The last thing I did on my birthday weekend was to attend a summer swap meet with my community. This was the first time that I had attended a swap meeting in the summer time, as the last time one was held when I was out of the country attending the Jane Austen Regency Festival in Bath, UK.

In general at a swap meeting, be prepared for the unexpected but always have your PayPal/Venmo/Cash prepared in advance.  You can wear an EGL outfit to attend, but it's not required.  If you plan on trying things on, make sure whatever you're wearing wasn't too hard to put on to begin with. And if you have any friends or family interested in the fashion, bring them too. The object of the swap is for the vendors to part with pieces or accessories that just don't fit in their current wardrobe and for other people to buy their stuff. If you don't have anything to trade or sell--that's perfectly fine. Swap meets are a great opportunity to learn about available designs and try things on, especially if you're new to EGL or alt fashion. 

At this particular meeting, there were just as many vendors as the January swap, but some of them were selling adjacent J-Fashion, other alt clothes as well as loads of plushies and other kawaii merchandise and accessories. Someone brought some gorgeous gothic style pieces, but unfortunately they were too small for me. (I'm getting pretty good at eye balling if something will look right on my body type). 

For my outfit, I wanted to primarily wear pieces made of cotton while also representing my love for gothic themes and design. I started with my Bodyline Skull JSK, which if you recall, I wore back in late November 2023 at Elizabeth Park.  Instead of going with a black blouse and accents, I went with a white short sleeve cotton blouse. To be honest, I don't think this stand collar works particularly well with the dress because it doesn't quite lay right between the arm straps of the jumper skirt.  It was basically the only short sleeve cotton shirt that I own that doesn't gap terribly at the bust.  

For accessories, I chose a mixture of light colors and black. First, I tied my hair back in a low ponytail and wore a black velvet bow barrette that has a plastic black skull in the middle. For a necklace, I am wearing the Miss Point Demon Hunter Necklace, which is mainly black with a white steampunk looking skeleton on the brooch. Both the barrette and the necklace are repeating the skulls shown on the skirt of the dress. I am wearing lightweight black wrist cuffs that button around the wrist. I added a jeweled black and white striped bow to the top middle of the dress and wore a black velvet bow ring with a white pom pom in the center. Believe it or not I didn't have simple white calf socks at the time, so I wore the Roji Roji Victoria Maid socks in pink. It is such a light pink it almost reads as white in the photographs, but it is not in vain. There is light pink and purple accents in the design on the skirt of the dress as well. I could not believe how comfortable these socks are even if you have wide calves! I wore black patent low heeled tea parties to complete my outfit. Could I have upped the accessory game? Probably, but I wanted to keep it light knowing I might want to try things on later. 

Pahl got me this corset dress at the Midsummer Fantasy Renaissance Faire. The bodice material reminds me of a really nice soft washcloth and I love the antique rose design on it. The necklace that seems to look like it was made for it I purchased at the swap meet. 

If you know Pahl, he's really into Regency fashion. The Sally Gardens elegant OP dress from Chinese indie designer Miss Point is somehow an EGL dress that looks like it should be from the Regency era. It is absolutely stunning. I don't know how I managed to get such a well matched head dress at the swap meet, but I did. It just keeps proving that someone else's pieces that they picked up that don't actually match anything in their wardrobe could very well be just the thing someone else needs to complete an outfit they already own (or were given for their birthday). 

We also went to Home, which is one of my favorite local restaurants because of their delicious seasonal menu and their "living room" that mimics the inside of someone's house with casual comfy couches and low tables. I sometimes have trouble eating in traditional dining room settings because I am sensitive to fast paced loud environments. But when I'm in the living room at Home, I feel like I can eat at my own pace and have my own little space in a quieter area. I had ordered hot tea because we were caught in a torrential downpour while trying to get into the restaurant. I only briefly regretted choosing all cotton in that moment, but it dried fairly quickly. 

All the gifts and little activities we did made me feel special and very loved. It was a wonderful birthday weekend and I am excited to wear these pieces soon at upcoming autumn and/or spring events in the coming year!

