Note: As always, please credit me if you decide to use these photos elsewhere. And if you see your photo and would like it taken down, please let me know!
2014 was a big year for Lolitas on the East Coast.
While you can mostly find Lolita related panels and content at anime conventions, Rufflecon was a convention solely devoted to alternative fashion.
A group of fans of Japanese fashion and alternative fashion in general took their passion and turned it into a 2 day event in New Haven, Connecticut.
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| Guests of Honor: Kaie and Babi of Triple Fortune. |
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| I Do Declare |
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| Belladonna |
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| Moss Badger |
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Redfield Design
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I had never been to a convention at the beginning, but going to several across the Tri-State area I find I prefer smaller conventions. I get to be more personal and more focused with discovering Lolitas – then again this was convention dedicated to a Japanese fashion inspired by European Rococo and Victorian fashion.
Ultimately it was like attending a very large meetup lasting several days which what everyone wants:
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| a place to meet new people |
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| compare fashions and get tips, |
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| and most of all have fun. |
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| Misako at Tokyo Rebel in 2010 |
With a rapid growing community, Lolita fashion has become a popular topic. As such it’s important to bring to light the often misconceptions associated this Japanese fashion. That it is not a costume, but a fashion. However there is also a continual debate of whether it is a “lifestyle;” by adopting the fashion does one then adopt characteristics associated with “Lolita” fashion to be a true Lolita?
“Lolita Fashion: Costume or Culture” is become a popular event for the community, not only because of the topic but their speakers. Japan Society has invited Misako Aoki, the former Kawaii Ambassador and founder of the Japan Lolita Association will be speaking about her thoughts on this debate of fashion versus culture.
She will be accompanied by two famous Lolita bloggers: Caro from FYeah Lolita and Christina from Ramble Rori. The lecture will be moderated by Gwyinn Galitzer. Both ladies have dedicated themselves to dispelling myths and bringing insight to anyone interested on what Lolita fashion is really about.
There will be a small meet and greet wine reception after the lecture, so dress your best and learn what your fellow fashion enthusiasts have to say! As well as get an opportunity to meet a lot of well-dressed attendees and find out what Lolita fashion is really all about.
Lolita Fashion: Costume or Culture
February 5th, 2014
6:30PM
Japan Society
333 East 47th Street
New York, NY10017
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| Spread the word: Liz Lisa is coming to the East Coast! |
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| Let them know that you liked their Facebook page and get a phone decal! |
It was my first time going to Connecticon and I had a great time. Not only was it a nice break from the larger cons, like NYCC or Otakon, it was just as fun with plenty to do. I was quite surprised by the amount of fashion statements for such a small convention.
Note: As always, please credit me if you decide to use these photos elsewhere. And if you see your photo and would like it taken down, please let me know!
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| Lolita Fashion and Life panelists: the girls behind FYeah Lolita and Ramble Rori. |
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| A grey day for Lolita. |
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| Lavender Daydreams and Dream Sky. |
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| Bears and Stripes. |
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| Strawberries and Bear. |
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| Kyary fan. |
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| A Vintage Chess Story. |
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| Just smelling the roses. |
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| Sweet Cult Party |
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| A mori day to you. |
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| Misty Sky at Night |
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| Precious BoyStyle. |
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| Cosplay and fashion come together with this lady’s sea-like kimono and handmade Going Merry hat. |
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| Caro-chan lets the demon come out. |
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| Casual Lolita. |
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| Saw her at AnimeBoston, does she pull off Gothic so well? |
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| Can’t beat down a broken doll. |
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| No lumps about it with Her Lumpiness. |
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| Classic in Lady Sloth. |
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| Life’s Sweet Essentials in her latest coordinate and DIY bag. |
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| An old but good Emblem. |
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| Last-minute dresses are fab when you have a good attitude. |
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| This Lolita stole the blue box. Guess where it is? |
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| A touch of sweet. |
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| Queen of Hearts. |
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| Cinderella Jewelry |
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| Last photo of the night. |
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| Seamtress who sewed her fandom a dress. |
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| Star Trek! |
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| Chess Story’s Mariage L’Amour. |
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| For once, I end the con with Magic a la Mode. |
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| You are not in NYC anymore, Pucca. |
It was a weekend of firsts: it was the first weekend where the weather was below 90 degrees; the first weekend I stayed in Connecticut instead of just passing through; it was the first time time I attended a convention that was not an anime or comic focused; finally, it was my first time at ConnectiCon.
