My First Time Vending at MCM London Comic Con!

A month after the fact seems like the perfect time for me to tell you all about my experience of having a stall at MCM London Comic Con! This is going to be a long post so make yourself comfortable!

Being the largest pop culture convention in the UK, I knew this was an event I needed to try my hand at eventually, but over the years I kept putting off fully immersing myself into becoming a convention trader. There was always some excuse: too much studying to do, not enough capital to invest in my business properly, working full time at other things and thus having no time or energy to devote to improving my brand... but this was the year I had a lot less obstacles standing in my way. It was time to make the most of it and in July, I secured my table.

I spent countless hours researching, sewing, crafting, sourcing materials, developing new products and gathering together everything I might need for a convention of this size. I got myself sorted out with a business bank account and new SumUp card reader; it was time to take things seriously, and stop writing off my brand as a mere casual hobby. 

Before I knew it, October had rolled around and the final days leading up to the event were going by so quickly. The day before I was due to head off to the Excel Centre to set up my stall, I was still frantically making products!

Day 0

On Thursday 25th October, with the beginnings of a cold coming on, I set off with a suitcase, large tote, and weekend bag in tow, and somehow made my way across London to the Custom House stop on the DLR with the help of my partner who met me on the way at Waterloo. I hadn't been to MCM since 2011 and I couldn't help feeling a little nostalgic as I stood under the canopy outside the venue once more.

Sign up was straightforward, and then it was straight to my designated table to get things ready in the very chilly North Hall. My table neighbour was there already, an artist named Abdul. He was from Australia and was amazing company and good fun for us over the weekend!

Set up, complete with regulation hi-vis jackets, took a couple of hours in the end; I had never had a 6ft by 4ft space before, nor had I ever had so much stock so it was mainly trial and error.

We decided to finish putting the clothing up in the morning, and headed off to our airbnb for what was an absolutely diabolical night's sleep in a dusty basement room on a mattress that felt like a brick. Our previous Airbnb host cancelled on us mere days before the event, so this was the next best thing. It sucked. We ordered a pizza and tried not to sulk too much.

Day 1

Despite being drained and sleepy, we were very excited for day one. Friday 26th October was a very chilly day, and after arming ourselves with a McDonald's breakfast, we set off via bus to the Excel Centre to finish set up and take a moment to admire the finished stall.

I couldn't help feeling so proud! This was the first time my stall has ever really looked the way I wanted it to, and had a stock level that felt "enough", unlike at previous events where my table looked quite bare. Yes!

I went for a simple outfit with my Btssb tartan jumperskirt, plus a beret and choker from my brand. 

My partner has a shiny new phone that likes to make gifs. I'm ok with it.

That first day, sales were regular though it wasn't super busy as it was only the Friday. Still, I had quite a few customers and a lot of enthusiasm towards my products, which was lovely to see. I even sold a black Cherry Print skirt which left me shaking with happiness afterwards. There really is nothing like having your work appreciated in person. 

The vibe of the event was very lively, though very different to my last experience as an attendee in 2011. The direction seems to be a lot more corporate and the layout is very different to how it used to be. I hope there will always be a strong indie trader presence, though, as I think we add a lot of value, heart, and quirkiness to the event that big corporate booths could never replicate!

With Day 1 over, I was in good spirits, having absolutely smashed my abysmal sales at Hyper Japan Festival 2016! Clearly, MCM was the right place for me.

After we packed up the clothing and covered over the stall for the night, my partner and I headed to the nearest Tesco to pick up something for dinner and some fixings for packed lunches for the following day as we'd been forced to buy  overpriced convention food this time round (the two hotdogs we had were pretty nice but not £13 nice, haha). The shop was crammed with convention goers, many still in their cosplays! After this, we caught a bus back to our Airbnb for another uncomfortable night's sleep where I was dosed up with Lemsip to control my cold symptoms.

Day 2

Saturday 27th October was absolutely insane. Oh my goodness. I have never been so busy at an event in my life and the rush was actually quite invigorating. Things kicked off with us missing the bus and arriving as the event was due to open. We needn't have panicked, though; lots of other vendors hadn't arrived either and the con-goes were pretty slow to make their way through the hall.