The last weekend in June was the first weekend of the Midsummer Fantasy Renaissance Festival. I decided that since my birthday was to fall on a Monday this year, I might as well start celebrating it the weekend before. So the first thing I did was to attend my favorite small local renaissance faire. This Midsummer Fantasy Renaissance Festival is so small it will seem rather underwhelming to folks who have visited a town that is an all year round Renaissance Faire.  BUT, it's my favorite because I love to see my favorite acts like The Harlot Queens, Foxy and the Bard, and Shakespeare Approves!, which may not play at other local festivals. I also run into people I know approximately every 20 minutes on average. It's nice to catch up with local folks who I might just see this one time a year, that aren't specifically involved in EGL fashion or other fashion groups. 

We attended this faire two weekends in a row last year, and you can see what I wore for summer fashion in my "What do You Wear to a Renaissance Faire?" post. This year I knew going in that it would be hot, possibly muggy. I had certainly acquired a few more EGL pieces as well as a real renaissance faire dress that comes with detachable sleeves that I got at the fall faire last year. I even learned how to wear the corset Pahl got me last year for my birthday at our first weekend at the Midsummer Faire. What would I wear this time?

I decided that I was going to go as a gothic fairy. I already wore part of this outfit for the Cherry Blossom Festival this year, and now that it was warm enough to wear less layers, I could showcase another version of this outfit. This piece comes from the Chinese indie brand Alice Girl and is referred to as the Gothic Blood Rose Skirt and Corset. This time I am also wearing the matching bolero instead of a warm fluffy cardigan.

I kept my hair almost the same with the the rose and crystal headbands, but instead of leaving my hair down, I put it up in a high ponytail and braid. I stuck the fascinator that had been placed at the waist of the skirt before in the upper part of my ponytail for visual balance. I also incorporated additional colors of silver and black. The day was threatening rain and there was mud in some areas of the field, so I could not wear my precious EGL shoes for the occasion!  Instead I wore black boots that matched the black and silver waist pouch that I wore to hold money, ID, and keys. I repeated the silver in my bright silver tights paired with silver fairy wings and silver fairy ear cuffs.

I also kept the Ribbon Hem on the bottom of the skirt, which is another separate piece to this this outfit. I had to ditch the matching flowing trailing this time, as it was practically dragging on the ground because I received no additional height from these boots compared to my platform shoes I wore with it last time. I also didn't wear the matching choker this time either. Basically if you wear the bolero you can't wear the choker. I don't make the rules, but it felt like the neck bow brooch of the bolero and the rose and beaded detailing of the choker were competing too much with each other. 

​Believe it or not, there are still additional accessories for this outfit that I purchased at the same that I haven't worn with it yet. It's a very versatile outfit and you can buy all the pieces separately, so if you like the bolero and the flowing trail for something else in your wardrobe, but don't want the skirt and corset because it's too gothic, then you have that option. 

Up until now, you might have been wondering why it is referred to as a Gothic style when it is light pink. If you look closely, there are bat wings at the middle of the bodice after the intercrossing ribbons and the lace is actually pink crosses. The textural pattern on the bodice and skirt is a thick sort of rose brocade. All of these elements tend to land in the Gothic style category more frequently than not. This outfit also fits into the subcategory of Ero style because of its corset like bodice, slightly exposed shoulders, and shorter length skirt. 

You can see all of the details I mentioned much better in the professional photos that my friend Kit Catlett took at the faire. It just worked out that I was standing in front of a tapestry with branches that seemed to be sprouting out of my shoulders while matching the red details in my outfit. The wand prop is actually a wand that Pahl made for me. He said it was supposed to go with a fairy outfit. Sadly, it broke on the way home in my bag. Apparently the wood was "not that good" to begin with. 

All in all I had a wonderful time wearing this outfit again. It only took me 10 minutes to put on as opposed to the first time where it took about 40 minutes of figuring out how to assemble it  with all the layers and accessories. I also enjoyed meeting friends at the faire. It was an excellent start to my birthday weekend!!

Clockwise Starting in the back: Nemia-Rose, Jax, Pahl, Sarah, and Danielle

Back when Pahl and I attended the Alice in Wonderland Tea in April at the Old Lyme Inn, we learned that the theme for June 2024 was going to be The Wizard of Oz. I shared this with members of my fashion club, and we agreed to meet up there on the second Saturday of June. I encouraged folks to dress in the style of any character from the Wizard of Oz. 

