Month: August 2011

Throw It in the Bag : Picks and Tips for Fashion’s Night Out



Three year’s ago when the economy was very down in the dumps and shopping was literally a guilt trip, Anna Wintour and her colleagues decided to get people out to the stores. As such, Fashion’s Night Out or FNO was born. An idea that began in New York has now spanned several cities, which grants people the opportunity to meet fashion celebs, win exclusive prizes, and of course, shop until you drop.

This year it falls on September 8, 2011 (just a few weeks away) starting at 6PM. Now it’s grown to overwhelming proportions, so I thought I’d give you some events that appeal to a Lolita-minded fashion lover’s heart.


Betsey Johnson
138 Wooster St
New York, NY 10012
“Come celebrate Fashion’s Night Out with your favorite Betsey gals from 6:00pm-10:00pm! Join us for music from DJ Kalkutta, makeup by Stila Cosmetics, live models, cupcakes, champagne and a chance to win your very own Betsey tote!! Be there!”

DSW
40 East 14th Street

New York NY 10003
“DSW is excited to participate in FNO again and will be offering special shopping incentives on purchases from 6-10pm. From 7-8pm we will have a contest to win a $100 gift card (5 cards will be awarded) Fun flats will also be given out!”

LittleMissMatched
565 5th Avenue (At 46th Street)
New York NY 10017
“The LMM Girls will be treking downtown from our 5th Avenue store for a littlemissmatched POP-UP party! Parading FNO parties throughout Soho, we’ll be sharing socksicles & stuff from our oldskool icecream cart! Follow us @LittleMissMatch and rock your socks with us!”
Lucky Brand

535 Broadway

New York NY 10012
“Join Tim Gunn as he celebrates Fashion’s Night Out at Lucky Brand! Enjoy an exclusive DJ set, gourmet truffles, macaroons and cocktails as you browse the latest Lucky Brand looks. Plus, receive complimentary custom embroidery with your denim purchase, and a signed copy of Tim Gunn’s New York Times best-seller Gunn’s Golden Rules when you spend $150 or more!”

MAC Cosmetics

109 Spring Street
New York NY 10012

“Extra! Extra! Anonymous performance artists Gill & Jill Bumby will provide “Fair and Honest Appraisals of Your Appearance” with nothing more than their typewriters and charming wit at M•A•C stores in SoHo and Times Square. It’s as simple as it sounds…”

“Kick off the night at M·A·C’s Soho store starting with the soaring vocals of Beth Ditto, the fiercely bobbed fashion go-go girl whose talents as sultry singer and muse own the stage and rule the runway. Enjoy backstage makeup touchups with a M·A·C artist and listen as Ditto unleashes her magic on the mike in a special 3 song set… Fashion’s Night Out with M·A·C? Ditto that!”

Paper Doll Boutique and Beauty Bar
921 Fulton Street
Brooklyn, NY 11238
“Across the Hudson Over the bridge & under the most fashionable roof in Brooklyn. This year on “Fashion’s Night Out” the dollhouse is where glits and glam go over the top. Forget about miniature goodies in small samples. Paper Doll Boutique is presenting a healthy load of gifts to the naughty & nice fashion lovers this year with free manicures, mini massages, make up application and “I really hope I win” giveaways. If this doesn’t sound like the most fashionable celebration, then I recommend my killer cocktail at our open bar to turn this up a notch. See you September 8th, 2011, from 6-11pm. The one day in the year where being fashionably late will leave you left out!”
Screaming Mimi’s

382 Lafayette Street 

New York, NY 10003
“Country Fair theme with games, prizes, photo ops, refreshments , djs and a special performance by The Holster Sisters”

Sephora

711 Lexington Avenue
New York NY 10022

“Kick off Fashion Week at Sephora—we’ve got the most spectacular beauty events of the year. *Achieve the perfect brow with Benefit’s Brows A- Go-Go eyebrow kit *Consult with Dr. Dennis Gross, celebrity dermatologist *Polish lips with antioxidant-rich Bite Beauty *Meet Tokyo’s Hello Kitty designer Yuko Yamaguchi.”

Sephora
45 East 17th Street 

New York NY 10003

“Kick off Fashion Week at Sephora—we’ve got the most spectacular beauty events of the year. *Enter the Sparkle Factory and meet Tarina Tarantino *Learn makeup tips by Laura Mercier artists, with special guest celebrity makeup artist Matin Maulawizada *Get skincare advice from Dr. Murad *Discover GLO Science groundbreaking teeth whitening technology and meet founder Dr. Jonathan B. Levine.”

