Meeting Li-Li

Yesterday I met with Li-Li for the second time in Paris. Li-Li is a lolita from the USA studying here in France for a few months. I answered her post on EGL, when she asked for advice on places to visit in Paris, offering to meet up. And I am so glad we did!


Our first meeting was an outing to Bubble Fever, a bubble tea bar with friendly staff and delicious flavors of our favorite drink! We got so caught up with our chatting that we completely forgot about taking any photos of our first meet, so none of those unfortunately. We have a lot more in common than lolita, too. Lolita fashion/lifestyle is a great way to meet new people but when you find you have more points in common then you are sure you found a friend!

We made up for forgotten photos yesterday, when we headed for the Kawaii Cafe, rue de Nemours. The setting was really cute and original, and we had a nice time! They had very original cocktails (cucumber sounds like it is worth a try), though we stuck to non-alcoholic beverages. so I feel someone who enjoys alcohol might appreciate this particular place better. I do want to try going there when they organize one of their geek events though, and they have maids occasionally!

 

Storefront of the Kawaii Cafe

Li-Li and I also discovered that we already knew each other on the internet! Of course we communicated through LJ and Skype, but it is only when we began talking about our blogs that we realized that we read each other and both participate in Lolita Blog Carnival! (Though she is much more thorough than I in that respect!) So Li-Li turns out to be Alice in Lolitaland, and I am Le Boudoir's Miss Milly. And now  that I look at your photos, I do recognize you, Li-Li! It is so wonderful meeting someone you enjoy reading, and we giggled like crazy when we made the connection!

 I wore my BTSSB Usakyuma Sweets jsk with a non-lolita cutsew of fortunately matching colors, AP socks, and my lovely purple Bodyline wig. I like wearing wigs even in summer, as long as I style it in an nupdo. It avoids me having to chack my hair all the time (it just gets awful on too-hot days).

 

Unexpected mirrors make the best photoshoots!

Because she had luggage limitations, Li-Li couldn't bring lolita with her, so I offered to lend her a coordinate for our next outing. We are thinking about several places, so many of them look fun: the recently renovated Château de Champs-sur-Marne, the oh-so-creepy Manoir de Paris (but I am a scaredy-cat), Princess Crêpe and the BTSSB store, because they are on sale at the moment, or maybe Disneyland?

I really want to let her see France outside of Paris, so I would love to invite her over for tea, perhaps with some of my new lolita friends, but because of moving, my house is such a mess, so I am unsure... I'll have to think about it!

Aah, what will our next outing be? I cant' wait!

Japan Expo, Lolita Convention, and Shopping

This year again I went to the Japan Expo in Paris. I love this convention as I get the chance to meet up with friends I otherwise rarely see, and this year I was determined to make new ones as well.

 It was my luck then that upon setting foot out of the train on Thursday, I ran into three lolitas, with whom I thereafter spent the day! Naomi, Becha, and Emmy are absolutely lovely girls, and one of them actually lives really close by! It's a shame I'll be moving soon, but I'll make sure to see her before that!
The day was spent roving the booths of indie designers, Japanese imports, and groups of photo-happy lolitas! We also listened to Sebastian Masuda's conference about Harajuku fashion, which was fascinating, and had the opportunity to take photos with him after that!
 It was my first encounter with the french lolita community as before I had never had the chance to patricipate in any organised event and it proved lovely!

The other two days, Friday and Sunday, I wore my Princess Cadence cosplay and debuted another one, which isn't entirely finished so I won't say much about this. Cadence though was great fun once again! I came across several other ponies and may have a photoshoot planned soon.

 In front of the MameshibaxKyary mascott with my best friend

 Posing with Sebastian Masuda. Argh, bad face...

The annual Lolita Convention followed right after and it was fantastic! I went there for the first time, since I had always been too tired after the Expo, not to mention shy. But meeting the community motivated me, and here as well I met wonderful people. The fashion show was the climax of the event, and I particularly liked Clara Maeda. A few notable people were there, including Minori whom I missed, sadly, as I had to leave early. But I met François Amoretti, author and illustrator, the wonderful team from Roccoco Daze, and of course saw my new friends. We had a very unexpected but insanely fun time shooting in a lauderette!
I got myself a pair of AP socks and a pair of tights at the second hand booth, but a lot of it was really tempting!


 This was such a fantastic four days which I had been looking forward to so much, and I'm happy to say that rather than feel lazy now that it is over, and I am all the more determined to work harder. So I made a lolita skirt and am started on a dress; I am also continuing my cosplay.
Today was fun as well, I went shopping and enjoyed it for the first time. My mom and I had a fun afternnon and I picked up two very cute dresses for a more gyaru/ kimokawa casual style, which is nice once in a while when lolita is too much of a bother!

François Amoretti's gorgeous and poetic book about lolita; 

my new handmade skirt and a dress in progress; and a roll of lace!

H&M starry dress; Cache-cache flowy mint gyaru-style dress (the color didn't turn out well)