I was glad I made the decision to not wear anything intricate in the end (my Lazy Oaf dress and top were so comfy!) as we were constantly rushing around behind the stall to replenish sold stock or handle transactions for customers. A lot of people wanted to pay by card which made me so relieved to have bought my new card reader, but phone signal at the Excel was pretty bad during peak traffic. There was an agonising 5+ minute wait for one transaction to go through that honestly gave me the sweats, haha. Thankfully, customers were very understanding and patient. Well, most of them were pleasant.

Your fave kawaii shopkeeper.

I won't forget my encounter with an American guy who bought 7 hair bows, and proceeded to try to find out where I was staying for the weekend, and what I would be getting up to after the convention because he's "really into partying" and thought we should get together... I'm sure you know where this was going. Despite me making extremely obvious I was in no way interested, he remained very insistent about me giving him my instagram handle, and wouldn't leave as he'd decided we should exchange info first. In the meanwhile, my flipping partner of over 6 years was busy dealing with a customer behind the table (I was beside the table at this point) and I couldn't make eye contact. As soon as this creep was gone I immediately went onto instagram and blocked him. What made the situation more uncomfortable than it needed to be was the fact this was a customer, and this was my workplace. I found myself wondering during this painful encounter, if I'm any more blunt with this person, will they try to be spiteful and do a chargeback on the purchase they just used their card for? It put me in an unfair position where they had leverage. Moving forward I have a better idea of how I'll handle harassment like this if it happens to me again. It left me feeling really irritated and quite sour for a while afterwards until I realised I shouldn't be angry at myself for someone else's completely inappropriate behaviour.

Anyway. The rest of the day was really good! I sold a ton of earrings, and my new choker line did way better than I was expecting. Berets were flying off the stand, and I had never felt more confident in my product before. The most exciting thing was multiple people coming to my stall to say they followed my instagram. Considering my practically non-existent online following this was such a pleasant surprise! I ended up making friends with a fellow trader whose table was on the other side of the hall. The ease with which I was able to talk to everyone was great, and it felt like we were all part of a little community. 

The day came to an end at long last after pages of sales in my little notebook log. During my chats to fellow vendors, my partner covered over the stall for me, and then we headed off for Tesco again to grab something for dinner. Back at the Airbnb, our host talked at us for ages about going to a farm near Guildford that day to pick pumpkins and squashes. It was very awkward as she basically had us cornered in the kitchen when all we wanted to do was eat and turn in early. Still, she gave us a slice of carrot cake each for our troubles and all was well... until she began making loud cat noises to herself in the otherwise silent kitchen. I will never forget the two of us slowly turning to look at each other in complete incredulity while our host continued making a series of meowing noises while she prepared vegetables for her dinner. We made an excuse to leave and practically ran to our room and locked the door. Bedtime could not have come soon enough.

Day 3

So, Day 3. We were absolutely cream-crackered by this point after yet another terrible night's sleep in our naff little basement room. Sunday 28th October started off with me feeling incredibly nauseated. I genuinely did not know how I was going to get through the day. That is, until table neighbour Abdul gave me some mint chocolate biscuits. I now think of these as being made of magic because my nausea immediately subsided after eating just one, and I felt so much better. I was so lucky to have ended up next to someone so kind that weekend!

Sunday mimicked Friday in a lot of ways, though this day was definitely more of a family day. I saw so many parents with pushchairs, and there were a lot of small children to keep an eye on as they had a habit of wanting to grab everything on the stall, especially as most of what I sell is colourful and enticing, haha. I also had a few of the rude, middle-aged mums I had back at Hyper Japan-- the sort who made fun of the products and thought it necessary to dramatically ask why on earth they'd wear something like that. Right in front of me. I think I'm going to start asking people like this why they think it's OK to make fun of someone's work while they're standing right there. On this occasion, I mainly just stared at them until they noticed my expression (but pretended not to) and walked away. 

There were a few people who I'd seen having internal struggles over the weekend, not-so-subtly walking up and down past my stall multiple times before finally making the commitment to purchase on the final day. I also saw people over the weekend wearing items they'd bought from me, which made me smile every time. 

The Sunday look consisted of more Lazy Oaf, plus a Btssb cutsew. 

