The Right Kind of Drama- A Brief Trip to the Drama Wardrobe

Last Saturday was a little bit different. It started with an early wake-up call to go somewhere a little bit different. Then afterwards, James and I headed in to Reading for a shopping spree (I got quite a bit, so there will be a separate haul post for that) and some cake. James and I shared both a scone and a slice of Victoria sponge. Both were absolutely lovely, although we were a little gutted to discover another cafe with interesting handmade cakes afterwards! It was nice to have a bit of a 'Last Hurrah' because both James and I have a lot of stressful stuff going on at the moment. James currently has jury duty and I am starting my CBT during the week. So we felt it was important to have a bit of fun and some quality 'couple time' before all the horrible life stuff came up.

But this post will focus on what we did in the morning. After reading a local magazine, I discovered that the Oxfordshire Drama Wardrobe (who I had never heard of before) were having a sale of some of their stock because they are moving to new premises. They are basically a company that rents out costumes from various periods and have lots of different styles. It ranges from funny fancy dress to period costumes. Apparently some of their stock has even be loaned for films and drama productions (hence the name). They also rent out the costumes for photo shoots. Feeling curious, and hoping to pick up some vintage 20's and 40's accessories, we decided to go. It was being held early in the morning, which meant I had to rush out of the house and not bother dressing up. The previous weekend I attended a food festival, which means I am itching to dress up in lolita. It has only been a few weeks, but it feels like forever! But I do have some outfits to share in the near future.

The Drama Wardrobe is currently situated in a metal shed inside a storage facility which I believe used to be used by the army years ago. It was a bit bizarre and I wasn't really sure what to expect. I looked at some pictures online to give me some sort of idea of the clothing which may be on sale. I was hoping to pick up a military jacket and maybe a hat or two. Prices started from as little as £1. Although these items were heavily used in some instances, entry was free and it was worth going. Even though we arrived early, there was already a crowd inside. If we had arrived any later then we would have had to join a queue to get in. So word about this event clearly got around. 

There was a huge arrange of costumes for sale. There were so many vintage dresses. Sadly a lot of them were too long in length for me, otherwise I would have left with a lot more stuff. I was also devastated when the most beautiful military jacket did not fit me. It was only £5 as well! Seeing as similar jackets with less details are on sale for about £25 at Primark, it would have been a bargain if it had fitted. I was enjoying rummaging through all of the piles. I found this questionable looking furry cape with stars all over it, which was a part of their 70's collection. They have full-on Abba style metallic jumpsuits and so much more! The cape made me laugh, but secretly I kind of wanted to buy it... I had this fun delusion that I was going to wear it around the house and pretend I was Liberace (if you don't know who he is, look him up!).

But on to what I actually brought! This velveteen bolero was part of a 'witch' costume and also came with a long, flowing skirt for £5. I ended up ditching the skirt though. It was too big for me anyway, but it didn't look very appealing. The bolero was worth £5 though in my opinion.

I also got this jacket, also for £5. It is fitted, but there is a little room at the bottom for a skirt to flare out from underneath. So I am really looking forward to experimenting with it. The buttons need replacing, but that is an easy fix.

Finally, I picked up this vintage hat for £1. It is a little bit damaged, but still wearable. I just need to sew the bow back in place on one side. There is also a bit of damaging to the netting, but that can also be replaced easily. This is all stuff that I have remnants of in my sewing box anyway. 

This is a side view where you can see the damaged netting. But for only £1, it seemed worth it. I was really happy to support a local company too. My only regret is not getting there a little earlier. This lady got the prettiest Alice in Wonderland printed scarf for £1, which looked amazing. It was in great condition and looked designer. 

I feel this adventure is a good example of why you need to keep your eyes open for local events. This was a bit of a change for me. I have been to vintage fairs before, with little success. The ones that are held locally to me are a bit mediocre and include items from Primark and Topshop (how are they vintage!?). I am getting memories of the terrifying Christmas jumpers we saw at the Oxford Kilo Sale! But a drama wardrobe offered something a little more unusual. There were lots of Victorian, Edwardian, Tudor and 40's outfits, but it was not a 'vintage fair' sort of arrangement. And I actually ended up having more success at this sale, which sadly is a one-off event. All this was because I happened to see one small advert in a free magazine that I usually chuck out. If you keep an open mind, you can find all sorts of interesting ideas for meets or shopping opportunities. And I will be sharing my Reading shopping haul very soon.

