Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

Zanney asked me to cover all of the lolita events at PMX since I managed to go to all of them. You'll have to excuse my first attempt at journalism, since I was expecting to just cover it all in photos (Though this con reminded me as to why I need a better camera). I'll start off with the first lolita event of the con, which was the opening of the Fashion Boutique on Friday afternoon. This was what I was waiting for the most. I had $300 burning a hole in my pocket and was determined to spend every last bit of it on frills and lace. This year, Classic Lolita brand, Innocent World came to the US for the first time. Varied lolita brand, Baby, the Stars Shine Bright also returned after first appearing at PMX in 2008. Both brands brought a decent amount of clothing, though IW had quite a few racks of clothing as well as a large selection of accessories, bags, and shoes. Baby didn't bring quite as much with only two racks of dresses, and a table with $35 accessory lucky packs and some other accessories.

Group of lolitas waiting in line for the opening of the Fashion Boutique

Despite the expensive fashion that lolita is, there were sales to be found here. On Baby's side, everything was marked down. However, no matter how much both brands brought, my luck took a rather bad turn when it came to trying dresses on. I tried three dresses per brand. None of them fit. Now, when it comes to lolita, I need a decent amount of something called shirring. This is a bunched-up elastic panel on the bust and sometimes waist of the dress that allows it to stretch. Why I need this is because I, like quite a few other western girls, need more room up top compared to the average Japanese girl. Needless to say, neither brand brought any of their dresses that can accommodate a larger bust size. Feeling rather put out about this turn of events, I decided to leave the boutique empty-handed, not even motivated to buy accessories. It was a pretty huge bummer and apparently I wasn't the only one with this problem. A lot of those dresses remained at the boutique throughout the whole weekend. Hopefully next time, if Baby or IW decide to come back to PMX, they will bring their more generously sized dresses for us curvier girls.

The next lolita events were the Innocent World panel, followed by the Alice and the Pirates panel. IW designer, Yumi Fujiwara answered questions about how she came to be a lolita designer, how she started off making and selling her designs from home, her inspirations, and her family life. AatP designer, Miki Nohmoto talked about her journey from shopgirl to designer, and spoke of the designs she's worked on with AatP and her own inspirations. Both designers were inspirational in their own way. For any lolitas out there who wish start their own label, try hard enough, and it can be done.

Yumi Fujiwara, designer of Innocent World

Later on that evening would be the Lolita Swap Meet, where lolitas could sell their used and/or unwanted lolita clothing and accessories. Here is where I would finally find a dress that fit me. A simple black JSK (jumper skirt) from a Metamorphose lucky pack. The dress was priced at $120, which was a pretty decent asking price. I also purchased a pair of Meta OTKs (over-the-knee socks) for $20. The swap meet had a nice mixed selection of clothing. It was like an in-person version of the EGL Community Sales on LiveJournal in a smaller scale. After my luck took a better turn, I was more excited about spending my money, and the next day I visited the boutique again. I bought a lucky pack from Baby and a couple cute accessories from IW.

My small haul from the Fashion Boutique

Saturday evening was the Starlight Fashion Festival. This could be best described as a little lolita carnival. There were various games you could play for a chance to win lolita items, as well as a raffle. I managed to get the grand prize on the Bean Bag game and won a nice Baby tote bag. The event was very cute and lively. A rather gentlemanly steampunk carny handed out balloons to the attendees. And for 10 tickets ($10), you could take your picture with AatP designer, Miki Nohmoto. I hope they bring this event back next year, as it was a lot of fun. I think even more can be done with it and can't wait to see how it's improved.

Starlight Fashion Festival

The last lolita event was the Fashion Show on Sunday. Innocent World showed off their Autumn/Winter Collection for this season, and Baby, the Stars Shine Bright / Alice and the Pirates showcased their own new designs. The show was short, but everything was beautiful. Hopefully I can get my hands on something from either brand soon.

Model wearing the English Rose JSK by Innocent World

To wrap things up, I was very impressed with this year's lolita events. The only thing I was disappointed with was the boutique offerings, but that's more of a personal gripe. I hope PMX can continue to bring us fun events and popular brands for years to come. Stay frilly, SoCal.

See more of my pictures from these events on my Flickr.