As the day wrapped up I could finally have a flip through my sales book and see not only how much money I'd made (enough to cover my costs I'm happy to say!) but also which items sold the best. In terms of quantity, people really went wild for the earrings! The price point seemed to work well for the convention environment, and I'd worked hard to choose charms that were a bit different to what other people were selling. Other favourites were hair bows and berets. I think the cold weather really helped me to sell the latter and I actually ran out of the black colourway, which I think may have caused me to lose out on a couple of sales. It was a huge learning experience, but for the first time, it seemed like I'd really found my feet in this whole small business thing. 

I really took the time to professionalise everything, from getting custom jewellery backing cards printed, to having a more dynamic layout with clear pricing. It absolutely paid off and I know for sure this is the direction I want to take my business in. I will most certainly be back at MCM London Comic Con for the spring show in May next year, and I'm already looking forward to it! I will be commuting from home this time, though, because when all's said and done, Airbnb didn't save me much commuting time, stopped me from getting any rest during a time when I needed it most, and meant I had to subsist on junk food for four days. Just one of those life lessons learned, I guess.

Just after they announced the convention was officially over!

On Sunday night I slept like a log; not even the uncomfortable bed could keep me awake after an evening where I was hit with a terrible fever that left me a crying mess. My partner ordered us McDonald's via UberEats as it was way too cold (and frankly quite a scary neighbourhood where we met two druggies over the weekend) to venture back outside. I was well enough to travel home on the Monday but since then, I've not been 100%. I spent a few weeks with a rubbish virus, and am now left with a residual cough that won't leave. The usual November thing, I guess.

Despite all this, the experience was so worth it and I've been such a fidget ever since because I'm so hyped to do another convention. Stepping out of my comfort zone was more rewarding than I could have imagined. So many more people now know about my brand, and having people completely new to what I do buy items with no hesitation was an indescribable feeling. 

If you managed to get through this incredibly long and rambly post then thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed my account of this very hectic weekend!

See you next time! ❤

Joining the Quarter-of-a-Century Club: My Birthday 2018! 🎂

As a teenager, being 25 sounded sophisticated and distant. I think past me would be surprised by how little really changes at a first glance, but maybe a little impressed by the deeper alterations within. I feel more sure of myself than I used to, and now have the confidence to stand up for myself. September always feels like a new beginning; it's nice to have a birthday that coincides with new academic years, and the start of autumn, my favourite season. This transitional period of the year always feels so exciting to me, and so much of what I want to achieve over the following year tends to be decided during this time. I'm no longer at that point where I get a year older and frantically compare myself to others, wondering why I've not achieved more by this point. Life rarely works out to the timelines we set ourselves, and sometimes, the things we thought we wanted end up being null and void once we work towards them. This time last year I thought I'd be sticking to a career in buying, trying to make the transition into fashion head offices. Yeah... life kinda squashed that one. 

This year I wanted to be festive and silly, to mark my birthday the way one would mark any other "milestone" birthday. I think 25 is underrepresented in that regard. In my opinion, surviving for a quarter of a century is a huge achievement, so I did my best to give it the respect it deserves. Here I am: alive, healthy, brimming with ideas, still full of aspirations and dreams I'm working hard to achieve, and on a path I never would have expected could be possible. Sometimes it's messy, disheartening, and soul destroying. But sometimes it's beautiful and leaves me feeling blessed and inspired. It is what it is. Some people have achieved more by this age, and some people less. It's irrelevant. We're all on our own paths and life isn't a race. We have to do our best to make our dreams come true, no matter how long it takes. That's all you need.

*      *      *

On the day of my birthday, a warm Thursday, I set off to Victoria where I had a pleasant lunch with my partner in Dominique Ansel Bakery, which neither of us had been to before. The shopfront was decorated in flowers (seems to be a big "thing" in London right now) and the interior was simple and clean. I was surprised by how large the interior was, as so many places I've tried have been awkwardly cramped. There was a counter with a wonderful selection of sweet treats. Along with a savoury muffin for lunch, I decided on a strawberry pavlova for dessert.

It was cute but also delicious, though I wish there had been a little more cream filling to help wash down the remaining pavlova piece I ended up not eating. Over lunch my partner gifted me a lovely top from Lazy Oaf, which you will see later in this post!

I went for a birthday cake themed outfit with Bodyline macaron skirt, and a cupcake necklace!