Springing in to Spring

Winter is finally over! I am more than happy to see the back of this past Winter. Sammi suggested we meet up in Oxford for a bit of casual fun. I had really been looking forward to seeing Sammi and Nicola again.

This is my first time wearing AP's Little Bird's Symphonia, which I got late last year. Initially I had a more Wintery casual outfit planned but out of nowhere, the temperature rose. So I switched out my beret and boots for my lacy Innocent World headdress (decorated with pink Claire's rose clips) and Bodyline flats. I was secretly quite relieved, as the boots I wore the previous weekend had hurt my leg muscles and I know how painful my Bodyline boots can be on a hot day! There are 2 different shades of pink on the skirt, and I paired my skirt with items in the paler shade of pink. I think I may have to experiment with the deeper pink in the future though.

Accessory close-up! The wing themed ring I brought for my Enchanted outfit came in handy for the bird theme. I really love these Red Maria wrist cuffs because they are a lot smaller than your typical cuffs. Sometimes I find wrist cuffs a bit too bulky, so this makes a refreshing change. Just out of shot is my mini daffodils, which are now fully in bloom.

We headed to the Mitre, as I think all of us were happy to eat pretty much anywhere. We usually have a good food experience here. This Pimm's was the first alcohol I had drunk in over 3 months. I had forgotten how refreshing it is. It is the perfect drink to match the warmer weather. I am really looking forward to Summer now. The Mitre was very busy, probably because it was the day before Mother's Day and they had a special menu in. I had what is quite possibly the most disturbing experience ever in the ladies bathroom (may be a bit too NSFW to go in to full detail...) but that aside, I really enjoyed myself. I hope the others did too!

Afterwards we did a little bit of shopping. This was quite a brief interlude because one of Oxford's shopping malls is being redeveloped at the moment. So not quite sure where to go next, James and I jokingly suggested going in to Tigerlilies. Back in the day (we are talking about a decade ago) Tigerlilies was a very alternative shop where you could buy overpriced clothing with loads of spikes, studs etc. There would be heavy metal blasting out and the shop staff would look super intimidating, but actually really lovely when you talked to them. I have some very embarrassing memories of buying bondage pants as an awkward 'edgy' teenager! Eventually it moved location and became a lot more... mainstream. So we went in, expecting an ironic browse, and Sammi ended up buying this massive cat bag! It was amazingly cheap as well. Look how big it is! So I think all of us were eating our words afterwards. It looks like I will be a regular browser again now! All 3 of us are taking an interest in Larme kei, but sadly we didn't have as much luck with finding accessories. It is weird, because I have found in other towns and cities it has been easy to find appropriate accessories. I will be including some in my next haul post (which is not looking very 'lolita' at all at the moment!).

Nothing says happy days like a jokey group photograph! Nicola wasn't keen about showing her face, so she ended up holding the cat bag over her face! Just to clarify, my rosette features a budgie (made by Sammi, because I am now known as the Crazy Budgie Lady) and is not a Conservative Party rosette. We all dressed quite differently, although I like that we are all wearing at least some pink.

We went back to the Mitre for pudding, having left a bit of time to digest our lunch. I ordered this gin and tonic lemon trifle, which is part of the limited edition menu. If you think it looks like a lot of cream... it was even worse in person! There was a bit of custard and lemon sponge at the bottom, but I couldn't really taste any gin. The mint sprig was a nice finishing touch though. If there was a bit less squirty cream then I may have gotten this again, but I wasn't liking the cream to everything else ratio. I was more than happy to try this whilst it was available though.

So it was a very pleasant day with fantastic weather. I really enjoyed seeing Sammi and Nicola again and I hope they both want to meet up again soon. It was really good to catch up. It was also really lovely to have the chance to dress up with other lolitas again. After everything that has happened and some ongoing problems, these light-hearted outings have been a lifesaver for me. It makes me realise that I need to appreciate the positive moments more. I even bumped in to my friend Alice on the train home, which was a nice surprise. Here is hoping for more positive progress.

