I have an outfit from this week to share with you! I dug out my tripod and tried to take the photos from a different angle. It's my room door you can see behind me (it has windows, hence the curtain).
As you can see, I feel comfortable wearing soft colours at the moment, beige, pink, brown. I need a break from black, probably for the first time since I was fifteen (^.^)
The blouse I'm wearing is the one I found at Hellocon. The dress is actually from my Lolita wardrobe, but the cut is very flattering, so I can wear it without petticoat too. The sweater is second hand, I shortened it so it would go up to my waist instead of my hip. It's very comfortable, but it has the disadvantage of pilling horribly.
Outfit rundown:
Bow hair clips: Claire's
Sweater, blouse: 2nd hand (originally H&M)
Dress: Innocent World
Shoes: 2nd hand (originally Deichmann)
so here's the third part of my adventures in Finnland!
On Monday after the teaparty, we had time for some more sightseeing in the city, before the girls from Austria would leave (I stayed two more days). Helsinki is so pretty just to walk around the city, it reminds me a little of Paris, just way smaller, cuter and cleaner (^.^)
In the afternoon, we stopped by The Ounce, a very cute tea shop, where an amazing selection of tea is sold and served. Apparently, it's very popular for Finnish Lolitas to go there, and since a Lolita we met at the teapaty works there too, we had to pay a visit and taste the tea, of course.
Kati told us she always wears Lolita for work, so amazing!
I was so in love with the decor of the tiny shop! I guess I'd probably go there every day if I lived in Helsinki (*.*)
Many of the teas they serve are made especially for The Ounce, and they are all made of real ingredients, without any additives.
I chose to drink Alice in Wonderland, green tea with strawberries and white chocolate. It's very sweet, but the sweetness is also very soft and delicate. I usually drink green tea without sugar, because I don't like it if it's sweetened, but this tea is absolutely amazing.
So of course, I had to buy some of it, so I would be able take this heavenly taste with me. I drink it almost every day, it's so delicious!
I also purchased this adorable tin can. Isn't it pretty? I displayed it in my room, would be a shame to hide it in the cupboard.
While at The Ounce, Katrin drew for us an Austrian/Swiss Lolita in the guest book!
So when the girls had left, I had two more days on my own. In advance, I had thought of maybe going to Talinn for one day, but had to cancel that idea. So I visited various parts of Helsinki instead. I took a lot of pictures and saw a lot of things, but there are two places in particular I'd like to show you.
One of them is the Winter Garden of the city. It's an amazingly calm, beautiful place. I could have stayed there all day! The building itself is quite impressing, and it's filled up to the roof with exotic plants.
View over the snowy rose garden towards the city
I hope those are not too many photos? It's just so indescribably beautiful, I hope I could show you a little...
I also visited Sea Life, the aquarium. That was very nice too, I was almost alone and looking at the fishes turned out to be very relaxing.
I was very fond of the octopus (he even has his own pirate ship!)
seahorses
They even had jellyfishes! Those were by far my favourites. I am very fascinated by jellyfish (the reason I chose a jellyfish as a logo for my etsy shop). They were illuminated by colour-changing lights.
I saw many more things, but I don't want to overwhelm you even more.
So I conclude this post with the heart-shaped starbucks coffe I got (so cute!)
so here's the second part of my adventures in the cold north (which, by the way, was not so cold. It was mostly between -5°C and 0°C, only the wind near the cost was freezing).
On Sunday, the Tea Party was held. Since it started at 2 p.m., we went some sightseeing in the morning and then went back to the hotel to get pretty.
The weather was really nice, so we took some pictures outside first.
The locality of the Tea Party was really beautiful; a big hall with six large tables and a stage up front.
When everyone had taken their seats, the program already started with a ballet performance, which was very beautiful.
I don't have pictures of that (yet), as it was not allowed to take photos during the performance. I hope the organizers will provide some pictures soon.
The adorable host Caramea is introducing the dance
Afterwards, we could help ourselves to tea and some very delicious treats:
Then followed the most exciting part: the meet&greet with the guests of honour, Yuko Ashizawa and Midori Fukasawa, who had already attended Hellocon the day before. We all got an autograph and could take a picture with both respecitvely. Yuko Ashizawa called my dress kawaii! That made me happy (*.*)
By the way, at Hellocon, we recieved a "special item" from Atelier Pierrot, which turned out the be chewing gum! Yes, brand chewing gum with print (^.-). They taste of peppermint.