 

After the meal, and I'd got a photo in front of the lovely flower display, we headed off to Covent Garden. I like to make obligaatory stops in places like Artbox, with its cute imported kawaii items, Rockit Vintage (though this is definitely not as good as it used to be) and the Astrology Shop (though on this day the place was a mess and you couldn't move for the stacks of boxes in front of all the bookshelves). Skinny Dip didn't have anything that caught my eye on this occasion, and we found ourselves sat on a bench planning our next stop. 

On a whim, we headed up to Goodge Street and walked over to Treadwell's, my favourite bookshop. They sell all manner of magickal tools, but the real draw is their huge selection of books on anything from tarot reading to spells, herbalism to divination, history to modern literature. Once inside, it feels as though you're in Diagon Alley, and all manner of people congregate there. I could spend hours in there, particularly on their super comfortable browsing sofa, but I managed to restrain myself on this occasion as I didn't want to get stuck in rush hour traffic on the way home! I ended up choosing a book on spellcraft before we decided to make our way home.

On arriving, I found myself greeted by a large, flat pink box. What could this be?

I opened it up to find that my friend Sammi had had flowers sent to me specially for my birthday! 

They were beautiful, and lasted a whole week! Every time I saw them over that period of time made me feel so loved.

I ended the day feeling positive and pleased I'd gone out and done something to celebrate.

A couple of days later I met up with my friends Wing, Reina, and Memz to essentially carry on the festivities! We headed to a pastel café where I had a lovely cream tea with my favourite scone texture-- crumbly and melt-in-the mouth. Perfect! It was great to catch up with everyone over tea and sweet treats.

I always feel so relaxed in pretty places! There's something about traditional English cream tea and crockery that fills my heart with joy.

Wing surprised me with a cute little kawaii food themed sticker and eraser set from Artbox! I things like that-- so adorable, especially when the stickers have the bonus of being squidgy.

Afterwards, we went shopping, heaving into Soho for the usual haunts like Monki. I barely buy anything anymore as my current situation requires me to be frugal (not that I've ever been good at spending money anyway!) but it was a lot of fun to window shop and look at pieces with the perspective of my friends to help. It's always interesting to see how other people would coordinate items and make them look good, particularly those unassuming or seemingly garish pieces that really just require the eye of someone with a different style to you!

Of course, we had to take a trip to Lazy Oaf!

We made no outfits plans beforehand but we all somehow ended up choosing to wear pink! Accidental coordinating is the best!

What would a day with Reina be without us accidentally wearing similar outfits!? We did it again. I don't quite understand how this always happens but I love it every single time! The pink top I'm wearing is the present I mentioned earlier, and it's so versatile. I'm looking forward to getting a lot of wear out of it as the weather gets cooler.

Before we knew it, it was late afternoon and we all needed to head off home. I was sad to say goodbye to everyone but isn't that the feeling you should be grateful for? That's when you know you've had a really good day!

I'm so pleased I got to spend such a wonderful time with loved ones to celebrate my birthday not just once, but twice! The kind gestures, fun conversations, and positive energy made for the best birthday celebration I've had in a long time, and I cannot help feeling immense gratitude. 

How do you like to spend your birthday? Do you prefer to treat it like any other day, or do you like to have a fuss made of you? Do you compare yourself to others, or do you feel positive about your achievements thus far? I'd love to hear about it!

As always, thank you so much for reading. See you next time ❤

The Omitted Birthday at sketch ☕️

A glaring omission from my blog is my birthday in 2017 and it's honestly been bothering me a lot! Easy enough to rectify, though.

On Saturday 9th September 2017, I went for a meal at the Glade in sketch, London. The service was underwhelming and at times incredibly rude, though the surroundings were rather lovely. I'm trying to remember why I didn't bother blogging about it but I'm not sure. Maybe because it was a bit rubbish. I don't like leaving things unfinished, however, so for the sake of completion and an opportunity for contrast to the much nicer birthday I just had, here's a brief blitz-through of that experience.

sketch is situated in London's Mayfair, and is usually found on the many "instragrammable locations" lists. Particularly the Gallery (aka, the pink room) finds itself the subject of many a pretty Instagram post and YouTube vlog. It's cute in there, I guess, but I'm not at a point where I feel comfortable paying quite so much money for afternoon tea!

