Lolita Meet Up with a Fly on the Wall

This last weekend I took part in one of the most cozy and homely, but at the same time one of the most public, meet-ups I've ever been to. It was an odd mix, and I feel like I got a touch of what it must feel like to be part of a lifestyle or reality show!
All day, from morning to late afternoon, we had a camera man jumping around us, taking pictures from the most crazy angles!
That man was Philip Xavier Sommer from PX-Photography, and every picture in this post belongs to his talented self!

On our way home from this last meet-up, mr. Xavier approached us, gave us his card and let us know that he'd really like to follow us around for a day, as he was working on an exhibition that will explore the different lifestyles of people who're "a little out of the ordinary". We let him know that we'd speak to our local community about it and get back to him. He agreed to meet up with us at one of the girl's dorm at ten o' clock, and then he could watch us as we dressed up (of course only the outer layers), accessorized and got ready. This also gave three of us girls the perfect opportunity to have a little sleepover, watch Kamikaze Girls, rummage through the gracious hostess' closet and play dress-up, and call dibs on the dresses she gently implied that she wanted to sell.
It was all a lot of fun!

The original plan was for us to meet up with all the other girls at the park the following day for a picnic meet up. However, the forecast put a stop to that idea. We came up with a new idea: A Lolita Beauty Salon Meet Up! We would do each others' make up and hair. Perfect!

The morning of the meet up day, the photographer knocked on the door just in time, with freshly made bread from the local bakery. Yumm!
He did a small interview with all of us around the table, and we explained the odds and ends of our fashion to him, and how we got into it. And we may also have mentioned Mr. Yan... Oops.

Then it was time to get ready, and wow, did we quickly realize how totally NOT spacious a college dorm actually is!

The man even had to go outside to take a few of the pictures! Through the window!

I, as the boring perfectionist of a Lolita I am, decided to put on my make up before the meet-up. The rest of the girls left their faces blank and their manes untamed for later.

Real Lolita friends make sure that their compadre's bustles are properly ruffled! A common courtesy that needs to be spread to the world.

After a couple of hours of dressing up, putting accessories on and removing a few, we went on our way  with all of our sleepover luggage, through the pesky rain. That was probably the strangest but also funniest part of the whole "Fly on the Wall" experience, as the poor guy had to run across the street, walk behind and in front of us to find the perfect angles for his photos, all the while trying to get us to act completely natural.

Also, that was my first walk outside in rocking horse shoes that actually fit. I managed to not fall or break anything.

And so, the Lolita beauty salon experience began! This went on for hours. Picture Perfect Princess Curls were made, and faces were painted. I did the make up of one of the girls myself (It actually turned out very well, if I must say so!)

We hung out and talked like this for hours, about everything from video games, Lolita topics, Tumblr culture (which prompted a heated discussion about feminism and cultural appropriation, of course), Roleplaying Games, movies, mutual connections and much, much more. All the spice that a good meet up needs!

When everybody had been properly dolled up, we sat down for tea, lemonade, sandwiches, homemade cakes and cupcakes, and more chit chat.

It was all very down to earth. I love how closely knit and down to earth our local community can be, from time to time. The "everyday Lolita" was really in focus.

Afterwards, we all went down to the park to take pictures, but sadly, I soon had to leave this magical day behind!

I hurried home, and made a quick de-lolification to get to my mother's bachelorette party in time! I don't think I've ever gotten changed that fast, and I had not a moment to waste. I just didn't want to miss a moment of this meet up, and the usual enchanting company.

All in all, I had a great day, and I loved looking through the picture afterwards. They really depict the entire atmosphere really well, and I feel like they paint a true picture of what it's like, being a Lolita in the real world.

I can't wait to see them on exhibition!

A Danish Lolita Oasis: WONDERWHO

A while ago, a girl in my local community shared some unbelievable photos with the rest of us. She had found a small shop, with lace, bags shaped like books and hats pilling up everywhere, and petticoats literally hanging from the ceiling like fluffy clouds, among princess-like birdcages. It seemed like the most perfect fairytale shop, and the entire community was ecstatic. Everybody agreed that we'd have to make it the main attraction for our next meet-up!

And so we did! And we got (or, spend) more than we had went in for!