We also got more flyers. As I like to collect flyers, that made me happy too!
During the meet&greet, we had time to take photos of each other and chat with the tea party guests. I enjoyed myself and met very nice (and beautiful!) people.
At the end, there was a raffle (I didn't win anything though) and both guests of honour picked their favourite outfit (trying to get a picture of that aswell - coming up).
And then, the teaparty was already over! Time went by so fast.
We went back to the hotel, changed (I decided to take my corset off) and went for some food. First, we had some trouble finding a restaurant, but in the end we found one that served traditional finnish dishes. The food was very tasty and we had a great time.
I did some more sightseeing the following days, I'll write about that in part III!
I decided to split the report from my travel to Helsinki in three parts. There is so much I would like to show you, and there's no way that would all fit into one post.
Unfortunately, I haven't recieved the official pictures yet, but I'd like to write this post now, so I'll just use the pictures I have.
So I start with the Hellocon, the Helsinki Lolita Convention, which took place on saturday. I arrived by plane on friday night and went directly to the Hotel Anna, where I shared a room with the Austrian Lolitas, to save money and have some company, since I was the only Lolita from Switzerland.
The Con started at 10 a.m., which gave us enough time to get ready (except for Dani, who had to leave earlier because she was modelling for Lady Sloth).
The place of the Convention was just around the corner. When we got in, we went first to the second hand flea market and the stands of the many (Indie)brands. Of course, we also didn't want to miss the programme on the stage! After the opening ceremony, there was a Q&A with Midori Fukusawa, guest of honor and model for Baby, the Stars Shine bright, Innocent World and many others.
She is super kawaii, I admire how she keeps the cuteness up in everything she does. The interview was interesting to listen to, what surprised me was that she likes to be outside in nature and even does bungee jumping in Cosplays! I have never heard of that, but I bet it's fun (^.^)
Following that, there was a Brand vs. Offbrand fashion show. For a given theme, they had a girl dressed fully in brand and one completely in offbrand and handmade dresses. The audience decided, by clapping and cheering, who wore the better outfit. I didn't find a video of that, but a picture with all of the contestants.
Picture by Lisa
A little bit later, another highlight was on the programme: the Designers Fashion Show. They showed new designs from labels such as Cloudberry Lady, Lief, Lady Sloth and Atelier Pierrot.
Following that was the Q&A with Yuko Ashizawa, the designer of Atelier Pierrot. Amongst others she said that she prefers drawing to sewing and that she likes wedding dresses at the moment and gets a lot of inspiration from them.
After a little break, the Fairyforest Fashion show was held on stage. I think this was my favourite moment of the day! See for yourselves:
I heard only parts of the Designer Panel Discussion, because we went to get some pictures taken in the meantime.
Just before the Closing Ceremony, the last show was presented: Dancing Dolls. Lolitas performing ballroom dance, ballet and even poledance! It was made very cute:
Unfortunately, I didn't participate in any workshops. Although some of them sounded really interesting, they were always held at the same time as a show on the main stage which I also didn't want to miss.
Furtheron, I realized that it is absoutely impossible to be in a room full of Lolita clothes and accessoires and not to buy anything. Yes, I broke my no-shopping resolution:
The blouse is from the second hand flea market was was only €5.-. It's originally from H&M, short-sleeved and very versatile, I already have some coordinations with it in mind. It'll be very convenient in summer too, it's very light, so I can wear it under a jsk.
The necklace is from Moonbunny. Another fawn! It's so adorable! And it matched my outfit that day. How could I have resisted?
I also bought something else, but it's a present and since I'm not sure if the person reads my blog, I can't show you.
We took some additional outfit photos alswell, so here's mine:
After the Hellocon, we went back to the hotel, changed and walked a little through the city to go to the After Party, which was held in a bar/restaurant. We were the first ones there, and since we couldn't have dinner there we went looking for a restaurant to eat something first. When we returned it was already late and many had left already, but it was still fun.
Jassi, me, Punkangel, Katrin, Yaya and Dani in front of the Helsingin Tuomiokirkko, the Helsinki Cathedral