Stuart Weitzman

625 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10022
“Michelle Trachtenberg and Hayden Panettiere will be making a personal appearance with Stuart Weitzman at 6:30 p.m.on September 8, 2011 at his flagship store at 625 Madison Avenue (at 59th Street). They will be unveiling their Young Hollywood Cares Shoe Collection, which will benefit ovarian cancer research. Other styles from the Young Hollywood Cares collection were designed by Scarlett Johansson and Olivia Palermo.”

Check Fashion Night’s Out official website for more event listings, as well as download the exclusive app where you can map out your own personalized FNO.

Out and About: Meet and Greet with Lolita Designers at Tokyo Rebel

Mistuba (left) and Masumi Kano (right)

With Otakon having taken up so much of my time, I barely had moments to enjoy myself (much less have time to eat). Which is why I was truly ecstatic when Tokyo Rebel announced they would be hosting a meet-and-greet session with designers Masumi Kano and Mitsuba on Monday, August 1st, 2011.

It was also a great opportunity for those who weren’t able to make it to Otakon, and for people like me, who prefered a more intimate one-on-one sitting — not to mention avoid hour long lines just for an autograph.

Tokyo Rebel asked those girls interested to RVSP ahead of time, with everyone going in groups of ten at a time so each person could have a few moments to speak with the designers. It was also beneficial to attendees to not feel claustrophobic with Tokyo Rebel being such a small store.

Girls were asked to arrive around 5-10 minutes ahead of time so as not to block the sidewalk from passerbys and the occassional dogwalker. There were girls who were local to the city, as well as a few as far as Connecticut just to see Kano-san and Mistuba. The wait time was about 10 minutes longer than expected, but it gave a chance for me to take a few snapshots of girls waiting.

Once my group was called, everyone formed a line for an autograph and then another for a photo-op. As soon as I was up, both designers smiled and giggled a bit since I had helped them out in Baltimore the day before. You were allowed to get one item and one postcard (of your choice), signed. Unfortunately the only pens were regular ink pens, and the autograph evidently rubbed off. The postcard was thankfully inside so no smudge there!

There was one last group photo with everyone, and after you were free to browse the store or leave. It seemed like everyone enjoyed themselves, and Tokyo Rebel accommodated latecomers by asking them to go in the last group

I do hope Tokyo Rebel continues events like these because it makes Lolita fashion more real seeing the people in person who wear Lolita and work in this particular fashion niche. In a way it also enforces one’s love of Lolita to continue wearing it.

More Links:
Tokyo Rebel takes Designers out on the town.

The Traveling Lolita – Otakon 2011

Pepper Ink
It’s been at least a year since I’ve gone to a con, and two years since I’ve attended Otakon, one of the biggest conventions on the East Coast.  I had just gotten into Lolita and haven’t quite fully grasped that Baltimore is hotter and crazier than New York. 
This year’s guests feature designers from Baby, the Stars Shine Bright and Alice and the Pirates – along with Ibi and Mint, designers of Sixh (a sub-brand of h.Naoto). There was also the Ultimate Lolita Fashion Show, a fashion show devoted to American designers. With Lolita being guests and part of the main events it was a must-see event, and a mini-vacation I could not pass up. 
Initially I was unsure what to expect this year, and at my only priorities were the Lolita-focused fashion shows. All the while, I would tweet my adventures via Blackberry. Unfortunately my Blackberry could not take Baltimore heat and I had to survive sans smartphone. 

However it was a weekend of adventures nonetheless. I attended a Lolita tea party at the Explorer’s Lounge, one of the restaurants within the Intercontinental Hotel, hosted by various girls from the community (specifically, I Do Declare, Moss Garden, Morrigan NYC, Perianth, and Tea, Love, Crochet), shot some amazing photos of both fashion shows, and at the very last-minute decided to volunteer my time at the official BtSSB/AaTP booth.