Everybody else were busy with vacations or work, so the turn-up was only the two lovely ladies in the picture, and myself. We started out by getting tea and lunch at a cute little café. We talked and took questions from other curious visitors, before taking to the streets. We had to walk a mile or so to get to WONDERWHO, but we had fun along the way, and looked into various other cute shops. We had looked forward to visiting Lisbeth Dahl's shop in Aarhus, but sadly it closed a short while ago.

Our spirits were lifted as soon as we arrived in the shop.

We were met with a pink rack of adorable 50's and pin-up inspired dresses, with a couple of interesting cardigans inbetween, and the most gorgeous Classic lolita dress hidden among them.

The petticoats hung from the ceiling all over the shop! They were all so soft and fluffy! They reminded me a lot of my Victoriangirldress petticoat, but of slightly better quality. 

 They had this really pretty "Grimm's Fairy Tales" bag. If I had more red in my wardrobe, I might just have gotten it for myself. Also, that vintage bikini. Cute!

There were so much chiffon and lace everywhere I could barely see straight. They also had plenty of loose hanging, earthy colored dresses with uneven hems, perfectly fit for mori-girl, and in the back of the store, a dark and elegant section of gothic finery made my heart flutter and almost want to go gothic again! I think it actually managed to hijack one of the other girls to the dark side. I, myself, fell in love with a pair of winged eyelashes for just a moment. I may have to go back and buy them.

We spend about an hour in the store, chatting with the owner. She's a really cool lady, who was very excited to see Lolitas in her store! She knew about the fashion, and told us how she wanted to expand her selection of Lolita clothes. The only problem was, that nobody but Lolitas were really interested in buying them. She showed us a couple of different dresses, personal favorites of hers, that she thought we would like, and we tried on dress after dress. We told her about how our local community had fallen head over heels in love with her boutique. She was so happy, and ensured us that if we sent her a message in advance of our next visit, she would make sure to be prepared with plenty of Lolita goods for us to dive into.

We were all smiles when we left, shopping bags in hand. Two of us purchased very pretty JSK's, and one of us left with a frilly Lisbeth Dahl parasol.

This was the piece I bought!

It's a JSK of the brand "Red Queen's Black Legion", a Lolita brand from China. The dress is made of a deliciously soft type of fabric. It's very detailed and ruffly, and the lace is of great quality. I've had to snip a couple of loose threads and it's very short, so I will have to add a couple more ruffles at the bottom or wear an underskirt, but apart from that, I really like it! I got it at half price off too.

I added the gold buttons at the front myself, because I thought it was missing something, and I had them left over from another project.

All in all, I'm just so excited that we have a place that cater to Lolita tastes here in Denmark, and with such brilliant customer service too! If you're curious, you can check them out here. They also have a Facebook page!

I may be going back soon for a cotton candy pink 50's dress I tried on. And probably a lot more.

(Oh, and I wish I'd taken a proper outfit photo! One might be coming up later, as we had a nice lady take a photo of us all, that she promised to send us in an email later! Until then you'll just have to live with the top photo. It's me in the pink oldschool coordinate.)

A Living Tourist Attraction

Hello everyone! Long time no talk!
I've been very busy lately as my exams are coming up. I've had to study the "history of Globalization" for hours on end, and I've had to really squeeze Lolita in from time to time (to now go completely crazy).
Yesterday was one of those hectic days. I read for a couple of hours, then I took the train (reading) to the International Lolita Day meet-up and then I went back home to read some more.

We met up at the train station, walked to the King's Garden to have our picnic and well.. It was an interesting experience.

The King's Garden is a public park area behind Rosenborg Castle, an old renaissance castle build by the king for his beloved, a couple of hundred years ago. It's my favorite danish castle so far (and my second favorite just behind Versailles, all in all). What I had forgotten to consider was that it's not just my favorite castle, perfect for a picnic- It is also a must-see for tourists from all kinds of different destinations in the summer. Tourists who are, in general, really bad at being considerate to other people's privacy and have left all their manners at home with their obligations.

We walked through the castle gates and around the castle to cross the bridge and get into the Garden, and from our first step, people began snapping away! We were more interesting than the building right behind us! It felt like being shot down by paparazzi!
And it didn't get much better when we'd sat down with our blankets and started chatting. People all around us were snapping pictures non-stop, sat down on our blankets next to us to have their friends take a picture of them sitting with us (without asking!). It felt like we had just stopped being living people to them!