The Glade, on the other hand, is a brunch location within the building, decorated to look like a fairy tale land with prettily papered walls, whimsical lighting and a carpet so full and thick one might easily trip on it due to its moss like textures. The furniture in this room is more ornate, with lots of delicately carved wood which harks back to Victorian decor, and strange glass side tables held up by what appeared to be metal blades of grass.

Pouring my rosebud tea with some randomer next to me.

The wallpaper and lighting were very dreamy.

Very chunky carpet.

I've only had cream tea there twice, and it's... not the best. For my birthday tea, it was OK. I opted for rosebud tea (which caused me some terrible bloating as it brewed for so long and had too many rose buds in the pot) which tasted delicate when combined with the sweetness of the scones and jam. My seat ended up being rather communal: I was sat on one side of an ornate couch, and a stranger on the other, and we each had a different table with our respective partners sat opposite us. It was easy to ignore eventually, but certainly didn't make for the most private experience and was very jarring to begin with. My couch buddy appeared to be on a first date, and I found myself covertly watching the fumbling yet incredibly genuine interaction play out. It was very sweet.

I initially believed there to be a pianist present, but it was actually a programmed piano playing music all the while, sounding out covers of popular songs. It created a pleasant atmosphere, and made me smile whenever I eventually recognised the tunes. 

Still, the fact your reservation is literally timed for a 1 hour slot makes for a meal you can't be leisurely or relaxed about, and I think the subconscious reminder of a time limit affected the experience quite drastically. I consider a cream tea to be a way to unwind and chatter to your heart's content. This could not be done here.

The toilets, as you'll have probably seen a thousand times already, consist of pod like cubicles. Even here I was disappointed. For all the space age decor, the cubicles were not well maintained, smelt terrible, and the sinks outside of them were filthy, despite a cleaner in an overly contrived maid costume wandering around the entire time we were there. What she was actually supposed to be achieving, I will never know. 

I wonder if perhaps the service is so significantly different in the Gallery (which would make sense, given what a full afternoon tea costs there) that those who've dined there have been able to come away with much more positive things to say. I can only speak for the Glade, and frankly, aside from the beautiful decor, I could not recommend it. The food is mediocre (the second time I went there it was actually inedible) and there's one French waitress in particular who is so lacking in people skills that if you're unlucky enough to have her serve you, you'll basically have your entire experience soured by her unpleasant disposition.

My day was rounded off with some wandering around the shops, with Lazy Oaf being one of them, naturally.

Blouse: Anna House

Bolero: offbrand

Jumperskirt: Alice's Ribbon Kingom- Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

Shoes: Bodyline

Bag: Angelic Pretty

Crappy cream tea experience aside, I really like my outfit on this day. Alice's Ribbon Kingdom became something of a signature print for me for a while, due to the fact it combines my favourite colours to wear (monochrome and pink), and is generally an easy to coordinate dress. This was also my first time wearing my natural hair as is, with no extensions, and having grown out and cut off all the chemically relaxed parts. It's grown so much since then that I'm finding my pigtails comically short in this photo.

To summarise... well, let's say that turning 25 was much nicer! We'll get to that in my next post.

Ever had a meal somewhere that promised so much but delivered so very little? I'd love to hear about it and know I'm not alone! Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!

Bonus photo because I look like some kind of celeb caught by the papparazzi here, haha.

❤

A Lolita Picnic in Regent's Park 🍒

Hey everyone!

On Saturday 11th August I decided to attend a meet in Regent's Park, London. It was organised by the Otome Sewing Bee, our local lolita fashion sewing group. There were crafting activities to try, as well as a bring and buy area where people were free to spread out picnic blankets covered in all the lolita clothing accessories they wanted to get rid of. I knew a couple of my friends would be there so after a train and tube ride later, I found myself rounding the corner across from Madam Tussauds (which was, naturally, absolutely heaving with visitors) and heading off down the road to the large, lake-filled park.

The weather was OK to begin with-- gentle sunshine and a pleasant temperature. Pretty soon, however, it became very cloudy and a little chilly, blowing my hair all over the place and making me wish I'd thought to bring a jacket. I didn't let this dampen my spirits, however, and as I waited for more of my friends to arrive, I found myself engaged in pleasant chat with Manda, a lovely goth from the South West comm who I hadn't seen since last year's Minori tea party, and Lucy, who was a fellow business owner. It was fun to chat with her about the items she sells and events she attends. I also met someone called Duckie, who flashed me her bloomers to show they were bought from my shop (!), and Kerry, who came prepared with her own lunchbox of leftover takeaway pizza!

