Florence Griswold Musuem Meetup

Sweet Style Lolita Imitate Dana Sherwood's Art

Ave @heyavecado, Eleanor @elunoir_unlovable , Almira, Barbara @b_glam_11, Danielle @helixis7185

After the June meetup at the Cat Cafe, there weren't a whole lot of meetings planned. In fact there weren't any at all in my fashion community. I was looking on a list of cool things to do in Connecticut, and I discovered this special exhibit at the Florence Griswold Museum called Dana Sherwood: Animal Appetites and Other Encounters in Wildness. This exhibit looked super fascinating to me, and I really wanted to go. I just clicked with Dana Sherwood's art right away. This exhibit was apparently her first museum survey where she exhibited films, sculpture installations, oil and watercolor paintings painted over the last decade that interrogate the relationship between wild nature and domestic culture with symbolic references to cross-species commuincation, the feminine experience, and the occult. 

I know that the best way to gather people interested in art and culture is to make an event out of it and encourage them to dress up in their niche fashion while attending. I was still so new to lolita fashion at this point, the only coordinate suggestions I had for attendees based on a quick online glance at Dana Sherwood's exhibit were "Animals, Tea Party, Florals, and Bonnets!".  How we managed to perfectly all match Dana Sherwood's art with our sweet lolita coordinates and color choices, I will never know; but I consider it a moment of serendipity. 

Ave is wearing a Sweet jsk from Bodyline along with some decora accessories in her hair and a very cute frog themed Ita crossbody bag. Eleanor's coordinate is actually more of a Classic style. She had matching sunflowers on her bonnet and even on her nails. Almira's dress she actually commissioned from a seller so it fits her proportions perfectly!  This was Barbara's first meetup and she cleverly assembled this coordinate out of various pieces that she found on Amazon along with a pair of work shoes! My main piece (the cat mermaid jsk) that I had ordered in July came about two weeks before this meetup, so my heart was set on wearing it; but everything else about my outfit changed due to the extreme heat and humidity of the first Sunday of August that only a place like Connecticut can provide. 

Yes, even though I had two actual beautiful lolita blouses from China, they were in fact WAY TOO HOT for this meetup. I had to settle on my old faithful, the same Hot Topic shirt that I wore at the Cat Cafe because I would have passed out if I wore any of the chiffon ruffled shirts I received. I wore an everyday petticoat with this, but the real star are the cotton bloomers, peeking out from underneath. Because the Hot Topic shirt and the bloomers are off-white, I had to go with my natural colored oxfords and off white socks, which almost skew this look more Classic. However, by styling my hair in bun braids and tying on bow ribbons (that were part of a decoration for a birthday gift I was given), I am affectively still reading as a Sweet style Lolita. 

Now I know why the community doesn't really plan meetings in mid to late summer. The materials used in the fashion just aren't super conducive to spaces and places without air conditioning.  At least I know I will never suffer from "being too cold" again in the pursuit of fashion!