Chicago Megameet 2014

Took place in Chinatown in Chicago, IL this year!

This year I went to the annual megameet in Chicago! It is hosted by the wonderful mods of Chigothloli, who reserved the Pagoda area in Ping Tom Park in Chinatown for the picnic. We ended up sitting in the grass since the water taxi people kept wandering straight up into our personal space. I carpooled with lolitas from Milwaukee and we got there a bit late, but luckily saw another Chicago lolita walking towards the destination while we were parking.

Let me tell you about Chigothloli... they had a pretty quiet year after some drama happened before I joined a year ago. The people that I met through the group were all very nice and a great majority of the comm is from the Chicago suburbs. Chicago comm just got some new mods who are working very hard to make sure that more meetups happen!!!

Let me start out with an coordinate shot video that I made from this meet!

Here are some pics from the meet!

Remember to bring your picnic blankets~

See those people beyond the tape... gawking like crazy!

Rachel and Heather (chunlichan)!

Another Chicago lolita, Kathy, and Helen!

Group photo! Everyone looked great!

Nina (dutch bunnies) and Mita!

Danielle (Frozen Rose Cosplay) and me!

Himani, a Chicago lolita, and Amy!

Jola and Emma!

Extra cute... Molly (Dream Princess) twinned with her sister!

Caitlin (Sugared Tea / stellarkei) with her dapper boyfriend!

PROMO: Moments like Diamonds Giveaway

http://chouzuru.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-big-celebration-giveaway.html

Just wanted to share this for the chance to win a DSLR! Although I have narrowed down my options for newer nice cameras like the Nikon 1 J1 or Canon PowerShot SX170 so it's less than $200 new/used, I would love to get a free camera. I have followed this blogger for quite a while and make sure to read about her weight loss story... it's such an inspiration!!!

Recent Haul: Taobao Group Order!

I recently finished up a Taobao group order with some lolitas within my community. I didn't end up buying lolita this time. Instead, I focused on mori girl stuff and accessories. I was very disappointed that several of the things that I wanted were out of stock, like the Sailor Moon sweatshirt and Madoka grief seed necklaces.

I'm currently using Transbao as a shopping service, which has a 5% shopping service fee and they are 10/10 on communication! My agent replies back instantly on Skype and you're constantly updated on your order! You need an invitation code to join! Use kpossibles to join and share in the goodness of an easy shopping service~

Onto the Haul!!!

Pusheen replica pillow

Blue flower skirt

Mori girl skirt

Cards print mini skirt

Mori girl skirt

Little Dipper underskirt

Kawaii tissue box

Mori girl cover up

Madoka wall decal

10 x usamimi (pigtails)

Schoolgirl uniform (didn't fit so I will be selling it)

Oversize sweater from schoolgirl uniform

Lolita beret! So cute~

Con Report: Anime Central 2014 Part 1

ACEN 2014: Lolita Con Report!

This year, I was very excited to go to Anime Central aka ACEN on May 16-18, 2014 in Rosemont, IL. None of my friends in the past were interested enough into anime & manga culture so I always went alone. Through lolita and the AMKE maid cafe, I made a ton of friends that I ran into during the convention! So happy to hang out and room with awesome folks.

ACEN is listed as the 3rd largest anime convention in the United States. This year they had really good guests, but as usual, they announced them super duper late. I was hoping that they would sponsor a lolita brand again, since Putumayo was making the convention rounds with Harajuku Hearts. However, they managed to book angela, Yoshitoshi ABe, h.NAOTO & sixh.ibi, Wake Up, Girls!, and Nobuo Uematsu & Arnie Roth for A New World: intimate music from FINAL FANTASY concert.

Day 0

My roomies were setting up an artist alley table (btw you should check out cubecrazy2, he does fantastic original illustrations!) and since I didn't have a vendor badge, I couldn't help set up the Midwest Lolita Collective booth, which some Chicago lolitas created to support and promote indie lolita brands from around the world. There is a high-end mall called Fashion Outlets of Chicago, which is a 5 minute walk away from the convention center!!!  This was great news, as it boasted a food court so you won't starve. I got my badge mailed to me so I avoided Line Con ©.

Day 1

Friday was a super exciting day of walking around and visiting my friends working at the Midwest Lolita Collective booth. We had the annual Indie Designer Showcase aka lolita fashion show! I modelled for a Chicago designer and I was pretty happy that I got the qi-lolita outfit. You can view more pictures here!

Wearing Rina Cali, photo credit: http://photographybanzai.com/

My favorite designs of the night were from mossbadger! I love OTT classic...

Makes you think of royalty and Game of Thrones...

Me and my 2 other roomies also attended "A New World: intimate music from FINAL FANTASY" concert. We woke up and got in line at like 5:30am since they were first come, first serve FREE tickets. I was super tired during the concert, but Nobuo-sensei made me energized again when we all gave him a standing ovation after he accompanied the chamber orchestra on keyboard. I definitely want to hear the bigger concert live in Chicago in August!

Snuck a pic of Arnie Roth talking in between songs!

Lolita snaps

A lot of Angelic Pretty, strawberries, and sweet!

First-time lolita wearing F+F, some girls from my comm, & another cutie!

More lolitas! Including real twinning & a fabulous coordinated couple~

Unofficial DDC day! XD

Midwest Lolita Collective

Midwest Lolita Collective booth at its finest~

Volunteer booth girls & designers!

I ended up buying an Innocent World parasol and Lily of the Valley (sakurafairy) sash from the Midwest Lolita Collective booth. Everything that was there on the racks or displayed on the table made me want all the things...

Cosplay

My favorite cosplay goes out to the Saint Oniisan Jesus-kun with his replica laptop!

Vivienne Westwood Anglomania + Melissa Gillie shoes REVIEW

I got my first pair of Vivienne Westwood shoes yesterday in the mail! I always have admired the 3 strap gold shoes in coordinates and when this popped up at a reasonable price (for high fashion brand shoes), I couldn't resist putting down a bid on Ebay~

These shoes are gorgeous in "pink metal" which was basically a coppery gold!

They came with 2 shoelaces, but the tan ones matched the gold theme better~

Closeup on the VW logo

Your footprints have never been so classy~

It also came with a cotton shoe bag~

Even the shoebox is classy~

Review

I got this via a reseller in NYC on Ebay that someone linked to me on Facebook. My friends are the best~ (although we encourage each other's shopping addictions... ^_^;) 

Quality: The color in the provided stock picture are true to color, unlike the Melissa webshop listing. One of my friends ordered from the webshop so I'll update this post with a picture of her shoes if there's a difference. (I edited my pictures so the contrast is a bit high) Otherwise, the shoes are very comfortable and they're a pleasant sheen of plastic~

It definitely looks more pink metal in the webshop picture...

Price: The ones on ebay cost a total of $69.47 with priority box (2-3 day) shipping. On the official webshop listing, it costs $65.10 with free shipping AND has 6 color options from size 5-10! Retail price is $217.00, so I saved a ton during this "sale"!

Communication: 10/10 the ebay seller contacted me about payment and replied quickly to my question about a proof photo (I initially bid since the listing came with the option of returning it).

Where to get it: Official Melissa webshop [x],  ebay seller ip246 [x], 6pm [x]