthetic that we see, particularly when Angelic Pretty tries to be goth. When our comm’s True Goths have imparted that new wisdom onto me and given me an example from our own comm, I simply had to agree (that person’s style really is the pinnacle of UwU Goth) and I intend to use this term from now on. Because ‘bittersweet’ is so 2012, Karen.

As always, it was nice to relax in good company. I enjoy a meet where I can sit back and chat with people, particularly when I’m a bit tired from the working week before that, and it’s a good way to get to know the comm’s newcomers. Although my initial plans were to do buy some bits from a fabric shop afterwards, it closed by the time I left – and I can’t say that I’m that upset about it. There will be another opportunity to go and the time spent with the other lolitas was more than worth it. Plus, although I am fully aware that my gothic lolita is veeery much classic, I enjoyed this darker look and can feel that I will be ‘gothing around’ more without having to be prompted by occasions like Halloween.

Now the question is – do I wear some casual frills to work on Halloween itself? I was thinking about wearing Dear Celine’s Magic Book OP, as it’s low-key enough to be suitable for work, yet still fancy enough to be both casual lolita and themed enough to work for Halloween. Meta’s Classical Sister OP was my other contender, however, I’ve worn that on Sunday and while it’s an easy outfit, I don’t want to repeat myself. And I think that Magic Book is easier to care for, as it may be machine washable if I remember correctly? I’m not sure, I’ll have to ponder this very seriously. What do you think? Meanwhile, let me drop the quickest photos I’ve ever taken of that nun lolita outfit with Classical Sister.

| Metamorphose Classical Sister OP | AatP Sheherazade ~ One Thousand and One Nights ~ headdress | Taobao socks | hush puppies boots | Enchanted Dream Wear necklace (not very well visible here, scroll down for a closeup) |

This is literally just lipstick, I was going to do some light makeup, but I was in a rush to leave for a social event and was already late.

Praying to Mana-sama to grant me infinite burando money.