Sisterhood of the Traveling Frills: Traveling with Lolita Fashion, Pt. 1
Welcome back to my blog, everyone!
In honor of my con season starting up, I wanted to create a travel series of posts to help my fellow Lolita friends prepare for their globe-trotting adventures during the Spring and Summer time! Most of these posts will show just how over-prepared I am for everything, and are only a *guideline* to prepping for your events.
From the months of March to July (or August), I enter my "con season". I've mentioned a lot of cons on this blog before, but for those that are new here, a "con" is short for "convention". In the States, Lolita events often happen at Anime cons or other hobby conventions, such as comic cons or gaming expos.
Wearing Lolita fashion at these events can be fun, exhausting, and sometimes difficult, but like everything else in life, I find that research and prep can take a lot of the guesswork and stress out of the experience.
The first step to traveling with your Lolita fashion is to find a place to travel to! This can be any event -- it doesn't have to be Lolita specific. In my case, I have two cons to go to this year, both of which I'll be working at. One of my cons is a video game convention and the other is an Anime convention. For my first con of the season, though, I won't be attending any Lolita specific events.
There are so many events and cons across the world that finding an event to attend is fairly easy. Just about every state in the US has AT LEAST one anime/gaming/comic convention, and even if you can't find a con, there are equally as many Lolita comms across the world.
If you're searching for Lolita specific events, the Lolita Events - North America group on FB is one of the best places to go to for people located in the US. There's also Lolita Events in Europe for folks across the ocean. In both of these groups, group members can share fliers and notices about their events, including guest appearances and other types of programming. Sometimes, these notices are also posted to Lolita Updates, so that's another Facebook group to keep an eye on.
If you're more curious about events in a specific city, I suggest checking with the Lolita community in that area for advice. You can look up most Lolita comms on the Lolita Community Directory.
Perhaps, you don't want to travel alone to a Lolita event, but your travel companions aren't into Lolita fashion. An alternative to Lolita specific events are mixed hobby events that feature a Lolita or Fashion department.
To find an extensive list of cons in your area, I recommend AnimeCons.com! AnimeCons is a fully loaded resource with reviews, pictures, detailed con information and now, they even have an interactive map!
Additional lists can be found on UpcomingCons.
So, you've found a place you want to go, but now you have to figure out: can you afford to go there? Attending cons can be fairly affordable, but it can also be extremely expensive. Most cons offer 3-day badges for a flat rate, while some events have a lot of add-ons that can add up to a costly venture.
Event to Attend? Check.
There are Lolitas in this world that can just throw things in a suitcase and go, but I have never been one of those Lolitas. Before I go anywhere, I plan out which coords I'm wearing based on several factors concerning the event I'm attending.
I LOVE packing. I have no idea why, but there's something so satisfying about playing real life Tetris with my belongings, lol.
In honor of my con season starting up, I wanted to create a travel series of posts to help my fellow Lolita friends prepare for their globe-trotting adventures during the Spring and Summer time! Most of these posts will show just how over-prepared I am for everything, and are only a *guideline* to prepping for your events.
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| My luggage! |
Don't stress yourself out trying to do everything that I do, because I know I'm over-the-top, haha.
From the months of March to July (or August), I enter my "con season". I've mentioned a lot of cons on this blog before, but for those that are new here, a "con" is short for "convention". In the States, Lolita events often happen at Anime cons or other hobby conventions, such as comic cons or gaming expos.
Wearing Lolita fashion at these events can be fun, exhausting, and sometimes difficult, but like everything else in life, I find that research and prep can take a lot of the guesswork and stress out of the experience.
The first step to traveling with your Lolita fashion is to find a place to travel to! This can be any event -- it doesn't have to be Lolita specific. In my case, I have two cons to go to this year, both of which I'll be working at. One of my cons is a video game convention and the other is an Anime convention. For my first con of the season, though, I won't be attending any Lolita specific events.
Choosing a Con (or Event or Destination)
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| Lolita Events North America FB group banner, I do not own! |
If you're searching for Lolita specific events, the Lolita Events - North America group on FB is one of the best places to go to for people located in the US. There's also Lolita Events in Europe for folks across the ocean. In both of these groups, group members can share fliers and notices about their events, including guest appearances and other types of programming. Sometimes, these notices are also posted to Lolita Updates, so that's another Facebook group to keep an eye on.
If you're more curious about events in a specific city, I suggest checking with the Lolita community in that area for advice. You can look up most Lolita comms on the Lolita Community Directory.
Perhaps, you don't want to travel alone to a Lolita event, but your travel companions aren't into Lolita fashion. An alternative to Lolita specific events are mixed hobby events that feature a Lolita or Fashion department.
To find an extensive list of cons in your area, I recommend AnimeCons.com! AnimeCons is a fully loaded resource with reviews, pictures, detailed con information and now, they even have an interactive map!
Additional lists can be found on UpcomingCons.
Budget
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| I do not own! |
So, you've found a place you want to go, but now you have to figure out: can you afford to go there? Attending cons can be fairly affordable, but it can also be extremely expensive. Most cons offer 3-day badges for a flat rate, while some events have a lot of add-ons that can add up to a costly venture.
In my experience, most con badges won't cost more than $100. Some do, and if so, that's just another factor to consider in your decision. Add-ons are also important: most cons don't include the cost of say, a Lolita tea party, in your badge costs, but they do give attendees access to J-Fashion panels and other events.
All of this info can usually be found on the con's website under the Registration page. If you have additional questions, there's nothing wrong with reaching out to the event planner for a more in-depth explanation.
