With the Anime Expo crush over the last couple of months, I haven't had much time to wear Lolita (or blog, apparently) so I only have ten coordinates in the last three months.
Wait, did I say ten?! Somehow, even with all of the convention planning, cosplay sewing, and friend-wrangling, I managed to be able to wear a lot of Lolita.
August was a slow month for Lolita, but September was super busy! I staffed/paneled at two conventions, went to a tea party, and hung out with friends.
Also! I know I'm not the best at generating blog content, but recently I got a request on tumblr for a sewing tutorial. I'm not sure I'd be the best at a tutorial, but would anyone be interested in a sew-along? I think I could do that!
I was super exhausted for San Diego Comic-Con this year, because if it being back-to-back with Anime Expo. I only had two days between the two cons to recover and get ready! The only new thing for SDCC was my Jedi outfit, but it was a great opportunity to bring back some favorites.
Keep reading for my con reflection and more pictures!
Anime Expo! The largest anime convention in North America, with the highest level of cosplay content on the west coast! For me, it's the convention where I debut new cosplays, and meet up with friends that I only get to see once a year.
This year, I brought three new cosplays--Assassin, Homura, and Benten. Unfortunately, I wore Benten on Sunday and didn't take any pictures. Homura was part of a mini Madoka group, with my friends as Sayaka and Madoka.
This is a picture-heavy post! I didn't take many pictures myself (and my husband didn't, either) but I got a lot of great photos back from various photographers throughout the weekend.
Last year, I had a lot of fun going through old posts and picking the events that were the most memorable and enjoyable, so I figured I would do it again this year! I picked out ten of my favorite fashion or cosplay-related activities from last year to remember. I also shared ten of my favorite coordinates on tumblr, if you want to check them out~
I had the privilege of modeling in the PMX Fashion Show again this year, this time for Alice and the Pirates. It was basically a dream come true being able to model my very favorite brand, and getting to dress up as a pirate no less!
My wonderful husband got tons of great pictures of everyone on the runway, so it's thanks to him that I can share all of these with you. This is a very picture-heavy post; you have been warned, but I hope you forge ahead anyway!
This last weekend was Pacific Media Expo, the fashion-forward Japanese pop culture convention of Southern California, and it was tons of fun! The ladies in the fashion department outdid themselves again this year with the tea party, and we all spent a lot of time just socializing in the boutique.
We decided to stick with the walk again this year, since it was so much more fun (and easy!) than the picnic we did once. This year, we didn't have Sanrio sponsorship, so we went to Seaport Village from the hotel rather than down past the convention itself. The destination was the carousel and sweet treats at Ben & Jerry's! We had a good-sized group that was a mix of out of town convention attendees and locals. Not everyone had badges, but we could all enjoy the waterfront together.
About halfway through the walk, we stopped for pictures and a small raffle, with prizes donated by the community moderators/organizers. My husband took lots of pictures for us, so enjoy!
Saturday of Anime Expo, or "Sailor Moon Day" as we started calling it, was not only the day that we did our photoshoot (see the previous post) but also the day of several different Sailor Moon meetups! There was the huge official VIZ one, and then there was also a slightly smaller (but still large!) one for Cosplay.com, hosted by yours truly. There were some location issues, but eventually we were able to find a place large enough to accommodate everyone.
June has been so busy for me with cosplay, so I was really glad to have a few opportunities to dress up and relax. Lolita Weekend with Misako Aoki in Tijuana was a wonderful break from Anime Expo preparation!
Read on for three outfits and a few quick snaps from the event!
This month was crazy busy, and I didn't have any chances to dress up until almost the very end of the month! Not that I wasn't out having fun, because I was, but I definitely start to feel a little bad when I can't wear Lolita for long periods of time. Three weeks is too long...
There were only two meetups, so only two outfits this month.
This month was surprisingly busy for Lolita! There were two casual meetups with the local group, and two big meetups--one with the LA Lolitas and one with the TJ Lolitas.
On January 12, there was a meetup at the Getty Museum in LA, which lots of girls went to! Then on the 18th, the TJ girls did a collaboration event with the Korean brand LIEF and the Mexican Lolita association My Lolita Style. We also had a last-minute cafe meetup early in the month, and the usual monthly meetup at the end.
I wanted to do a "Year in Review" post, highlighting some of my favorite events from 2013. I picked out twelve photos from various events throughout the year that I feel represent my best fashion and cosplay memories.
Fairytale Boutique in LA hosted a beautiful holiday party this year! Guests of honor were Angelic Pretty/Harajuku Hearts San Francisco and Automatic Honey, along with a few other great vendors. There was an excellent buffet tea, games, and of course lots of socialization and pictures.
This year's Pacific Media Expo was a mix of cosplay and Lolita (though mostly Lolita), and as always, tons of fun. I spent way too much money in the boutique, modeled in the fashion show, and ran around as Sailor Uranus.
This post is VERY image-heavy with all the fashion show pictures, so be warned! Carry on for the full set.
For Halloween this year, we had a small party at my house--and it was the first time we've had that many people over since we moved in! It was quite exciting, and Fred and George had a blast with all the people. The food was potluck style, and I provided dessert with "Black Magic" cupcakes with orange cream cheese frosting.
Another super overdue post, and I'm sure all of you have already seen these on Facebook anyway, but hey, why not do a post about it anyway? My wonderful husband took tons of pictures at this event (I took some as well) so carry on for lots of great photos!
On Saturday of Anime Expo, there was an informal Lolita meetup in the South Hall Lobby. I got to see a lot of my friends, and we took some group pictures. Everyone looked really great--at such a large event, I think people are inspired to come up with their best coordinates!
Anime Expo 2013 was last weekend, an amazing but exhausting weekend (with record-breaking attendance!) with my friends. As always, the convention was full of great cosplayers and some pretty cool panels.
My husband and I shared the camera, so there's a pretty wide variety of fandoms represented. We didn't take a huge number of pictures, because we also spent a lot of time being sociable and attending panels, but here is what we took for you to enjoy! Photo Gallery by QuickGallery.com
On Friday, I was dressed as Lady Knight from Maoyuu Maou Yuusha, and then on Friday and Saturday my friend and I were Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune from Sailor Moon. We were all too tired to dress up on Sunday! My husband didn't dress up, but he did take the majority of the pictures, so of course there are a lot of repeats of me and my friends.
If you saw us at the convention and took a picture, I'd love to see it! You can comment here, email me, or send me a message on the Facebook page.
Earlier in the month, I went to a big event at Fairytale Boutique to celebrate their first year anniversary and the start of their carrying the beautiful Korean indie brand Haenuli (of which I am a huge fan). Automatic Honey was also a featured guest.
My friends on Facebook will have already seen these pictures, so bear with me! I'll have a review post tomorrow, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, here are my photos and outfit for the event last weekend.