I like many was surprised by their appearance in the dealer’s room, as well as their decision to donate items for the Charity Auction. And there translator for the weekend had known me from previous events, and asked if I was interested in helping out. They had needed a second person who spoke English, had some retail experience, and cover the booth while the designers were off to guest-related events. 
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in itself, I got to assist Lolitas make the hard choice of choosing one item among many, as well as coax some confidence out of awe-struck girls for once in a lifetime photo-ops. (It was advantageously lucky of me that I was planning to wear both brands that weekend — specifically Chained Berry Memoir and Vampire Requiem.)
I talked to Lolitas, fans, and parents while their children showed them the reason they broke their piggy banks. The designers were more than happy to offer their expertise to ensure customers who were unsure whether a JSK or OP would fit.
Lily of the Valley, Little Macaron, Lolita Nouveau, Candy Threads
My Friday night was reserved for the Ultimate Lolita fashion show — a show which has grown from a small panel room to one of the main panel rooms, complete with catwalk. Models and designers alike worked the runway liked they were at Bryant Park (now Lincoln Center). From Lily of the Valley with her fairytale imagination; to Little Macaron, a line full of pop; to Lolita Nouveau who was inspired by regal elegance; to Candy Threads who showed off all kinds of Lolita styles. 
Corazón Carmela, Perianth, I Do Declare, Morrigan NYC
Corazón Carmela models were bouncing down the runway with sheer joy that there’s a Lolita brand made for plus-size girls (and still feel beautiful). While Perianth, I Do Declare, and Morrigan NYC took the idea of the Lolita aesthetic and pushed it to the limits of everything but. The only disappointment was when it was over. Droves of people left for other panels while they switched to a designer spotlight/Q&A – a bit rude, but neccessary with the event scheduled so late at night. (I was also a guilty party, but I digress). 
Mistuba (left), chief designer of Alice and the Pirates and Masumi Kano (right), a designer of Baby, the Stars Shine Bright.
Saturday’s fashion show was short, sweet, but still a full house at 10AM. I skipped the Q&A to head back down to their booth. Like a typical con attendee, I spent Sunday looking for items to buy – though more like browsing through h. Naoto and Baby, the Stars Shine Bright booth. My favorite moment of the day was when I caught a glimpse of Ibi dancing with a cat-shaped Sixh bag. 
By the end of the day Sunday, my suitcase was filled (but thankfully not stuffed) with a few more clothes to add to my Japanese brand inventory. As well as a necklace and earrings from Roserie.
All in all, it was a busy, but accomplished weekend and I would do it all again in a heartbeat. And my temporary shopgirl experience filled a tiny space in my once-in-a-lifetime dream of working at a Lolita shop. 
Please check here for more pictures from the fashion show. (Note: Would like to ask that if you intend to use any pictures to please credit)
Did you attend Otakon or the fashion shows? How about the Q&A at the Alice and the Pirates/Baby, the Stars Shine Bright fashion show (I would really like to know how this went since I had to skip out)? If so, what was your with greatest memory or keepsake(s) of Otakon 2011?
Note: You may have noticed I’ve change my name. It’s more because I’ve come to the realization that more people, at least some Lolitas, know me by my real name as opposed Charlotte; and introduction-wise I don’t use a nom de plume, so I will make things simpler on my part and yours.

The Magician King Signing 8/10!

For Harry Potter fans there is a void that needs to be filled. So while you’re waiting for your Hogwarts letter from Pottermore, I suggest checking out The Magicians by Lev Grossman.

I picked up The Magicians on a whim in a now defunct Borders store. It was one of the best books I’ve ever picked up. Think adult version (as opposed to YA) of Harry Potter set in Narnia – and there are no happy endings. Six months later I seized the opportunity to check out a booksigning. It was the most interesting signing I’ve been too – an elderly attendee began comparing The Magicians to the upcoming Sorcerer’s Apprentice. (There’s no contest that The Magicians is far better).

Lev Grossman continues where The Magicians left off with The Magician King. If you’re a fan or aching for a new book, Grossman will be holding a Q&A and signing his latest book at two stores. On Tuesday, August 9th, Grossman will be at WORD bookstore in Brooklyn, and at Barnes & Nobles on Wednesday, August 10th.

Hope to see you there with at least two books in hand!

The Magician King Signing
7:30PM
August 9th, 2011
Word Bookstore
126 Franklin St.
Brooklyn, NY 11222
718-383-0096

7PM
August 10th, 2011
Barnes & Noble
2289 Broadway (at 82nd Street)
New York, NY 10024
212-362-8835