Nemia-Rose styled herself like the lion. (She and I have an affinity for the less popular EGL color of brown, and I love to see what she puts together). She is wearing a chocolate themed Baby The Stars Shine Bright Dress, featuring their mascot Usakumya (which is a bunny-bear). Her accent colors are white and bright red, which she repeats in her beret, collar of her blouse, pinned ribbons on the cardigan, and tights and socks. I think she added the red to convey the idea of courage or bravery, because that is what the lion is trying to find in the film. 

Jax styled their self after Dorothy. The dress is a blue gingham design that they MADE themselves. They paired it with white lace accents that include a 3/4 sleeve blouse, wrist cuffs, choker, and tights. The head bow is a clever blue and white piece that can go with a lot of outfits. Their shoes aren't actually red, but in this lighting they do look a little more red than brown. Apparently the picnic basket was given to them by a family member when they were born, so it holds extra meaning for them. 

Pahl of course had to be the Wizard! He built his outfit off the green waistcoat and cameo pin I gave him for Christmas. He wore a white shirt under the waistcoat, but the rest of the pieces in his outfit are black or green. His black top hat and black oxfords are accented with green matching hat band and spats. He also repeats the black in his trousers. Other green accents include his bow tie, his long green velvet tail coat, and his fingerless leather gloves. He also crafted the wand himself from wood and natural stones that are green. 

If Sarah had to be a character from the Wizard of Oz, I guess she'd be the narrator. She is wearing a Wizard of Oz themed dress from the brand Baby the Stars Shine Bright. It is colorfully illustrated with different scenes from the story all around the skirt. A  yellow gingham print with rose and floral accents surrounds the scenes. She's wearing a white blouse that includes red ribbon accents. She cleverly repeats this bright red in her head bows as well as her shoes. The head bow I believe is the matching one to the dress, and the pink heart shaped bag brings out the pink in each scene on the dress. (Honestly, I'm sure she can represent any character with this one, or Dorothy, in yellow). 

Here I am, also representing the lion. This dress is from the Chinese indie brand Alice Girl. The name of it is "Vintage Doll Family" and it was released at the tail end of 2023. I think I ordered this in November, and after a four and half month wait, it finally arrived. It has one hidden side seam pocket and is the long version of the skirt. Due to the heat of summer, I swapped out the blouse that goes with this jumper skirt with this one that came with my YingLuoFu Classic Oil Painting JSK. I figured that since both jumper skirts are the under bust style, that the blouse would be fine and provide me some much needed relief in its shorter sleeve length. I'm wearing a very curly blonde wig, which I was trying to evoke the style of the hair seen in the lion in the Wizard of Oz movie. On top of the wig, I am wearing the matching brown wool hat to Vintage Doll Family, which to note, is too big for my head without the wig. White and gold wrist cuffs as well as off white lacy crew socks complete my lighter accents. I'm also wearing my favorite brown platform shoes from Modo with the clip on bows this time. I don't know if you can see it, but I'm also wearing a gold and red military medal on my blouse.

All day long every where I went random people kept asking me about the medal.  And then I had to explain my abstract Lion outfit to them. If you would like attention from strangers, just wear a medal with any outfit, not even an EGL one. 

The menu as well as the decor were just as carefully curated as the Alice tea was and it was so wonderful to enjoy the inn's handmade savory and sweet options. 

That shoe sugar cookie was really good, as well as the sandwiches, macarons, and truffles. The key lime pie was kind of overly sweet to me. I loved the care and attention that went into the rainbow cake. Afternoon teas are mainly a sweet affair, so you have to pace yourself. 

I know the angles of these photos make it hard to know exactly how big the space actually is because the lens on the cell phone camera distorts everything to a wide angle. I would say about 20-24 people can sit in comfortably is this area of the Inn, but there are a few other places they may seat folks for Afternoon Tea. That's why reservations are necessary for groups!

All in all it was so nice to bring a group to the Wizard of Oz Afternoon Tea. The Inn staff went above and beyond to make sure we had what we needed and were very attentive. They also gave us an impromptu photo shoot which I am very grateful for, as many of the photos in this post were ones that their staff took for us.