Karaoke Fashion Club Meeting

Karaoke at RoiEt Cafe

Back Row Left to Right: Pahl, Erik, Nomi, Danielle, Maxie; Front Row: Sarah, Jax

I ended up doing several dress up events in May 2025, and the first one I was the host! I had it in my head that I wanted to plan a karaoke meeting for my fashion club. I knew I wanted to do karaoke for us somewhere semi-private, rather than your average dimly-lit American bar, but I didn't think we quite had the funds to rent out a private booth plus snacks and drinks for the evening. Luckily RoiEt Cafe in Hamden, CT allowed us to rent the "VIP" area for free for 3 hours, and provided several delicious dinner items inspired by Thai and Japanese street food to purchase as well as a variety of drinks (alcoholic as well as non-alcoholic like bubble tea, etc) that allowed us to get our fill and loosen our lungs for a fun night of singing! The menu includes such a range from pad thai to sticky rice chicken wraps to onigiri and Japanese bread. It is easy to order a full meal as well as snacks and desserts here, which is nice if you're not really into imbibing or a stereotypical bar scene.

The VIP area was actually quite well lit, and we also had our own private bathroom. The lower level supposedly fit up to 15 people, but we cozily sat off to the left side for eating and moved closer to the grass wall for singing and photos. I can't lie, the karaoke set up is about as bare bones as you can get. They have a couple of mics and you're supposed to search on YouTube for the song you want to sing. I was honestly surprised at how many obscure songs were already converted to "Karaoke versions" on YouTube. 

The outfit suggestion was to "wear a style that represents the music you like to sing or listen to".  For myself, one of my favorite types of music that I like to listen to is industrial, electronic, and punk. So of course I had to incorporate as much black, plaid, and metal rivets/ zippers, and grommets into my look for the evening. Pahl likes punk too and wanted to make sure he matched me, so he also wore black and blue. Nomi was also channeling a similar vibe with their Atelier Pierrot Decay Gauze Skirt paired with a light pink t-shirt, black harness, and black leather choker. 

Sarah has a thing for strawberries and quite deftly worked them into her main dress as well as a pin on her sweater. Cute black tights with red hearts, red shoes and a red hair band complete the look. I wouldn't be surprised if Erik also wore black and red to match his lady. 

Maxie wore a beautiful classic floral style dress. She sang September from Earth, Wind, & Fire, which is an American pop, soul, and jazz fusion band, and then proceeded to sing an operatic song from Muse, which is an English band that fuses rock, electronica, and opera together. If anything, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that she really enjoys complex music that combines many genres. 

Jax represented the country genre and added stylistic details such as a tiny cowboy hat, gingham scarf, corduroy jacket slung across one shoulder, and Timberland boots to their otherwise sweet style coordinate. Jax did not disappoint with their selection of a country song that was so funny as they did stereotypical mannerisms you see in country videos for the male singers especially. Later they did a duet with Sarah of Dolly Parton's "9-5", as an ode to my last post about getting dress-coded at the office for looking too much like a doll. 

Jax pulling out all the stops

Sarah adding spoken word to the pauses in "9-5" criticizing wage labor and having to work for the man

Danielle wearing black and klein blue

Now you might be wondering more about my coordinate. Let me tell you, I had this outfit in my head for months. I ordered the dress and matching blouse from Chinese indie brand Alice Girl in Spring 2024, but I had to wait a little longer to get the matching accessories. This dark but  brighter than navy saturated blue is called Klein blue. It is used in a lot of alt fashion garments across brands, often specifically for gothic looking styles. So, naturally, I also started collecting accessories that incorporate klein blue as well as main pieces. 

For my accessories I am wearing a black pleather bow headband that has a metal heart and 3 kinds of metal crosses hanging from it. Under that I have a white wavy bob wig with 4 long braids at the ends. For wrist cuffs I am wearing long black fabric gloves that have 3 short belts with gromets as well as a long visible zipper on the outside. For socks I am wearing the lace up ones from Moi Meme Moitie. You lace them up yourself---but they look so good! For shoes I am wearing black shiny pleather platforms that also have metal studs and crosses hanging from them. For my purse I have a black rectangle satchel with rivets around the edges and a centralized silver metal crown. 

Seated side view of my accessories in action

The satchel and a standing view

You might be wondering if I sang any industrial songs while I was at the meeting. I did not...but I did sing Lady Gaga's two most recent singles off her new album Mayhem, "Disease" and "Abracadbra". My voice cracked a bunch and I was a little embarrassed, but those are pretty hard songs to sing at the range that Lady Gaga does. I already look like her, I thought maybe I could try singing like her too. But there is only one Lady Gaga. 

Team Black and Blue united by the Macaron in the reflective night rain

I had a lot of fun seeing what everyone wore to the meeting and talking about music, literature, and other great places to eat, etc with attendees. I don't know if I would go back to this particular spot just for karaoke, but if you want a relatively quiet area to catch up with some folks and have choices for both dinner and snacks, this is a great hidden gem!