So how did we deal with this?
We didn't.

We just continued enjoying our day. It was the very fewest of them who got into our personal space without asking. When they did, we felt it very rude and a little uncomfortable, and we probably should have said something to them, in retrospect, even if it was due to a difference in culture. But making a scene and throwing a fit at one tourist who took pictures of us from a distance without asking would not make the rest of them go away.

We just kept on having a good time, talking, drinking our tea, and it actually became a lively topic among us how strangers react to Lolita. What was going on around us was, after all, an example. When people were nice enough to come up and ask if they could have a picture, we had a good time! The cutest little shy girl wanted a picture with us because she thought we looked like princesses. Who would we be to say no to that?

We decided to move after a couple of hours to go to somewhere a little more private. 

If we had said or done something instead, maybe the people would have been more considerate the next time they saw someone interesting they wanted a picture off. But taking the time to educate every single paparazzi would have taken away all the time we could have spend having fun!

What would you have done in such a situation?  How did you celebrate ILD?

Teeny Tiny Meet-up at the Women's Museum

The entrance to the old Women's Museum in Aarhus

This saturday I went to a meet-up in Aarhus with just two of my friends. I had hoped for more people to show up, but everybody else were busy with their exams or work! 

(I guess it's that time of the year. I'm busy with university projects and exams myself, but I took some time out for Lolita)

We met up at the local trainstation and then walked in the sun towards the Women's Museum! 

As soon as we got in we were met with female power all around! It was a beautiful old building, with a beautiful old painting of elegant victorian ladies in the hallway. Lolita felt so very appropriate!

Of course the first thing we wanted to do, as fashion forward ladies, were visit the exhibitions of historical women's fashions. I was very impressed with their collection of historical undergarments! So many beautiful slips, bloomers, corsets and nightgowns! It made me want to make some for myself, or at least purchase some more elegant sleepwear. 

They also had actual everyday costumes from important women through time, and they were just stunning, especially placed in this old house. The one above was one of my favorites because of the lace!

Afterwards, we went to the top floor where they had their "Storm P." exhibition. Storm P. was a comic artist, who also drew covers for womens magazines. He had a very interesting and empowering view on women, especially considering that he started working in the 1910's (if I remember correctly)! While most of the women he drew were not designed to be aesthetically pleasing, they often had the upperhand, and the men he drew were tiny and weak in comparison.
The pictures above are not by him. They're a selection of some of the work that inspired his own.
I thought they were just beautiful!

There were some more psychological and emotionally involving parts of the museum as well, but I didn't take any pictures. I was too busy being frightened by women releasing bats out of their mouth when I opened the door to cabinets and such.

Afterwards we went out for tea at AC. Perchs Tea Salon! When I heard that one had opened in Aarhus, I just had to go visit, as the one in Copenhagen is my all time favorite place to get a good cup of tea and scones!
We just managed to squeeze ourselves in, but otherwise, the place had been fully booked for the entire saturday!
People stopped and stared at us from outside the windows. It was hilarious!

All in all, it was an awesome day! The museum was a cultural treat, and the scones a tasty one.
I can't wait until the next one!

Mismatched Teacups and Lolita Charades!

Last weekend I went to my local Lolita Circle's february meet, this time in one of our "main event organizer's" flat. For some reason, Sacha tends to be the one to arrange meet-ups with the girls. I don't know why.. I've set myself up to be the one to organize the next meet-up, the next time my turn is the chosen destination!

Sascha lives in a tiny student apartment, just like most of us girls, but we managed to set up a very stylish tea party! We all brought something along to contribute to the event. I was in charge of Chocolate-Marzipan Blondies and entertainment! One of the other girls brought her entire collection of antique teacups along. I just wanted to take them all home! Even if the differences in size meant that a bit of "ninja tactics" were brought into play to secure ourselves a larger cup when someone else wasn't looking, haha..

We had the best time, and I discovered that a surprising amount of girls in my local community was not up-to-date on works of genius, like the Secret Life of the Lolita videos or McMelody Doll! We had a good laugh at that together, and then put our brand-knowledge to a test with a nice game of "Print-Name Charades" that I had put together for the occassion! 

