Wa-Lolita and Cultural Appropriation

I'm terribly sorry about not updating in months, I've been kinda depressed and unenthusiastic about everything. But on the bright side, that means I have a backlog of things to post about. First up is a long one that's been on my mind for a while.

As my twitter followers might have noticed around month ago, I went to my first Lolita meet-up. In honesty I was extremely nervous: my outfit was homemade, and I have met and seen very brand oriented people in Lolita; and I had chosen to wear Wa-Lolita, a subsection inspired by traditional Japanese clothing. I didn't want to be branded as a "weaboo" or seen as too costume-y, but I was in love with the style.

I never got a better picture with the parasol, so here's a selfie

and the final product of my hard work

I was really surprised by how nice everyone at the meet-up was. There were quite a few new people who I made friends with, as well as some really experienced members of the local group. Everyone was really impressed by my dress, and I figured maybe I had just been exposed to the wrong people. I, feeling more confident in the lolita community, looked on Tumblr to see if what others had worn in way of Wa-Loli since many of the girls I had talked to expressed interest in the subsection.

The most common phrase I found together with Wa-Loli was cultural appropriation. This was all soon after the whole Lone Ranger fiasco with teenage girls dressing up in what they thought of as Native American attire (suede with fringe and feather headdresses) to match Johny Depp's character, so the term was already on my radar. It was really surprising how vocal some people were, arguing to never wear wa-loli because it is cultural appropriation and offensive and bad and on the same level as wearing a geisha costume for Halloween. It got me thinking "had I just done a bad thing?"

My answer is no. I don't think I've done anything offensive. My first reason is tied to what Wa-Lolita is. As I stated earlier, Wa-Lolita is a subsection of the Lolita street fashion. Lolita originated in Japan and is designed to mimic European fashions usually from the Victorian era or the Rococo period. Wa-Lolita is a fusion of the Japanese kimono with the aesthetics and silhouette of Lolita fashion. Wa-Lolita is not a cultural symbol, but a fashion style.

"But in changing the kimono, a cultural symbol in Japan, you are being disrespectful."
I have been interested in and casually studying Japanese culture for five or so years. I researched how kimonos are made in order to make the pattern for this dress. Honestly, kimonos are not taken very strictly anymore. There are few rules, all of which I adhered to such as only closing it left-over-right and giving it as close to an accurate a fit as I could with my body type. There are kimonos for special occasions, sure, but I had based mine on the Yukata, which is a very casual garment. With the obi, I looked to find if there were any rules, but as far as I could find, it all comes down to aesthetics fro color and skill for the knot. There are even obi belts that hook closed with knots or bows that get hooked on the back

Along with the actual kimono, I paid close attention to what Japanese Wa-Lolita dresses look like. Here are some examples:

Wa-Lolita with a plaid print and accenting "obi" and underskirt (similar to what I had done) from Bodyline

Wa-Lolita with a traditionally Lolita print from Bodyline

various Wa-Lolita from Japanese brand Lacrima

Wa-Lolita scan from a Gosurori magazine

I'm not trying to argue that just because a culture changes or misuses a piece of clothing or a symbol, it is then acceptable for everyone to do the same. I am just saying that before you try to argue that something is offensive to a culture, you should first learn if it is offensive. In the case of teenage girls wearing feather headdresses which are not only a ceremonial garment, but are also earned, that is totally a case of cultural appropriation which is very offensive. In the case of me, a white girl, wearing wa-lolita, it could be cultural appropriation in it's most basic definition. There are many reasons why I would be surprised if a Japanese person came up to me telling me that what I was wearing was offensive, but if that did happen I would retire this outfit. If someone from an altogether different culture tried to say that I was offending Japanese people with this dress, I would instead explain to them all the points I mentioned in this blog post.

While I can understand people being cautious about accidentally offending people, there are some people who I think are a bit too trigger happy about calling something offensive (to somebody else).

Iron Man 3

I'm back home so now I have some things saved up to blog and have the ability to update my blog.

Here's the dresses I "made" for a premiere of Iron Man 3. I say made in quotes because I never got a chance to finish them before wearing.

I'm not gonna really talk about what I thought of the movie because I'm mostly disappointed with how they handled some subplot and smaller conflicts introduced near the end of the movie. The pacing was a bit weird, so I don't think I'm gonna wanna watch it again in the near future. maybe give it a month or so.