Pro-Tip: A vast majority of cons offer free badges for volunteering your time in the form of actual volunteer hours or hosting a panel! If this sounds like something you have an interest doing, check out each events Volunteer information to see if you're eligible. I volunteer at nearly every con I attend, so very rarely do I actually pay for a con badge, but I understand that it's not for everyone.
Plan Your Trip
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| I do not own! |
Event to Attend? Check.
Badge/Ticket Purchased? Check.
Room and Board? .........Whoops?
Once you've picked your event, and purchased your tickets, it's time to get to planning! You'll have to figure out how to get from your house to the event venue, how you're going to eat while you're there, and if/where you're going to sleep each night.
All of these things are based on personal preference, but I typically check out all modes of transportation BEFORE I decide on one method to get to where I'm going. I prefer to drive, but I can't drive everywhere in the world, so for very long distances, I gotta get a plane ticket.
I won't go so far as to give financial advice to other Lolitas, but I know that plane tickets can get expensive! If you need help paying for a plane ticket, a great method I've used in the past is making small payments on my tickets with a company called, Airfordable!
For hotel rooms, I always use Airbnb, though a lot of cons offer designated con hotels with a discounted rate. Ultimately, these choices all depend on the things you need to get where you're going.
Coord Planning
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| My Aselia Con line-up! |
There are Lolitas in this world that can just throw things in a suitcase and go, but I have never been one of those Lolitas. Before I go anywhere, I plan out which coords I'm wearing based on several factors concerning the event I'm attending.
Some questions to keep in mind are:
Will I do a lot of walking?
Am I going to be primarily inside, or outside?
Is the area known for it's cold weather or rain?
Does this event have a theme?
All of these things are variables to consider when planning your coords out.
I typically plan my coords around the theme of the event, and also, the shoes I can bring with me. Not every event has a theme, but some places will turn you away for not having shoes on your feet, XP
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| I do not own! |
If you're flying to the event location, bringing every pair of Lolita shoes in your closet will make your suitcase much too heavy (and who wants to pay over-limit fees?), so be sure to choose Lolita shoes that are both comfortable, and can suit multiple coords. I recommend one white pair and one black pair, for ultimate versatility.
I also try to avoid bringing a million blouses, so I almost always include an OP (or 2!) in my line-up to reduce the number of blouses I need. In the summer months, cardigans and boleros are easy to pack, and are also a lot less delicate than a bunch of lacy blouses, so that's something to consider too.
Pack
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| My 20" suitcase. |
Since I have a lot to pack and a lot to discuss about packing Lolita items, I'm going to split the packing segment up into two separate blog posts. Part 2 and Part 3 will go extremely in-depth on my packing methods, so be on the look out for those posts in the coming weeks! I may post Part 2 a little earlier than usual since I'm going to my first con of the year, Aselia Con!
That's it for the first part of Traveling with Lolita Fashion! Are you guys going to any cons or events this con season? Tell me all about it in the comment section below.
See you in Part 2!
Stay beautiful, stay true,
~J
Few people grab me in the same way as overprepared planners do - mostly because I'm an overpreparing planner, so it feels like finding a soulmate in a world full of 'last minuters' and 'it'll work outers'. ^_^
ReplyDeleteOne of the most important bits you've touched on in your planning is, for me, the food part. Yes, transport and accommodation are pretty vital, but I think many people underestimate how tiring cons can be. While anime cons often have some sort of stall with Japanese food, it can be quite pricy and/or not a lot of it (I heard that to be the case of Hyper Japan in London, where food is a fairly big part of the con). If the con is also in a quite removed location, it may be too far to get something else instantly (at least these days with delivery and apps like Uber Eats you're not entirely resigned to overpriced con food). Especially if you're on a tight budget, factoring food into the overall budget and looking up places to eat within it near the con area (or that deliver there) will help with both overspending and undereating (you need energy to enjoy yourself). And stay hydrated people!
Though personally I'm not a fan of packing (or unpacking for that matter). I love planning what to take, but I find the physical act of putting it into (or out of) my suitcase a chore. So I do look forward to your in-depth packing tips, as I hope to find something useful to myself. (And I'm hoping that you will manage to post that by next weekend, as I'm off to Japan on the 19th, so it'd be nice to have some extra packing tips handy for when I do start the packing act ^_^")
As a side note, I checked what does AnimeCons.com say about Anime Matsuri (since there are *still* people who don't know they're awful - one person is still one too many). It was sad to see that via the search function I had to go to the bottom of page 2 to find something warning people ('Beware Anime Matsuri - NOT SAFE for female cosplayers' - right below info about Vic Mignogna's appearances being cancelled everywhere but AM). While I get that this is just how search engines work, as the first page was pretty much all basic info about the upcoming and past years' ones, but given that it's run by a sexual predator and his enabling wife, you want people to see these warning posts as early as possible. I'm not sure if AM still has lolita fashion programming (or more generic J-fashion one for that matter, I don't know how many businesses/brands decided not to work with them), but this is why it's all the more important for lolitas to check with the local community what's their consensus on the con too.
Oh my goodness, a fellow planner! <3
DeleteI absolutely agree with considering food in your budget because it can get really pricey, and that's exactly why I get Airbnbs -- at least that way, I can ensure that I have a place to store food, reheat food, and prepare my own breakfast. I've been to some cons that didn't have a fridge or a microwave in the hotel room, and it made eating at the event so much more costly.
I didn't know about the AM section on Animecons.com, so that's disappointing, T_T Hopefully, people will be sure to check with local comms instead of just blindly attending any event.