First Casual Meetup: Brought to you by HOT TOPIC

Casual Lolita Meetup: My First Coordinate

 One month after the clothing sale, I was determined to go to my first meetup. However, I wasn't ready to debut my Rose Bustle JSK with the Meta shirt yet as I didn't have a proper petticoat, or other matching accessories. I decided that SWEET style was the easiest style to imitate without at a lot of time or money. So I did what any stubborn person would do---SHOP at HOT TOPIC! (Now back in my youth, Hot Topic was the place for teenagers and college students to get goth/punk clothes and accessories, hair dye, piercing hardware and band t-shirts.) They still have all that stuff, but they've diversified into kawaii styling, toys, other pop culture references, even some housewares!  A quick search on their site for "kawaii clothing" will bring up a variety of pink pastel blouses, skirt-alls, dresses, and accessories loosely inspired by various Japanese street fashions.  If you type in "lolita" it gets even more specific. You can even see the Strawberry and Bows Petticoat skirt I purchased.

I built my entire outfit around this skirt. I purchased an additional pink normie petticoat to go under it to billow it out a bit more (believe me it has enough extra material to achieve this look), the knee socks which have little pastel bear buttons on them (which you can't see), the 4 inch platform heel wing shoes, and even the ivory colored crop top.  If you're a petite height and you have a short torso, you can cheat with crop tops if your skirt is high waisted enough. And this logic also works well with actual jsk's to help you save money on blouses especially in those humid summer months!

Additional styling on this outfit includes a pink crop cardigan from Hell Bunny (a vintage inspired alt fashion brand), some of the bracelets I purchased at the clothing sale, a pair of earrings my friend Barbara made me over ten years ago, and a pink bow barrette I purchased from Shein. Oh and the bag I'm carrying is a mini backpack from--guess where--HOT TOPIC. I actually used this bag everyday during the spring and summer of 2022 (it just happened to match most of my fashion club outfits at that time). 

The meet up was at Old Mystic Village at the Alice and Wonderland themed cafe. I had only been to Mystic Village once before, about a year prior, so I didn't know exactly where to park so I parked on the edge of it all. Once I found the map, I realized I had parked on the exact opposite end of the village from where the cafe was. I put on my big girl shoes and got to experience walking in 4 inch platform heels for the first time in my life. It was also the first time I experienced the reactions of the general public to alt fashion that wasn't goth. A man told me that I looked BEEE-YOU-TIFUL!  Another man told me I looked like a living Barbie Doll. I didn't realize I was going to get so much...attention.  I was so relieved to make it the cafe and meet all my new friends for the first time!