Tea With Tracy in Oxford

Two Fashion Meetups in One Weekend

The day after our epic trip to Roseland Cottage up in Woodstock, Connecticut (the northeast corner of the state), Pahl and I were at another fashion related meeting, this time for my elegant lolita fashion club. The meeting was set up by my lovely friend Almira at Tea With Tracy in Oxford, CT.  Tea With Tracy in Oxford is located in the "valley", south west part of New Haven County. It is both a breakfast/lunch/dinner restaurant and tea place where you can order an "afternoon tea" which includes a scone of the day, a choice of tea sandwiches, a dessert, and a 2 cup pot of tea of your choice. Two or more food orders on the same ticket will be served on a tiered platter with different colored tea pots. If you are going there for the first time ever, you should order the afternoon tea, especially if you haven't had an afternoon tea experience before. (As I understand it, it doesn't compare to actual afternoon teas served in England, but it's a good introductory experience for the uninitiated). 

This was a great meeting because I got to catch up a little with Colleen, Almira, and Marisa, and I also got to meet a handful of new people who are interesting and fun. Almira did not give a coordinate suggestion for this meetup, so there was a nice mixture of sweet, elegant, and gothic lolita styles representing. I chose to wear a gothic style that matched Pahl's outfit. It was only fair after he had done all the work to match my navy and silver dress from Roseland Cottage (purchasing a matching waist coat and cravat) that I should select an outfit that matched what he wanted to wear that day. (He's apparently had those red and gray striped pants in his wardrobe for years and it was the first time he got to wear them!). I'm pretty sure he built his outfit around those pants.

So here's the coordinate I put together to match Pahl's red/white/gray and black theme. The dress is a jsk from Chinese Indie brand Nya Nya/Cha Cha Lolita and the name of the print is Love and Death High Waist JSK in Wine. It is the first second hand dress I purchased off of LaceMarket, which is medium level difficult to shop from. First you have to make an account and have it verified from the moderators through FB messenger and then you go about and bid on items (like on Ebay). You have to make sure you check the country of origin because there are a lot more sellers outside of the USA than in it selling pre-owned dresses and accessories. Then (like Ebay), seller and buyer feedback is very important for continued use of the site. If you get more than one bad review, it might be over for you. Also, if you don't really have a buying or selling history, some sellers may not want to sell to you at all, especially for more expensive japanese brand pieces. The previous owner of this dress said they wore it twice and that there was some nearly completely unnoticeable snag in the back somewhere and was selling it discounted as a result. I was the third person to bid on this dress and won the auction. What a relief! 

The print itself has white and red roses with crow skulls and skeletons and bandaged skulls that are dripping blood on a wine red background. There are also little banners that say "love and death" along the bottom of the print. The bodice is a high waist but it is not TOO HIGH for me. (Luckily having a narrow waist and a short torso works for me in these instances if there is enough room in the bust). The shirt I am wearing is a gray long sleeve shirt with something like princess sleeves. It comes from a company that sells the same shirt in many different colors. It works perfectly with the cool gray on this print (but trust me I didn't plan that when I bought it. I only noticed it after I had both items in my house at the same time after 6 months went by). I'm wearing the exact same black half bonnet that I wore the day before at Roseland Cottage, this time with some white roses stuffed in the top, to match the roses on the print. Black (under the knee?) socks with a silver chandelier print mirror the black and silver ribbon in the bodice. Sweet patent black shoes with modest heels and little black bows complete my look. 

So how did I do? I already know that Pahl's grays are warm toned, while mine are cool toned. It's not perfect, but it works pretty well. You can tell we're together.