UncleYo vouched for the convention every time I had a chance to talk to him. This year I was fortunate to attend as Press. Coming from New York it was a hop, skip, jump to Downtown Hartford by Metro-North. Not only that but ParfaitDoll was nice enough to offer me a place to stay. Not only that but the weather held out to be perfect for a convention unlike the heatwave that continues in New York City.
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| The family that watches Korra together, stays together. |
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| Which witch is which? |
I must say that it was refreshing. As I’ve talk to many attendee goers, it was a con for those who did not or could not go very far and still wanted a con experience — and you certainly get that at the Connecticut Convention Center. Unlike Otakon or New York Comic Con, ConnectiCon was a smattering of fandoms: there’s anime, comics, celebrities and a panel room that always has something to do with Doctor Who.
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| Doug Walker autograph signing. |
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| Little Witches Academia. |
While Connecticon boasts an attendance of 10,000 plus people, it still felt small; which for me was a good thing. I never had to worry about lines, crowds, or if I had eaten anything at all that day. Yet on Friday lines were still out the door and everyone was waiting to get into the Dealer’s Room. There had been few occurrences where I waited in line for a panel—unless it was for Jim Cummings or UncleYo.
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| Marina Sirtis and Magic a la Mode. |
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| Marina Sirtis a bit peeved there are people leaving for Doctor Who panels. |
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| Lolita Fashion and Life: Wearing Daily – hosted by Ramble Rori. |
For a convention in the middle of Connecticut, the Lolita fashion community is quite strong — having not one, but three panels dedicated to Japanese fashion. There was a panel, run by Christina from Ramble Rori and Caro from FYeah Lolita on how to wear Lolita fashion daily and how to make your wardrobe more versatile (KISS).
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| Stick them with the pointy end. Perhaps slicing them is a better choice in this case. |
Later in the day was a J-Fashion Show, featuring different fashions that you find wandering the streets of Tokyo.
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| Dolly kei; Shironuri; Cult Party; Aristocrat |
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| Sweet Lolita; Gothic Lolita; Gyaru; Decora |
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| Group shot. |
Unfortunately I will regret due to the lack of seating (due to sword demos taken place the hours before) and dim lighting made for poor pictures on my part.
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| UMI sushi + tapas in Blue Back Square |
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| Conveyor belt sushi in Connecticut. Who knew? |
Since the show was the last thing on our list, Victoria and I celebrated surviving our first day with a sushi dinner. Umi is located in West Hartford in Blue Back Square – a fancy outdoor mall that reminds me of the Derby Street Shoppes in Hingham, MA. Umi is a conveyor belt sushi place that certainly stands out in the suburbs. I decided to try the sushi off the belt and it was good, especially if you went for the classic rolls. There were also odd flavors like BLT rolls and something called an Edamame Bomb.
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| Lolita Fashion 101 – the silhouette. |
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| Swap Meets are good for those looking to clear and add to their Lolita fashion wardrobe. |
Saturday we took it easy and attended the Lolita 101/Swap Meet panel. Oddly enough, I was told that the room was full yet when I peeked in again there were quite a few seats. However it was a constant rotation as the room was overpacked, leaving staff to ask any standing room people to leave. No matter where you go I suppose anything related to Lolita fashion will get a packed room. At the end of the panel was a swap meet for Lolitas or attendees to add or clear their wardrobe.
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| Jim Cummings Q&A |
Jim Cummings Q&A started with the voice actor asking questions about his audience before they could ask their own question. This was intermingled with Cummings and Liz Landa actin out scenes from Star Wars (Winnie the Pooh as Darth Vader), The Godfather (Tigger as Micheal Corleone), and Gone with the Wind (Ray the Firefly as Rhett Butler).
Lastly was UncleYo’s panel which was his and friends telling convention stories. There were so many to choose that he left it up to the audience to choose. Eventually it divulge into telling the story of how he and his girlfriend meet, and reading aloud fanmade fujoshi featuring UncleYo.
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| Penne a la vodka – sauteed portobello mushrooms and red peppers tossed in tomato cream sauce made with house infused jalapeno vodka. |
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| Connecticut treats their congoers right. |
Our night ended with catching a bite to eat at the Front Street Bistro across the street. I’m always weary of food around a convention, much less inside a movie theater. Front Street Bistro though made you feel like you were at a restaurant with it’s outdoor dining and hardwood seating– despite lines right next door to see Pacific Rim for the nth time. The menu was a typical burger and fries joint, and I opted for a penne a la vodka. Overall I was impressed by the service at 8PM on a Saturday during a convention: waiter was attentive and service was prompt, even the food was excellent. The penne was not drenched in heavily ladened vodka sauce and had slices of portobello mushroom. Also if you still had your badge, you could get 10% off your bill.