Afternoon Tea in Oxford

I never thought I would see the day that I would be writing a post about going for afternoon tea in the centre of Oxford, but here we are! Some of you may remember a post I wrote last year about inconvenient locations and how I was saying that Oxford is not the greatest place for a lolita community. A lot of the venues are small and some places really overprice things, just because of the Oxford name. Well, it turns out you can have afternoon tea in Oxford, and it can cost under £10! Last year I became quite a fan on afternoon tea and I am still eagerly searching out new afternoon tea experiences around the country. It was when I was doing this searching that I came across a website for the Cotswold Lodge Hotel in Oxford, which had an afternoon tea priced at £8.95. I thought I was seeing things! So I suggested to Shalisa and Sammi that we investigate and give this afternoon tea a go. And that is what we ended up doing this past weekend.

It was very difficult to decide what to wear for this adventure. You never quite know how a venue is going to react to lolita. However, I felt such a strong desire to wear Chess Emblem, that I decided that this is what I would go with! I felt the colours were very smart and mature, plus I kept my accessories relatively toned down. I love this print so much and I am looking forward to planning lots of outfits for it. Incidentally, Shalisa was wearing Miracle Candy, which has been a dream dress of hers for a very long time. So there was quite a lot of enthusiastic dressing up that day! Thankfully everybody we encountered at the hotel was friendly, although we spent a lot of time getting asked questions throughout the day.

Our afternoon tea wasn't until mid-afternoon and as we were a bit hungry, we ended up purchasing some macarons in Marks and Spencer because they were on offer. I have to say, I am a bit disappointed that after several years, M&S still mis-spells them as macaroons on the packaging! We took pictures of Sammi holding a macaron because she was wearing a macaron print! She always knows how to dress for the occasion. 

Eventually, it was time for our afternoon tea. James and I decided to get one of the £8.95 teas and one of the £14.95 ones and then we split the difference. This was mainly because I wanted an extra scone, but the £14.95 option felt a bit much for myself! For the price, we got a fair amount of food. The £8.95 option came with a scone, a massive pot of clotted cream and jam, a mini brownie, a slice of cake and 4 finger sandwiches. Plus a pot of tea, of course! The scones tasted absolutely amazing. They were so fluffy and light, and mine was still warm. The icing sugar they were dusted with got everywhere though. The sandwiches were pleasant too, although I wasn't too fussed about the brownie.

The thick clotted cream was amazing, although very difficult to spread. If I hadn't already filled myself up, I could have quite easily eaten the rest of the cream out of the pot! I am getting hungry just remembering how nice the scones were.

We chose a window seat, which meant we had a not so inspiring view of the car park! The room itself was smart though. I have been to fancier locations than this one but the surroundings were still really nice. I did find the staff a little bit awkward though. I did notice that the woman who served us was a trainee, so perhaps that had something to do with it. Or maybe she was shocked about our clothing! We also felt as though we had to be very quiet, especially with another group of diners sitting nearby. We also got hassled quite frequently about whether we had paid our bill or not, which spoiled the atmosphere a bit. Overall I would say that the food was worth it, given the cheap price compared to the average afternoon tea. I do feel the staff could have been friendlier though.

A little print gathering photo I took when we went to the bathroom (we seem to have a thing for taking photos in bathrooms. They have the best mirrors!). 

This is what the exterior of the hotel looked like. It looked quite pretty in person. It is just far enough out of the city centre that the traffic noise is not too noticeable but it is still an okay distance that you can walk to the venue. Can you believe that about not long after this picture was taken it started absolutely chucking it down with rain?

As we were going past the University Parks anyway, we quickly popped in for some photos. There were some absolutely gorgeous wild flowers out, although you can't really see them that clearly in the photos we took. Shalisa got a lovely group shot of us on her Instax camera.

Afterwards we decided to be a bit less sophisticated and get a load of cocktails! We originally headed to this venue that boasted a large number of cocktails, but when we got there it was a grotty small bar with some of the locals playing pool and watching the football. Feeling well and truly out of place, we ended up at the Slug and Lettuce instead. After experiencing their cocktails at the anniversary meet, we knew we were on to a good thing. They have a decent selection on offer. The one that looks like a sluch puppy is a rumberry mojito and the one on the right is a long island iced tea (which I was surprised to discover, does not actually contain tea). We had such a good time and afterwards I was really sad leave.