Some cheating occured, but well, I let that pass. Surprising twists came along, like one of the girls guessing "Midsummer Night's Dream", just because she was "cultured" enough to have read Shakespeare! She didn't even know the print!

We stayed inside all afternoon, chatting and gossipping, apart from a small trip out in the cold to take outfit photos. We lined up as the ladies we are, until we one by one sacrificed our bodies to the freezing cold for the sake of the arts. Oh well, cold never bothered me anyway..

In retrospect, I'd have picked a different pair of socks. I just wanted something with flowers.. But we learn as long as we coord, right?

Meet-Up: So very artsy-fartsy!

This saturday I went with my local Lolita girls to the "Aros" museum in Aarhus, which is a museum of modern art. It's a good hour or two away from where I live, but it was worth it! I'd never been to Aros before, and I was quite curious, as the danish queen and her husband has just opened an exhibition at Aros, featuring a bunch of their own artistic creations. We met up at the trainstation at about noon, and walked to the museum.

Almost all of the pictures in this post was taken by other Lolitas, as my new phone camera is suckish. 

We met up with the rest of the girls there, and then just started from the bottom floor and worked our way up!

At the bottom floor Aros has a lot of sensory exhibits. It's like a maze of halls that look exactly alike, with doors on each site. Behind every door, you find a different room. Most of them are very dark, only lit up by the art in the room. The art could be anything from a huge, slowmotion picture on each wall, showing water that is slowly falling upwards, or a huge, luminescent egg. We were especially fascinated by one of the only decorated rooms. It was named something along the lines of "The Neighbor's Living Room". The room was dark, and built like there was a balcony outside, with a breeze that made the laundry outside move a little bit. As we went about the room, examining the books on the shelves, the furniture and strange decor, the sun started to rise outside. It was pretty neat!

Group shot in the neighbors' living room!

We went upstairs to take a look at the rest of the modern art. This was most definetely not my favorite part of the museum, but I'm not gonna complain, as I knew what I got into. Modern art is modern art when it comes to paintings, and it's never gonna be my cup of tea! So I let art be art, and enjoyed the company instead, and talked to a couple of the nice, elderly ladies who complimented and asked about our clothes. We were quite popular that day. Of course some people had to ask if we were part of a happening somewhere on the museum, or if one of the girls were getting married (so the rest of her were her bachelorette party? haha!)

Ceiling mirror!

We did get to see the exhibition that I had been looking forward to- The "Pas de Deux Royal"! I had pretty high expectations, even if I didn't know what to expect- I were not dissapointed! Queen Margrethe has done some pretty cool things. Bishop robes that she had designed were exhibited, and they looked stunning. A bunch of pretty paintings were there as well, and there was a room dedicated to the costumes that she had designed for the royal ballet. My favorite part were her illustrations for the danish version of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings"!

Sadly, I've got no pictures of this part of the trip. But take my word for it- It was pretty cool!

We went upstairs once more, to an exhibition of the owner of the museum's 100 favorite pieces. These were handpicked by the guy, whomever he is. There were a couple of very pretty pieces amongst them, but a lot of our time was just spent goofing around with various illuminescent surfaces and funny mirrors. Lots of selfies were taken and shared through snapchat and Facebook!

My least favorite piece of art was part of this exhibition- Since when was 20-30 jars with pieces of a slaughtered horse on a shelf considered "art"? Oh well. Whatever floats ya' boat, I guess.

The paintings by Julie Nord is always awesome, though! I love her mixture of storybook-like drawings and eerie elements. Of course we had to take a group shot in front of the Rococo-esque one!

Cool stuff that I've got no pictures of would be: The huge, extremely lifelike statue of a boy covering in a corner, looking at us suspiciously over his shoulder, and a video of a woman being turned into a dragqueen, but played backwards! We were in awe by the transformation.

Also, it was of course not possible to photograph exactly how much fun we had, getting to know each other even more! We're meeting up again, in my town this time, for a teaparty! I'm planning on contributing with some delicious, chewy cookies, with pieces of mixed chocolates inside.

Last but not least, to make you guys even more hungry..

Have a picture of the cupcakes our host brought along! They were banana-chocolate cupcakes!
Made to look like Lolita poops.. Hence the rainbow sprinkles.

We ended the afternoon perfectly, at the local bubbletea café, and then split up.

All in all, I had a great afternoon!