Cardigan Meet

For the longest time I had no idea what to wear to this meet. I knew that I wanted to work my outfit around a cardigan and initially thought of doing something with my gold AP one, but there was no inspiration for everything else. This was the first time I had such a block in my head regarding an outfit, so it was quite a strange feeling.

And then I remembered an outfit that used a cardigan that got a lot of positive comments here…

Selfie showcasing my hair before it got ruined.

Yes, I decided to take the sailor-style coord with Whipped Cream Kitty out for a spin and it was a total winner! It was comfortable, yet cute, and because of all the vintage vibe I didn’t feel as self-conscious as I sometimes can be in Lolita (even with such a bold print on), because in my head I felt like I was wearing 1950’s fashion (or that this is what the public would see). It’s worked a treat! And I must say, I was very lucky with the weather, it was really warm and sunny, just enough for me to forego a jacket and just strut about in my cardigan.

I actually went to Leeds a bit earlier as I wanted to buy a few bits. On the train station I bumped into two teenage cosplayers who complimented me on my coord – bonus points for knowing that I wore Lolita, I know not all cosplayers know that so kudos to these two lads. There was a bit of going back and forth, as I couldn’t find glitter eyeliner that I was after, but in the end I managed to get this, as well as a pastel blue eyeshadow and some bath bombs from Lush (because how can you walk past Lush and not buy anything, right?).

Our crafty meet, which was all about lolifying offbrand cardigans, actually took place in the community room at the (still) new John Lewis in Leeds. It’s on 4^th floor right where the haberdashery is (convenient) and turned out to be fantastic space: well lit (though not such great lighting for outfit shots), spacious, quiet, away from the public and they’re ok with food and drink there. I think we’ll have a lot more meets taking place there, we all really enjoyed using that space. In the end it turned out to be a very small meet, 5 people total down from something like 8-9 who were originally meant to come, but quality over quantity.

Not the community room, but all of John Lewis looks very
fancy...

Much as I tried I didn’t achieve a dramatic transformation that the others have managed. I brought 2 cardigans, but only ended up changing the buttons on both of them and ironing on a cute cookie patch to one. With one I didn’t know what to do to it, I had no vision, whereas with the other it was more of a matter of not knowing how best to accomplish my vision as well as being one or two bits short. So in the end they’re both a work in progress, although as the more “complete” one here is a before and after shot of the bolero that I felt was the most finished looking of the two.

Still, despite that I had great fun doing that! I think for future crafty meets I should come in with more of a vision of what I wanted to achieve and potentially bring my own materials rather than rely on the organiser to buy the right bits (this or ask them to buy very specific things). We all were quite impressed with the community room at John Lewis and it seems like the next crafty meet will be as early as May, which gives me a bit of time to prepare.

Have you done anything crafty recently, on your own or with your comm? Has it turned out the way you wanted to? Do you enjoy meetups based around crafting? I’d love to see photos, if you have any!