Portlands newest convention is Wonder NW a teeny little con located at the Crown Plaza near the convention center. It encompasses all levels of geek-ocity, from anime to comics, from video games to roleplaying, no nerd-tastic stone was left unturned!It was also the first convention I went to alone. You heard me, no friends joined me on this little excursion I was left to my own devices at a convention! It's almost unthinkable. But the choice was mine, I haven't been to a convention in awhile and I decided since it was so close and so cheap (6$ for 1 day) I just had to make it out for one day! That day just happened to be the day of the lolita fashion show, and I just happened to be finishing up (but not quite done) with my latest lolita creation.
So I woke up early, got dressed and went down to register for the convention, and then, since I was so close I bullied Gloria and Shannon into having breakfast with me at Vivace.
I guess they don't look too beaten up about it.
Gloria had a mocha, Shannon a chai latte, and I got myself a tropical iced tea, and we shared a french style banana and nutella crepe with whipped cream and slivered almonds.
I also remember to take a picture of my nails which were quite cute even though pictures of them kinda suck. The stickers stayed on well for the most part, but multiple layers of OPIs top coat will to that. In fact only one came off on it's own, and it was some cherries the other hand. The color is Sally Hansens Hard as Nails in Cardinal. Only took one coat too, so impressive.
After breakfast I did a quick walk through the dealers room, my favorite part about this room was all the older toys and comics that you could buy, my problem being I really don't care about buying that stuff.
I managed to snap a few pictures of people in costume. This is Captain Red Coat the leader of PDXYAR! a local pirate group that seemed to be helping run the con.
The Baroness from G. I Joes, looking way to friendly to be a villain.
I don't know what this is from. Still kinda cool though.After that I found a quite place and called Rose. We talked for about an hour, about how James was doing, and then about how I missed her being here and costuming with me. It's sad, but this small convention could have been a lot more fun with someone else to costume with. Eventually I was discovered by a guy in a Diablo 2 bloodthirsty cow costume named Chris, and feeling. I expect, sorry for me. Dragged me off to meet the group he was with. It was nice of him, but it just wasn't the same.
After a bit, it was time for the lolita fashion show
Again I didn't know anyone at the con so I totally stole all these pictures of me. After looking at these pictures I've decided I need a fluffier petticoat an something for my wrists.
Everyone was doing sweet and elegant poses and stuffs and I was like, I'm gonna be super grumpy!
I think my dress was well liked, I got a big reaction when I told the girls about Spoonflower.com and that you could make and buy your own fabric online. After the lolita show was over the coordinator had prizes to give out, but instead of giving them out she put a bag of prizes on the floor and the lolita fell on it like a hungry pack of hyenas. Which is maybe not a flattering comparison, but that's really what it looked like.It had items in it ranging from a Baby the Stars Shine Bright head bow, to a cheap plastic lunchbox (I think it was a lunch box at least). Which is kinda lame, if your gonna give out prizes to everyone, everyone should get the same thing. Also lame is that there were a few girls in outfits that were completely brand. The whole dress, wig, blouse, shoes, socks, ect.. put together probably cost like 500$, and of course they got the brand items. Like jeaze, don't you have enough? Let one of the girls in the altered dresses have it, they probably can't afford it and would be more then delighted to acquire their first brand item. Where as you will stuff it in your closet and probably only wear it every now and then.
After the lolita show I didn't stick around for pictures I just took off and got myself the hell out of lolita, even put on a wig. If you didn't look closely there was no way you were gonna recognize me, (which was what I wanted) and then I went to the Costume Contest. Kinda boring actually, no skits and they spent so long getting ready that we kinda saw all the costumes already, they were just along that wall the whole time. They did give out some fabulous prizes, makes me wish I'd have competed, but Bronte wore her Big Sister costume (again) to the contest and was hands down gonna win.
After the contest I left to hang out over at Shannons place for awhile before meeting Jim and Jojo at the Bosavona Ballroom for Geeklesque. Just think your favorite sci-fi and fantasy characters dancing and getting naked, and there you go. The highlight of which was when a girl dressed as Harley Quinn belly danced to the Dresden Dolls song "Missed Me". There were also some triva contests, and I kick myself for not going on stage because I knew most of the answers *sigh*, but what are you gonna do.In conclusion Wonder NW is not a bad little convention, it could do with some better organization and a larger space but it's just fine for what it is. Not really worth two days though, because there was only one panel going at a time there just wasn't enough interest for me. One was just enough.
you know, for the girls who saved and saved for their brand outfits what you said was very hurtful. I both sew my own clothing and buy brand, and when you say I should just give away what I worked hard for because other girls would appreciate it more It makes me pretty damn angry.
ReplyDeleteI work hard every day, I am not rich, and when I want a brand outfit I save up all my pennies for it. At first I thought you were a nice looking girl who worked hard on your coords, now I see you are a mean spirited person who has no empathy or any idea what it means to actually work for your clothing. I hope you learn that this is just clothing and not a personality test. You are just as bad as the so called "brand whores"
I don't think you read my post very well. I don't mind a reactionary, but I prefer my reactionary's with the facts. I am by no means telling anyone to giveaway their hard earned clothing brand or otherwise.
ReplyDeleteThe items mentioned above were given away for free, so it wouldn't have hurt anyone to let it go to someone who would have appreciated it more, as plenty of the girls in the show were without brand.
I'm sorry you feel that this post was an affront to you but I stand by my opinions.
No, I read your blog perfectly well, and it sounds to me like you personally were sad that you were not the first to reach the "prizes" which were more like participatory awards than anything. Just why is it that girls wearing brand are less deserving than girls not wearing brand? Why would they appreciate it less? Maybe the girls wearing brand were wearing the only brand pieces they owned and the girls wearing their own pieces were decidedly not wearing brand or simply were not interested. You wouldn't know, you are simply speaking for yourself and you just sound rude.
ReplyDeleteI agree with SlowStrawberry. You sound like youre jelly that you didn't have a brand dress and didnt make it to the bag in time.
ReplyDeleteBelieve what you want.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's pretty obvious that when you say that the girls in altered dresses would appreciate the brand items more than girls in brand dresses, you are either projecting your own, unacknowledged emotions onto them or being incredibly presumptuous. Either way, you are being petty and hypocritical.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with SlowStawberry. I personally know those girls wearing brand, and that was sorta mean to say those things. Their outfits aren't completely brand either. For example, my friend bought off-brand shoes, and a petty coat, lots of her accessories were made by herself, and her socks were from a regular store. You basically called them lame for something they aren't doing. The dress she was wearing was the first brand dress she bought. This was the first time she wore that in a show. Maybe you shouldn't make assumptions before you ridicule people, but that just might be me.
ReplyDeleteI watched the show and saw your dress, and I thought it looked really good. And you did well on your coordinates. I was going to compliment you, but I'm glad I didn't now, knowing that your are a sort of insolent person.
I realize the above post may be a dead topic but it's upsetting to me that Arika is the only one defending her position. So, at the risk of blowing this up again...
ReplyDeleteWow, to all of the above. Arika mentioned brand for maybe two sentences and you guys jumped on her like a pack of hungry dogs...or Lolita’s on brand name goods.
There is never anything wrong with someone wishing that those in homemade dresses could have a chance to get some brand. It's called sharing the wealth.
In short you Lolita’s have called Arika insolent, petty, hypocritical, and rude, yet the sheer act of name-calling someone who expresses such a Robin Hood opinion shows who the real insolent, petty, hypocritical, and rude people are here. And quite frankly, I found Arika's outfit more original and well crafted than all the others. You can keep your brand, I'll take Arika.