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| Potato Pancakes. |
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| Vanna White waffle. There is fruit under that. Somewhere. |
Sunday was all about the brunch. Victoria took me to a brunch place she frequents a lot – Leo’s Restaurant. It was your basic restaurant but the brunch was impressive and, I must say, creative. They had croissant-style french toast, a take on Huevos Rancheros, and a waffle named after a game show hostess. I went with potato pancakes…and could not finish. Victoria had a waffle that looked to be something from Milky Planet than waffle.
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| 10 Most Important Things About Writing. |
Once we arrived at the convention was I popped into a panel about how to improve your writing (i.e. Write a lot; Don’t be a perfectionist; Experience everything).
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| Kokeshi Doll Workshop |
Victoria and I also tried our hand at making kokeshi dolls.
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| To drink or not to drink all the tea: that is the question. |
Lastly there was a tea tasting panel where for $1 you got a souvenir cup, went to table, and learned about the tea they were brewing. This panel was also popular and almost sold out. Again we were told it was completely booked, but by per chance we were able to secure the last two spots.
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| Dealers’ Room |
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| Haru Vamp as Bōsōzoku Black Lady with Sailor Moon |
Overall I had a wonderful first Connecticon experience and would certainly consider going again next year. It was the convention of my yesteryears when I thought AnimeNext was a big convention. It was a convention where I didn’t have the race at opposite ends of the Javits Center at New York Comic Con to catch a panel.
Thanks to Kieli from Rainbow Star Candy for presenting me with this award! I’m glad you enjoy reading it so much!
This award goes to the underdogs who are just starting out or simple lost in the sea of bloggers out there.
“The origins of the Liebster Blog award are somewhat unclear but the general consensus is that it originated in Germany, Liebster meaning favourite or dearest, to showcase bloggers with fewer than 200 followers. Upon accepting the award the recipient can then pass it on to five more blogs of note. A way of introducing other bloggers to the blogs you enjoy.”
1. Choose five up-and-coming blogs (with fewer than 200 followers) to award the Liebster to.
2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
3. Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites. Leave comments on their blogs so they know about the award.
4. Share five random facts about yourself that people don’t know about you.
Now for 5 random facts about me…
1) I’ve played the piano for at least 10 years.
2) Magenta is one of my favorite “secret” colors.
3) I love spicy foods.
4) I tend to tell people I’m 2 inches taller than I actually am.
5) One day I’d like to organize a Lolita fashion enthusiast conference/convention.
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| La Vida Frills is headlining street snaps post again |
This was my first AnimeBoston as press and as a general attendee. Living in New York and getting to know alot of Lolitas within my own city, I was unsure what the scene would be like in Boston. Surprisingly I met some wonderful people and did lots of picture taking.
If I’ve taken a photo of you and would like me to take it down. Please feel free to send me an email.
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| Creepy Cute in Fantasic Dolly. |
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| This Sweet Lolita was such a trooper with her soft cast. |
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| A Sweet Lolita bride. |
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| Lolita BFFs |
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| Gothic Lolita rocking black and plaid. |
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| Maid and Sweet. |
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| Punk Lolita. |
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| Ponies and Carousels was her theme. Tiny carousel included. |
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| Wa-Lolita at PAX. |
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| Vampires at the Iron Gates. |
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| This Classic Lolita was so adorable with her simple coordinate. |
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| Cult-party and Sweet Lolita killing time. |
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| Hime works very well with this print. |
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| Lolita waiting in line for the Lolita panel/fashion show. |
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| A Strawberry Lolita cute enough to eat. |
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| I sat next to this girl during the panel. She was so worried about the lace on her dress, but she looks very good for a new Lolita don’t you think? |
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| Another Lolita in line. |
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| Rocking in Red. |
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| Models posing for more pictures post-panel. |
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| Cute Lolita in Classic. |
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| This girl recognized me from the Tokyo Rebel signing. |
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| More Classic. |
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| Group shot before staff kicked everyone out of the panel room. |
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| The Lolitas who ran the fashion panel and fashion show. |
Expect a post on the entire event soon! See anyone you recognize?
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| AnimeBoston 2012 |
If you ever go to Ithaca, NY you’ll notice the maps will include Cornell University and Ithaca College. Everyone is familiar with Cornell and its Ivy-League prestige, and Ithaca College is also a great school — in its own right. You really can’t compare the two just like you couldn’t really compare AnimeBoston and PAX East.