So if this experience has taught me anything, it is that of you search hard enough, you can get a good value day out at even the most expensive of UK cities outside of London. You just need to do your research! It was a shame about the hotel staff though. I can't imagine the others wanting to go back there. This day has left me yearning for more afternoon tea days out and has also started a new quest to find the best cocktail venue. Although we were pretty content at the Slug! I am looking forward to seeing where we end up next.

Oxfordshire Lolitas 5th Anniversary Meet

The Oxfordshire Lolitas community is 5 years old! To celebrate, some of us met up for our usual anniversary meet in Oxford.

I apologise for the hall way photo of my outfit. The weather was absolutely atrocious! I wanted to get a photo before my hair curls fell out and I got the general windswept look. Bad weather seems to be a tradition for the anniversary meets. Out of all of the 5 anniversary meets, only 1 of them has had anything even remotely close to resembling okay weather. I wore my Queen's Coach JSK. I got the red JSK shortly after getting the black skirt. It is such a gorgeous print and I have always loved this red JSK. I did initially have a bit of trouble putting an outfit together, as the reds on the dress are a bit different to all the other reds in my wardrobe. It is almost a purple colour. In the end, I added an additional shade of red (although it does appear a tiny bit on the dress) and made sure to use plenty of it to balance it out. Although you can't tell in the photo, the under-skirt is the same colour as my hair accessory! This wasn't my initial outfit idea but the weather sort of spoiled my plans, as I found myself needing to use my Bodyline boots for the wet weather. At least I have another outfit planned for this dress I guess!

We ended up at the Slug and Lettuce after having a vote on where to go on the event page. The venue was surprisingly nice, with fancy chairs, mirrors and chandeliers. Some of the staff were really fun to talk to as well! I ordered a chicken skewer thing and some chips. The salad that came with it was very colourful and had quite a nice combination of fruit and veg in it. My only complaint is I could of done with some more chicken.

I am really pleased to say that I won Best Classic in the vote! I was so happy that people voted for me and liked my outfit. This year I got some pre-made rosettes off Taobao and then customised them by covering the centre part and adding the embroidery. As much as I love making rosettes, I sometimes get a bit fed up of them. And the less said about the year I managed to set my finger on fire, the better! The Taobao rosettes only came in 3 colours and I was really pleased that I won a rosette that matched my outfit so perfectly!

We attempted to get a group shot, but it was a little difficult to do with the way the table was laid out. Oh well, James tried his best! It was lovely to see a mix of regulars and also some newcomers.

After discovering that the cocktails were buy one, get on free a lot of us got stuck right in! This is my Porn Star Martini, which tasted absolutely amazing. I love anything with passion fruit in and if I see it on a menu it is almost certainly what I am going to order. I also had a passion fruit daiquiri, but the alcohol was a little bit strong tasting in that one. I loved how the Porn Star cocktail had a piece of passion fruit floating in it and an extra shot of prosecco too.

After having food we had our usual raffle. Here are the prizes I won. Sammi made the most adorable doughnut brooches and I knew I had to get one. It doesn't match a single thing in my wardrobe, but it is so cute! Sammi is so good at crafting, as is Shalisa, but I wasn't quick enough to get a Sugar Trampoline bow. I am glad I got the doughnut at least.

And this year there was also an additional quiz, which Shalisa ended up winning. I felt that I had to share Sammi's answer sheet though, because I don't think I will ever forget the answers she put! For the last part of the quiz I had a load of Baby print names and people had to fill in the gaps. So for "Memories of my First Soiree" became "Memories of my First Wet Dream" (ahem!) and the answers just got even more silly from there. I also think "Princess Chicken's Tea Salon" deserves a special mention. I don't think any of these print names will be appearing on Baby's site any time soon!

After taking some solo shots on the fancy chairs, we headed off to do our own thing. Hayley went on a venture to H&M to get hold of some Pusheen pants and then some of us headed over to the Mitre for a bit of a relaxed end to the day. I ordered a chocolate brownie (it is still nowhere near as good as the fudge cake at the Outlook, but I wanted something warm) and then braved the dodgy weather on the way home. 