There wasn't really that much in the way of food, and what was there was largely sweet things like cakes and cookies. I suppose it was to be expected, and I couldn't help thinking I should have stuck to a plan I'd been weighing up earlier in which I simply turned up to the picnic with a McDonald's Happy Meal! Manda brought some yummy Indian food, though, which pretty much saved the day. The Doritos and salsa dip I'd brought with me also went down a treat with everyone clamouring for something that wasn't sugary!

Jessica, the organiser of the picnic and the sewing group at large, kindly brought along a ton of crafting supplies so that people could make either fluffy pom pom earrings, or a fluffy strawberry. I mainly just sat and watched so that I could learn the technique, as there wasn't quite enough in the way of templates to go round for the number of people joining in the activity. I had a nice catch up with Reina, who made me laugh so much as she struggled to make her fluffy strawberry!

I barely took any pictures at the meet and was pleasantly surprised to find myself in a few taken by others! A few colour edits later and here we are:

A group of us in the crafting area! Despite what a pain it was, I really liked my hair that day, which is the result of 3 years of natural growth and no chemical relaxers anymore. Just oodles of curls. Photo by Suzanna.

No idea what's going on with my face here but this photo tickles me-- from the out-of-control hair and smudged glasses from swatting said hair out of the way, to the fact I'm basically just holding a piece of Reina's crafting for something to do! Photo by Jessica.

The obligatory "funny" picture! I was really surprised by what a great turnout there was. Photo by Suzanna.

As with previous craft meets, we matched very well, even wearing the same necklace!
I opted for a very cherry retro themed coord based around my skirt (available here!)

The day got progressively chillier to the extent I found my arms covered in goosebumps, and I was beginning to shiver. It was clearly time to pack up!

Wing turned up at the tail end of the picnic, and it was great to catch up with her after so long, even though I was freezing by this point and could barely see as the wind continued to whip my hair around! We chatted about art and small business stuff, lamenting the woes of getting back into the creative swing of things after both of us had taken breaks due to our full time "serious" jobs. 

The evening was approaching, so I bid my friends farewell outside Baker Street Station and started my journey home. At Paddington, I look at the train timetable and saw my train was leaving in 7 minutes. I took one last wistful look at the McDonald's I definitely did not have time to get food from, and made my way to the correct platform so I could get a seat on the train before it departed.

Overall, I had a lovely day-- much better than I was expecting! As well as enjoying catching up with the people I knew already, it was nice to talk to some new faces and get into some interesting conversations. There is something special about meets like this: I love knowing you can turn up with zero expectation and always find someone to talk to who you never would have had the chance to meet otherwise, and the craft and bring and buy aspects added to the community feeling. While I know I will never go back to the constant meets I indulged in in the past, it's nice knowing I always have a community to come back to, whenever I feel ready.

Thank you so much for reading! Have you been to any nice meetups recently? What did you enjoy about them? I'd love to hear all about it!

See you next time ❤

Fashion School and Conventions! 👗

Hello. Does anyone remember me!? I'm that girl who used to blog a lot more regularly but got swept up in a ton of life changes that are transforming my 2018 (and hopefully my future).

So. In May I quit my office job. I was sick of being treated like crap, sick of the complete and utter lack of room to develop, and sick of having to put all my real hopes and dreams on hold because my job was draining me so much. It set back both my physical and mental health in a big way. You get one life, as far as we know, so you might as well not spend most of your waking hours of it in a place that hurts you deeply. It wasn't a decision I took lightly. There was a lot of scrimping and saving involved beforehand so that if I did finally take a leap of faith, I could comfortably do what I wanted to do. And I did it.

I routinely talk about my current life on instagram and I know some of you already follow me there, so you'll know I started a fashion design course! I never really got into specifically why, though.

I'm doing a Fashion Design HND, and then a work placement after I graduate. The way I see it is, I never got to have any kind of formal qualification or training in my passion, and I was getting to a point where I needed some form of guidance when it came to growing a business, learning more industry techniques, and generally understanding the design process. I also knew that if my business didn't work out the way I planned, I wanted to be able to have the opportunity to work in the industry in a different way, be it through doing alterations/bridal, or being a pattern cutter, etc.

