Kamikaze Girls at the Thrift Store

Meet Me at the Thrift Store to Watch A Movie

Just a small section of the group who showed up for the EGL meet at WBT in New Haven. Photo credit to Rex

Back in August 2025, another member of my fashion community planned a meeting at Witch B*tch Thrift which is a size and gender inclusive thrift store in downtown New Haven. Witch B*tch Thrift not only sells used clothing, but also has lots of accessories from local vendors as well as books and housewares. Besides being a thrift store, they are also a welcoming community space and have a Black Box Theater at the back of the store, where local groups can host craft nights, open mics, as well as movie showings. 

The film of the day was Kamikaze Girls which is based on a novel written in 2002 about an unlikely friendship between two teenage girls, Momoko, who is a "Rococo-phile" into EGL fashion, and Ichigo, who is in an all girls street gang. The film was made in 2004, and its that early aught's film style where something is explained, and then it goes back in time, shows a vignette, fast forwards to the character talking about themselves in the third person, and back to the main plot, kind of on repeat. Also, in the early 2000's, EGL fashion was just starting to become more popular, and some folks internationally started collecting pieces. I was in Japan in 2005 and I did visit many EGL shops, but I didn't buy anything. Part of it was that I believed my body was "too big" for Japanese clothing, and the other was that it was extremely expensive for a full-time student.  In the film, Momoko buys exclusively from her favorite store, Baby the Stars Shine Bright, which is still known today for making beautiful but high end EGL dresses and accessories. 

Major moment on the big screen where Momoko decides what is more important---a career or friendship?! Photo credit to Pixie

Group exodus to Via Lactea, a dairy free ice cream shop a few blocks away from the Thrift Shop. Photo credit to Pixie

A lot of people showed up to the meeting! I think it was because it was easy to get to because you didn't necessarily need a car to get there. Some people drove. Some people took the bus, or the train. Others used ride shares and/or Uber. Some of us went to the ice cream shop first, and more went after the film. It was kinda good that we went in waves, because it was pretty small on the inside and our clothes tend to take up a lot of space!

Now you might be wondering, what exactly was the fashion prompt for the meeting? Since the meeting was held at Witch B*tch Thrift, we were told to wear anything Gothic, Witchy, Summery, and/or early Halloween, to match the theme of the shop. However, EGL fashion from the early 2000's (like what is seen in the film), is now commonly referred to as Old-School style. Old-School EGL is focused more on construction details like ruffles and lace and has simple solid colors of usually black, white, pink, sax (which is a light blue), red, and beige with either black or white lace. 

Mirror selfie with the Shoes

I wanted to pay homage to the early Old School style while also incorporating witchy accessories into my coordinate. I started with a sweet style tiered cotton JSK from Chinese Indie brand Infanta. I really like the black lace over the black cotton detail. I paired this with a white short sleeve cotton blouse, white under the knee socks that have black ribbon lacing at the sock tops, a black and white rectangle headdress, white wrist cuffs with black bows, black and silver earrings, a black and gold steampunk skeleton necklace, a large black magical book purse with silver design on it, and black tea parties (mary janes). I also used a black lace parasol to keep the sun at bay--because it was still pretty hot at the end of August!

Photo of Danielle in front of the WBT. Photo credit to Pixie