So overall I think the actual meet itself went okay. The activities seemed to go down well and I know a few of us really enjoyed the alcohol! I had a good time, although it felt so good to take off my outfit at the end of the day and just crash on the sofa. Here is hoping for some fun lolita adventures in the upcoming year!

Random Adventure in Oxford!

Over the weekend I ended up going to Oxford to see Sammi and Shalisa. We were meant to be having a meet in Reading, but a lot of the people who were meant to be coming to that couldn't go because they were at Hyper Japan. I do hope my absent friends had a good time at Hyper Japan. I haven't been to HJ in 3 years because I didn't have a great time the last time I went, but maybe I will give it a go next year again. We will see how things go.

Thankfully, it wasn't raining heavily this time! I managed to stay relatively dry until I got back to the train station and had to walk home. Oh well, it is still a massive improvement on last time, and no umbrellas died! I wore my black Queen's Coach skirt, which I obtained recently. The colours on the skirt were not quite what I was expecting, but I managed to find items the same colour as the flowers on the skirt. After looking closely at the skirt, I realised there are actually colours in the print which I had never noticed before, such as peach. So maybe I will come up with some more challenging colour combinations when I get the chance to think outfits up.

We ended up going to a restaurant we hadn't been to before called My Sichuan. I came across this place earlier this year when I went to a games board cafe nearby with friends and I happened to spot this place hiding around one of the corners. The restaurant turned out to be quite an interesting find and I liked my food. My chicken and chili dish came with a tea light candle underneath to keep the food hot. The only problem is, it was a bit tricky to eat because it was quite messy! Shalisa and I both had aprons made out of all the napkins we stuffed down ourselves and I avoided the chopsticks because I am not too confident using them. The food was well cooked though, and very tasty.

Afterwards we decided to head to the Mitre, but not before getting some fudge from the Fudge Kitchen and having a bit of a posing session. I was very glad that nobody decided to come out of the door we posed in front of! I think all of us were reluctant to take out coats off, but at least we got some photos in the end. I was really pleased with the fudge we tried as well. They have a new Pumpkin Spice flavour, which tasted so amazing that Shalisa got us a slice to share. It was an interesting take on what I am guessing is a flavour brought in to celebrate Thanksgiving. If adopting some aspects of American culture means we get tasty fudge, then I am all for it!

Sammi and I decided to get Cosmopolitans at the Mitre. They are more of a pub than a cocktail bar, so they only have a few cocktails on offer. We got given these weird winter hat shaped cocktail stirrers. I suppose they are fairly cute? I do miss the Pimm's strawberry stirrers though- I am always taking them home with me! 

Like Reading, Oxford also has a Purple Turtle bar. What we didn't realise though, was that the Oxford one isn't open all day like the Reading one is. So we went out in to the cold for nothing! I did get a picture of the Christmas lights though, but it is very blurry. It serves me right for clicking and walking at the same time. The lights look a lot better in the dark but after seeing these lights so many years in a row, I think Oxford could do with some new lights.

After our Purple Turtle disappointment and discovering a lot of the pubs were totally packed, we ended up back at the Mitre! After being out in the cold, I wanted a hot pudding, so I got a warm chocolate brownie. Every time we get this pudding from the Mitre it seems to come out different. but this time all of our desserts were identical. Sadly though, I ended up paying more than Sammi and Shalisa, because the guy who served them added a discount that they were not meant to get. I was fuming when I found out! It clearly pays to wait and get the right member of staff to serve you.

I ended up having a really great day. I was so glad that we tried a new place and I would like to go there again sometime. It was a bit busy in Oxford, but that is to be expected at this time of year. The lovely, warm food we got was comforting and it was the perfect accompaniment to our fun conversations. I am so looking forward to our Christmas meet-up. We are going to meet Sammi's new puppy Biscuit too, which I am really looking forward to!

Oxford's TPC Calendar Meet in the Botanical Gardens

The Oxford community are taking part in the Tea Party Club calendar again this year and on Saturday we had our photoshoot. We got given the month of April this year. I was so relieved we were not stuck with August for the third year in a row! We got so lucky with the weather because it was bright enough to look like a Spring month. We went to the Botanical Gardens this year because we chose to do a gardening theme.