I don't regret going to university and having done a degree in a different field. It made me a better writer and linguist (speaking of which, if the fact I regularly dream in French is anything to go by, I need to keep up my learning of that language because my brain clearly enjoys it!). It expanded my horizons in an interesting way. And ultimately, had I not done that degree and gone through what I did, I doubt I would have ever taken the leap to start my indie label in the first place!

Tip for small spaces: get a folding table so you can set up a workspace, and pack it away again when needed! Here I was doing a design sketchbook assignment and watching Project Runway!

I'm a couple months into the course and I'm enjoying it. It's fun and challenging, and it's been good to meet some new people along the way. On top of this, I'm pumping my time into my brand. I've got my first truly big event coming up in October: MCM London Comic Con! I've wanted to vend there for years but never felt ready. I am now! I'm in the process of making a ton of stock, expanding my product ranges, and piecing together all the little things I'll need to make my stall look the best it can be!

It's been such a long time since I found myself waking up in the mornings and having a clear, positive sense of purpose. Fashion is my passion, and knowing I can continue to make my own little mark on the alternative fashion world is a great feeling. 

It feels like a personal renaissance is going on. I feel inspired to create and to experiment with my own style. I'm learning how to manage time on my own terms again, and I hope I can put out more content that people will find interesting or useful or just plain entertaining! I hope you'll join me for the ride!

Have you ever made any drastic career changes or decided to re-train? Got any big life changes going on at the moment? I'd love to hear all about it!

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time ❤

🌸 Saint Aymes, the Cute Floral Café 🌸

This post will be about a day out that is hard to believe happened way back at the end of March! Where is this year going?

On Saturday 31st March I headed into London to meet up with Reina and Memz, to try out Saint Aymes, a café I'd been hearing a lot about due to its pretty decor and pastel desserts. It was a rainy day but was fairly mild, and the occasional bursts of sunlight made things feel atmospheric!

The café is situated fairly close to Paddington Station, in what we ended up describing as a "strange area." The place had a stuck-up, quiet air, and despite not exactly being far from central, it felt worlds away.

Once we'd all assembled at the café we were led downstairs to a further seating area and the friendly staff took our orders. We'd all come dressed in appropriately pastel, Easter themed outfits, and it only seemed right to try out the Easter cupcakes on offer!

All the choices looked heavenly and looking at this picture is making me want to go back!

Look at the little bunny ears peeping up through the grass frosting! This cake was super yummy!

Reina and Memz went for the little biscuits and they after sampling, I can confirm they were delicious, too. We also did a three way split of the pink unicorn latte which was... not the best, gold leaf, or no gold leaf!

Super cute, but underwhelming! We regretted adding the coffee and not simply enjoying it as a milkshake instead! I don't think any of us were that bothered, though, as the overall ambiance in the café was really quite lovely. On this day the playlist had lots of mid-noughties hits and generally fun music we found ourselves bobbing along to.

It was great to catch up with them and hear what was going on in their lives. I was recommended to try watching RuPaul's Drag Race. I've still not gotten round to it. After the hype about it everywhere and this huge build up, I guess I'm worried it won't live up to expectations!

I love this photo from Reina's phone! Reina went for super girly, almost hime gyaru look, and Memz went for her usual wacky style, coordinating pink with yellow most effortlessly.  I still have that habit of pretty much always wearing black but this was quite a pastel, different look for me, I think!

Naturally, we had to take some photos outside the café, too!

I accidentally ended up matching the flowers!

After we had our fill of photos, we headed off into central to areas with a less bizarre atmosphere... although I have to say, Dover Street Market was quite the experience for me. It was my first time going, and while it was super cool to see some designer brands in the flesh that I'd always admired online (Molly Goddard's pieces are so beautiful!), the overall vibe in there was incredibly odd. Our favourite find of the day was probably the short sleeved men's shirt made out of thick plastic bag material. Guess how much it was. I won't keep you hanging: £600. #fashion

Overall, I had a really lovely day, which was rounded off by a trip to Farm Girl café on Carnaby Street for the hipster staple that is avocado toast. Before we knew it, it was well into the evening-- which explained why we all felt so inexplicably exhausted!

