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 ❤