I decided to wear March of the Duck by Metamorphose. It may seem an odd choice for the theme, but it was because I found a duck shaped watering can and I wanted to match. Some lolitas have matching scepters, but I have a matching watering can! I kept my outfit quite casual because an OTT outfit would not work with the gardening theme. My only real regret is not wearing a wig. I curled my hair but it was just refusing to behave itself and I wasn't happy with how it turned out. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that it wont look too bad in the final calendar picture.

I even found some real duck friends. They may look cute but the female duck ruthlessly swiped and ate this dragonfly! It all happened so quickly that it was like the duck had ninja-like skills! Poor dragonfly... But apart from that, the sleepy ducks were a nice distraction during the photo taking.

The Botanical Gardens were in full bloom. I am actually quite surprised that we haven't really had any meets here before. I have been here with James but never with the Oxford group. Perhaps we will have another meet here next year.

I don't want to share any photos that are like the final photo we pick (I doubt we will be using these bench photos!) but here is a group shot of us. Lauren's sister was great and gave us plenty of directions. We spent quite a lot of time at different locations as well. I am confident we have at least picked a fantastic location for the background of our photo.

And here we have the duck watering can! I found it in the 99p store and they were getting rid of their Summer stock, so it feels like me finding it was fate. My obsession with ducks knows no bounds...

Afterwards we were going to go and try somewhere new for a late lunch, but we ended up at the Mitre! We were all feeling quite exhausted and the Mitre happened to be the closest food place. They had a new menu, including this mixed berry cheesecake. I was very impressed with my dessert. It had a firm base and the compote was so good.

So despite being concerned about my dodgy hair, I was so glad that I got the chance to take part in the calendar again. I always feel like I never get enough photos at these meets but a photoshoot meet is the perfect excuse to go a bit mad with the camera. We got plenty of photographs and I can't wait to see how they turn out.

Picnic In Oxford!

Last Saturday the Oxford community had another picnic meet! It went so well last year that I decided to try and recapture some of that magic. It came very close to being rained off, but thankfully the grass dried in time! I was getting so worried that I would have to fit a group of 11 inside an Oxford restaurant without a booking- a near impossible task on a Saturday.

I wore Sugary Carnival because... I don't know why! Do you ever feel an urge to wear a specific lolita piece? Well, that is what happened to me. I didn't really plan this outfit out that thoroughly but when you are wearing a lot of pieces that you already know go together, then it isn't that difficult to make an outfit anyway. Last time I wore SC I teamed it with lots of pink, so this time I went with white for a change. You can't really see it in the picture, but the ankle socks are the same shade of lavender as the dress, which for me is quite an achievement! I hate trying to match lavenders.

We went to the University Parks and actually ended up in the same spot we picked last year. Shalisa had to tell James to stop feeding the ducks because it turned in to a bit of an invasion. It felt a bit like we were in an Alfred Hitchcock film! 

Most of us put off buying food until the actual day in case it got rained off, but Madeleine made the most adorable biscuits and cakes. I really loved the Hello Kitty biscuits. They tasted amazing. Maybe I should get the recipe off of Madeleine.

I completely forgot to get some group shots, so I am including this partial group photo that I took when I was waiting for people to get their shoes back on! There were lots of cute outfits and berry and food prints seemed to be the theme of the day. We had plenty of time to laze about and just talk. I found out that a large chunk of the group is in to strange documentaries, so we bonded over that!

Then it was time for the pinata. After the issues we had last year with the pinata not drying out, this year I got a shop brought one. Unfortunately, the shop sold the last donkey pinata literally an hour before we got there, so we ended up with the most derpy looking dog pinata called Sparky (it was either that or Olaf from Frozen). We managed to confuse a real dog with the pinata, who didn't seem to understand that the pinata wasn't a real dog!

Sammi managed to decapitate poor Sparky quite early on but didn't break the body, so we had to hang the headless pinata back up! We didn't take the head down straight away, and this random woman came by and started staring at the dog head, as if it was an art installation or some sort of protest, which was incredibly bizarre!