I love days like this where you forget what time it is and can drift around merely enjoying one another's company. I'm looking forward to hanging out with them again, and trying more London cafés,  of which there is always something fun or unique to choose from!

Thank you so much for reading this Easter throwback post! Have you had any fun experiences recently at themed cafés? Ever found strange designer items that looked like they were made in a primary school art class? I'd love to hear about it!

See you next time! ❤

😴 Hibernation and Transformation ✨

January is without question the hangover of the previous year for me. I never have any motivation, the momentum of Christmas and the New Year have burst, and nobody really wants to do much of anything because they're broke after splashing out over the festive period. And so, I generally find myself going into social hibernation! Still, a "hangover" usually suggests you really went in hard on something, and boy did I do that with 2017. I don't think I'd ever felt more alive and while it seems to have set me back a little health wise, it was so, so worth pushing myself to have what ended up being a beautiful, transformative time spent with people who inspire me every single day.

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My last post (which was woefully long ago, back at the start of December) was actually an account of a day in November. I never actually got round to talking about the Christmas period, which is a shame as it was a lively, positive time.

I spent several days hanging out in London with my partner, where we did a ton of shopping, tried some new food places, and generally enjoyed one another's company in our favourite place to be. We visited our typical haunts like Soho so we could pop into the Lazy Oaf shop, but also hung out in Camden, which I've not done for years, and visited a super cute boutique called Sister Jane on Portobello Road. That was a wild one and I wish I took pictures there because the shop was accessed down an alleyway, and then up a long fire escape into a converted chapel building, set on two levels. Really cool place!

In Lazy Oaf, which had a soft, dreamy installation during December!

I was pleased to be able to cross the adorable Peggy Porschen café off my list, even though by the time we made it there it was dark and pouring with rain outside. Still, it didn't stop us from sampling a slice of their cake, which I've heard so much about through Instagram. I can confirm it is really lovely, and I'm looking forward to going back when warmer weather comes so I can really enjoy the experience and not have to dash back to a hotel room in the rain to sample it in less than aesthetically pleasing conditions.

So many gorgeous cakes! We went for the lemon, rose, and raspberry layer cake and it was heavenly.

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The fact we're already two months into the year (which I can't even call the New Year anymore, really!) is a little scary, and I feel like there's so much I want to do and need to get a move on with. For one thing, my business space needs an upgrade. I simply cannot expand my brand in the way I'd like to while working from my bedroom, so I've been trying to put plans in place so I can have an actual studio space where I can be productive, instead of having my supplies spread out in various cupboards in different rooms, and no set working area. 

I want to release my cherry collection and actually do the things I set out to do ages ago, but simply haven't been able to due to various misfortunes towards the end of 2017. I still haven't figured out how I want to approach things when it comes to selling at conventions (the larger ones are just so expensive and my less than profitable Hyper Japan experience in 2016 makes me wary) but I know it's the logical way forward.

It probably looks like I spend all my free time at that shop but I swear I don't, haha.

Fashion wise, I don't have much of a shopping habit for someone who adores clothing, but it's felt good to actively tune out of the releases from my favourite brands, and try to look at my current collection with a fresh pair of eyes. I've been getting more and more into developing my own style outside of the framework of lolita, though that fashion will always remain close to my heart and still makes regular appearances!

Bury me with that AP bag tbh.

There's pieces I don't tend to wear very often that have been fun to dig out and style in ways I've not tried before. I find as the years pass, I feel less inclined to be involved in having this fast growing collection, or buying releases as they come out. I don't feel pressure anymore to keep up with other people and the limitations of not constantly having new pieces to coordinate outfits with has been  a refreshing challenge for my imagination. I do get the odd new thing sometimes (the purple Monki cardigan above was my anniversary gift!) but it has to be something that feels completely right, that I know I'll be able to coordinate in endless weird and wonderful ways.

Lately I've been documenting my daily outfits for work on my instagram stories. I find that the act of taking a picture of an outfit gives me the motivation to keep up with making interesting looks each day, and I'm really enjoying that little burst of creativity, which breaks up the monotony of dull days in the office.

So... that was a rundown of some of the things I've been up to lately, and some thoughts on where I'm at right now! How have you been finding the past couple of months? Do you thrive in chilly weather, or do you crash and burn at the start of a year like I do!? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I've missed you while I've been away from here!

Thanks for reading as ever, and see you next time ❤