PAX East

I don't have much to write about so I'm making this con a single post. I also don't have pictures because I'm horrible and can't find my camera charger.

On Friday, my highlight was buying an attorney badge from Fangamer. I walked around a lot and didn't try any demos except dance central. I dunno, this just isn't my year for getting new games except AC4. Speaking of which, every time I passed the Assassin's Creed stand, the line was capped.

I may or may not be designing an Apollo Justice lolita costume to wear this with. (picture from Fangamer site)

Saturday was tons of fun. I was wearing my Leixia costume and though I was only asked for a picture once, it basically made my day (and it was put on twitter too!).

no, the costume isn't actually finished, but I wore it anyways.

also I'll braid some wire in my hair so the loops stick up better next time.

I hung out with a friend and got to see the Assassin's Creed preview. Basically, the video boils down to I'm boarding every ship I find. I don't even care. I hate cannons.
It was really exciting seeing my friend, "The Orange Sauce" play giant jenga, I think he and his partner for the game could have gone to the next round if he had placed the last block and walked away instead of trying to adjust it. And the second round was intense. Let's just say the last move involved twisting the top half 90 degrees.
I ended my Saturday by going to the Escapist movie night where I learned of such treasures as RoboGeisha which I don't even know if I want to see it for myself. In all it was super fun.

I only stopped in for an hour or so on Sunday because I was really tired from my stressful week of sewing and school projects. I did get to see the preview for the new Saints Row game because I was bored and like mindless violence. Let's just say the player character is the leader of the Saints Row gang thing, and President of the United States, and has superpowers, fights aliens, and has a gun that kills people with the power of Dubstep. Obviously I've been playing the wrong kind of videogames.

HAWKAAA!

So here's the moment of truth guys. The costume you've been waiting for. The sensation that hit the nation (by which I mean the convention, Arisia).

THE ONE AND ONLY BIRDS OF PREY!

Anyone remember that one video I posted a while back? (The Birds of Prey song from Batman BATB) We, (Antonia, Raven, and I) spent a little over a month making a choreography for that song and then practicing once a week. I've asked around to see if anyone recorded it, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to show you guys until the official masquerade video comes out.

I wanted all of us to take a picture with our reference images (mostly because I worked really hard to get most of them the day of)

This photographer comes up to us and asked if he can take a picture of us pretending to beat him up.

posing for our official pictures

You can't be a strong female character without making pin-up poses, right?

Also, we won a craftmanship award ("Best translation of 2D to 3D") and best in class for presentation.

Bling-vengers Assemble!

I gave a hint of what everyone was going to wear on Saturday, so now it's time for the big reveal.

Bling-vengers Assemble!

Antonia and Raven were super excited to be Science Bros

First things first, we checked in at the masquerade table for Sunday's performance

There were freebie tables in the con-suite, including a table devoted to the movie Warm Bodies. the guy manning the table needed to get a picture with us.

changed into what we had so far for the masquerade so the tech guys could work out the lighting

Blocking an aisle in the dealer's room so people could take pictures

You wouldn't like the Hulk when (s)he's hungry. That goes for the rest of us too, so many trips to the green room for snacks. Also, Thor is too cool for your shit.

I know Wonder Woman is DC, but that doesn't mean we can't take pictures together.

there was an in-character "Dating Game" that we entered.

And we got pretty far.

who knew the trekkies would be the perfect match?

Bling-vengers out!

Sassy Templar

Too busy lamenting the fact that I need to work today so no Halloween party or AC3, so no comments. (I'll probably come back to this post later when I have better pictures or can think of witty comments.)

best part of being a Templar is the swooshy skirt

Me, toasting with the blood of my fallen adversaries.

I'm Bringing Sexy Cap

Hi, all! I always feel like I need to blog more, but I'm far to busy (meaning too lazy and irresponsible) to have a regular schedule.

So I went to my first party as a college student last Saturday: Comicazi's Halloweeniversary party! Here's the line up of me and my crazy friends:

Lady Gaga, Fiona, Captain Ameriboob America, Linkara, Panda, and Banshee

Hilarious Story #1: A guy comes up to me and says "I never thought I would ever say Captain America is hot."

One of many uses for an arc reactor: filling out raffle tickets in a dark room

Hilarious Story #2: My sister found someone dressed as the Doctor (the one with the scarf, Tom Baker). Of course she compliments his scarf and he offers her a jelly baby.
At this point, my friend Sarah has been watching this conversation. So, my sister accepts the candy and Sarah is just like "You just took candy from a stranger. Don't people say to never do that? Why did you do that."
My sister responds with "He's not a stranger, He's the Doctor."