Thanks to an unusual case of double booking, both cons took place Easter weekend. A few people were actually concerned about whether one would overtake the other. In my opinion, it only benefited by bringing in more people to a great city. Especially when they catered to entirely different crowds (one being anime/cosplay and the gaming) with a slight amount of intermixing.
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| Very from our hotel. |
I often tell people I’m originally from Boston, often because it comes up when my phone number is still a Massachusetts number. Ironically living in Queens leads to further confusion. Going to Boston was kind of returning home, even though I was a tourist this time around.
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| Omni Parker House |
Taking advantage of PAX, I stayed at the Omni Parker House. Not only is it a historic landmark but it’s rumored to be haunted as well! It was very also convenient that the hotel was within walking distance from the subway. An ideal spot for touristy adventures.
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| Gilded elevators. |
Before picking my badge I decided to visit a few places I often did in my childhood. This often mean walking around the Commons, and visiting Harvard Square.
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| Cherry Blossoms in bloom at the Commons |
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| The Indie’s Mall. |
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| Local tea and coffee shop. |
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| Airbrush Street Artist. |
Not much has really change, except that it felt very much like a college town. The Garage used to be an old haunt because it was one of the few places that sold anime and Japanese merchandise straight from Japan. Now with the industry nonexistent and merchandise found regularly in what little entertainment stores there are left.
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| Thai for lunch. |
The other reason was to reconnect with an old college friend. 9Tastes was a popular Thai place with a naturally busy lunch turnover with students and the like.
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| Green Line Subway Station. Very different from NYC. |
One interesting thing I found while riding the “T” was that whether you were young or old or not into anime, you new what AnimeBoston. Probably because during the convention is when anime fans tend to over run the Prudential Center/Hynes Convention Center to an unhealthy and annoying degree.
This was my first year being press and an attendee in a long while. I went to three panels I most wanted to see, and the rest of the convention was mostly catching memorable moments.
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| Hsien-Ko and Lillith |
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| Digimon and Adventure seemed to be the top cosplay. |
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| A Seraphic Trio. |
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| Casual Cosplay of Double-H from Mawaru Penguindrum |
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| Convention Rotunda |
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| Road Kamelot from D. Grayman |
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| Scene was very fitting. |
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| Disney characters were also very popular. |
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| I think I’m one of the few that actually watched this show. |
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| Rin from Fate/Stay Night |
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| Eva Unit 01 |
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| Plumber Peach |
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| I commend this person for pulling this cosplay off. |
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| Fluttershy? |
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| Apocalypse was the convention’s theme this year. |
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| Dalek. |
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| Ophanim‘s booth in Artist Alley |
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| One of many courtesy signs. |
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| Booth that air a live feed from PaxEast/ |
Mint from h. Naoto was a guest talking about his new line MintNeko. Like sixh, the line that Mint collaborates with Ibi, MintNeko is inspired by music. I had seen both of them at Otakon last year and my memory was of Mint dancing with one of his cat bags. I was very curious as to why he was a solo guest, but understood afterwards.
With MintNeko he can concentrate on the more stylist aesthestics, whereas Ibi is supposedly more conceptual. Unfortunately, while Mint’s panel was large it was also largely empty. Whether it was because it was tucked away in the Sheraton or people simply didn’t know, I may never know the reason.
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| A Very Genki Portrait. |
Sakurai Takamasa was another guest in a reasonable sized panel room in the Hynes. If anyone is reading this, he was a guest promoting soft power and learning about international anime fans. Which to him are no different than any other fan of Japanese culture, no matter where they are from. He had a slideshow of a selection of places he had been to. At the end he showed a trailer of Okami Kodomo No Ame To Yuki directed by Mamoru Hosoda (Summer Wars, Girl Who Lept Through Time), and gave away a poster. However his simple question of who likes Natsuki (?), but the entire audience was stumped and he solved this problem by playing Jan-Ken-Pon.
The Lolita Fashion Show was a big highlight of the con for attendees and Lolitas. The line stretched from end to end of the convention floor. To be frank, I’ve actually never really been to a Lolita 101 panel, however the girls giving the panel covered it very well. Especially when it was just the two of them and about a good hundred or so of fans. I did try to take a few shots of the fashion show, but I felt that the models walked a bit too fast. However the sixH fashion show was scheduled at a similar time, and it was safe to assume that most of the participants wanted to try to catch the other show going out.
Overall I had a great time and if I had the opportunity will go again. Especially if it gave me the chance to take photos like the ones above again.
Did you go to AnimeBoston? What did you think compared to previous years?