Eventually, the pinata was fully destroyed. Lauren seemed very pleased with her sweet and keychain haul! I think most people got at least something out the pinata. Those keychains I got in my Taobao order from the other week proved a big hit. Although the macaron keychains smelt very strongly of plastic.

Here is a random shot of the lake we were sat by. It was quite a nice view and we had plenty of trees around us. We also got to overhear a play going on nearby, which had a strange theme going on.

Afterwards a few of us went to the Mitre for drinks. I saw they had a new lemonade on offer, but was very disappointed that it didn't look like how it did in the picture! Where is the additional slices of lemon, stripy straw and cute jam jar glass!? It was lovely, but I noticed the others changed their orders when they saw they weren't going to get the jam jar glasses!

I came home feeling very tired, but I feel it was worth it. The picnic meets are usually some of the most relaxed meets and it was lovely to do something simple before Regalia in September. I hope to see the Oxford group again soon.

Summer ILD Oxfordshire Lolitas Meet!

Happy Belated International Lolita Day! Shalisa, Sammi and I decided to combine our hosting skills and put on a party for the Oxfordshire Lolitas. We hired the upstairs of the Mitre, as it is a really large venue and there is always a pitcher of Pimm's waiting just downstairs. And we definitely needed the Summery drinks because the weather was hot and lovely.

It felt like ages since I had worn full-on sweet lolita, instead of classic or a more casual take on sweet lolita. So I decided this would be a good time to wear my Sweetie Violet JSK from Angelic Pretty. I teamed it with some of my favourite lavender items and the hat I ordered from Akilya. I used white to break up the pink and lavender, as I felt the colours were a bit overwhelming on their own. It was a light and airy outfit which was perfect for the weather conditions. I curled my real hair instead of wearing a wig. Sadly the curls did not last all day but I was just grateful not to have sweaty wig-head!

As part of the ticket price we provided a buffet. There were also gift bags and many prizes to be won. My Taobao order from last month could not have been timed better! I was quite pleased with how the food turned out. Sammi had made some macarons, which tasted amazing and she also brought along her infamous cous cous (she is the queen of cous cous). It doesn't look a lot in the picture, but I can confirm I was completely stuffed by the end of the day.

We did many different activities including a quiz that Shalisa kindly made. Our guests had to pick out the real brand print names. Some of them were really difficult. I sat this one out because I kept winning and decided to give somebody else a chance!

Next up was the Lolita Assault Course! This was my invention and it is based on etiquette advice given by the English Gothic Lolita Bibles and the silly videos that Misako Aoki has been doing recently about the rules of lolita. Our guests had to do their most composed walk around some cones whilst they had balloons chucked at them. Then they moved on to a posing station, had to sit down in the most considerate manner, tie some waist ties in to a bow, add some sugar to a cup of tea without making a racket and then finish off with giving us their best "lolita laugh". Judging by the reactions, people seemed to enjoy my course, so perhaps it will be making an appearance at a future meet...

And there was also a Pass the Parcel! Samm, Shalisa and I completely forgot how many layers we had wrapped, so it went on a bit longer than anticipated. And the random CD we had borrowed from the Mitre had the most peculiar music choices on it! Somehow we managed to get to the end and eventually Laura won the socks that were inside. Laura said she needed some new socks so I am glad we were able to help!

There was also a cake decorating contest. Some were certainly more inventive than others and everybody voted for the best cake. Laura won this contest as well, with her cute bird themed design (bottom right). There were some really cute designs. At least everybody got to eat cake afterwards.

And then there was Lolita Print Charades. Some of them proved harder than others and I had to omit some very embarrassing photos! There was a cake stand full of mini prizes to be won. Nicola and Hayley did especially well with the charades.

And finally, a group shot (minus both of the Lauras who had to leave a bit early). I really love how there was a nice balance between sweet and classic, as usually one style seems to dominate our meets. Everybody put a lot of effort in to their outfits and a lot of us wore our favourite pieces. I just hope everybody enjoyed themselves.

Afterwards the hosts went to get a drink and wind down. I think we earned it, as we were all exhausted afterwards. I don't think I will be hosting any big meets soon but I am hopeful to see the Oxford group again soon. I had a great time! I hope everybody reading had a great ILD too, no matter what you ended up doing.