Me and my invisible shield

 I had accidentally entered the Women's costume competition as well as the Group competition. When I went up alone, I heard someone yell "Sing the song!" My sister heard someone yell "God Bless America!"

The picture of my sister and me from the Comicazi facebook

 I pretty much spent the night "getting down with my bad self" (Oh how I love using lame lingo), and making boob jokes (wait... that isn't what all girls do when they're bored?).

V for Victory! We won the group costume prize!

 I had a wonderful time and I'm looking forward to next year! Now to figure out what to spend my prize on.

Also I had Captain America nails under my gloves.

New camera means more crafts

I recently got a new camera, or more my mum got a new camera a month ago and then gave it to me. Anyways, I've been having trouble finding it in my purse because 1) it's rectangular, and 2) it's black. Meaning whenever I want it, I end up taking out my 3DS or cell phone, or some other small, black, rectangular object. And it blends in with the lining of my purse.

So I thought it would be great to make a camera case for myself because I was bored and don't want to go out and buy one. Here it is:

Can you guess who it's supposed to be? It's Jimmy Olsen, Pal to Superman and Daily Planet photographer.

I haven't been looking at much new 52 DC comics (only Batman and Robin because the last arc was Damian trolling the previous robins), but it looks like Jimmy lost the bow tie? (and looks like Justin Bieber? What the hell, DC?)

Remember that one thing with the costume and the pictures?

You know, the one where I finished my Iron Man dress but never got pictures and kept promising them. Well here we go.
I took my sister to Comicazi (remember I've mentioned it, it's my local comic book store) for the first time and decided to dress up because why not.

Next time I wear it to a convention or something, I'll find my red tights and hopefully a pair of red shoes (and a nice shirt to wear underneath).
Gosh, how anticlimactic am I?

The Late Night Adventures of Batman-girl

The Dark Night rose Thursday night and I was lucky enough to have it playing at my favorite theater. I took my sister to be my robin and my mum to be the photographer. now lets do this thing.

Here's the applique work and the bow-belt. I'm trying to think of a way to reenforce the front of the belt because the bow is a bit heavy. (actual stuff under cut)

Amazing Spider-man

So I was able to finish my  spider-man dress yesterday sans the red spider on the back. I just gotta say that this movie was (pardon my pun) amazing. So here we go:

 Obligatory me with the movie poster picture. I also got a poster that is currently hanging on my wall.

 obligatory me with batman picture because batman. Looks like that's gonna need to be my next big project seeing as how it's gonna be here before we know it.

 Obligatory close-up of the front. Mostly because this was my first time embroidering, though I don't think it counts for much. I'm still really happy with how it turned out.

And I feel like I need to mention that My sister was kind enough to let me borrow her red sequined shoes which made me so very happy.

20 min. crafting

So first a small update: The Captain America earrings I mentioned in an earlier post are now at 1928 for $18 which is totally reasonable.
Also my Iron Man jumper is finished  but I haven't gotten any pictures yet.

I really like crafts but I have little to no attention span. So anything I can do in under an hour is really great.

So I was bored one afternoon and decided to make some hair clips from my PaxEast lanyard because really when is such a thing useful? Also I was disappointed that I never got a chance to buy a t-shirt from the event. So now I've got some proof I was there in a more subtle way.

I didn't have internet on Thursday, so here's what I was going to post.

My friend had offered to take me to the Avengers because, really, it's way different going with friends where you can make comments about how attractive the cast is as opposed to going with your mom where you need to bottle up your feelings and squees until you feellike you're going to burst.

Anyways back on topic. The plans fell through and my friend and ordered Chinese food and watched movies at her house instead.

Not wanting my new dress to go to waste, I went to my favorite comic book store, Comicazi and asked one of the very nice people working there to take a picture for me.

Boston Comic Con - Sunday

Sorry, getting pics from my mum is a total pain and takes more time than I ever think it will.

Anyways, here's my Blue Beetle inspired costume from BCC:

Next project is a booster gold dress (which I've cut out all the pieces of), then finally finishing my Riddler costume (should the question marks be appliques, sequins, or rhinestones? so many choices >v<), and then a Jamie Rayes Blue Beetle dress (because you can never get too much Blue Beetle and I wanna make his cool backpack).