August 2016 {{NYC TRIP}} ∣ Throwback

In August 2016 I was fortunate enough to travel to the USA for the first (and currently only) time. My plan was to spend my first few days in New York, and the last few in Rhode Island. I'll only be talking about my time in New York as that was all lolita related~

On my first day of arriving I got to my hotel which was very aesthetic, and once I'd gotten all my things sorted in my room, I took the subway to go to the Baby the Stars Shine Bright shop. It was my first time going to a brand shop irl and it was great!

This was my travelling outfit, as I wanted to be comfy enough but still cute as I knew I'd be heading to the BTSSB store when I arrived~

I was obsessed with this water bottle, I love it so much. The water was free but you could pay if you wanted to keep the bottle. I wish I had but I think it must have been kind of expensive because I didn't end up doing that~

On my first full day in New York, I had plans to meet up with Sable (Cryptkasper) and Amanda (mandassb), who I'd befriended as we were some of the only people who wore oldschool and posted online at the time (they started before I did). I'd done some research and found some really cool shops I wanted to check out in lower Manhattan, so we met at a smoothie place and then had a look around.

While waiting for Amanda and Sable I got a smoothie and it was SO delicious! And very cooling for the hot New York summer; I ended up getting a second one later in the day lmao.

I didn't get a great coord photo, but tbh my coord wasn't anything particularly special. I knew it would be hot in New York (though I really misjudged just HOW hot and humid it would be) so I had just planned to have a fairly comfy casual-ish coord.

Headdress - Bodyline

Cutsew - Baby the Stars shine Bright

Skirt - Metamorphose

Bag - Metamorphose

Socks - Bodyline

Shoes - Bodyline

Once we'd all met at the smoothie place and taken some cute selfies together, we headed to a curiosity shop, which was absolutely amazing. There was some really cool stuff like a two headed calf taxidermy, Victorian erotica (which I really wish I'd bought), Victorian mourning hair art, and adorable vintage baby dolls. I bought one of the dolls and named her Edith Anne (although it seems at some point she swapped names with one of my other dolls and now she's called Beatrice).

Oldschoolers in their natural habitat~

After we spent a looong time at the curiosity shop, we checked out the punk shop Trash and Vaudeville. There was so much cool clothing it was hard to choose what to buy, but I ended up getting a fishnet top. We also ended up re-taking our coord photos here because the backdrop was cool~!

While inside Trash and Vaudeville, one of the shop staff asked to take a photo of us to post to instagram, and I really like how the picture turned out! We just fit so well, I really do think oldschool lolita has a punk energy to it~!

The last place we checked out was another punk shop called Search and Destroy, which was really cool and had cool decor inside but iirc there was a no photos rule inside. I didn't end up buying anything from there though. It was a really fun day and it was lovely to meet and hang out with my internet friends~

The next day I attended a meet up with the New York comm organised by Finnian. I love getting to meet new comms in other countries, it's been a long time since I've done that but I'm glad to have had the experience a couple of times. We first went to the BTSSB/Tokyo Rebel shop and looked around, and I bought a white headdress, some Yoh stickers, and an oversized Sex Pot Revenge t-shirt that I still wear often.

After we were done in the shop we got coord photos. I really like this coord, I think because I love the Meta heart apron so much. I also think the pop of colour from my pink hair contrasts well and gives an extra element of cuteness in the monotone coord. Also, this is one of the last times I wore my cross necklace before it got broken (RIP).

Parasol - Baby the Stars Shine Bright

Headdress - Metamorphose

Blouse - MAM Maxicimam

Apron - Metamorphose

Skirt - Metamorphose

Bag - Metamorphose

Socks - a gift

Shoes - Bodyline

Necklace - Claire's

candid~~

We also got some group photos, although it was pretty hard because it was so sunny! I absolutely LOVE Sable's coord, it is the perfect punky guro mix. I also took a bunch of candids while everyone got coord pics.

After we were done with coord photos, we headed to a lemonade shop (or possibly bakery or dessert shop I don't remember), to get something to drink and sit and cool down. I got an American lemonade which is basically what we call Victorian lemonade or cloudy lemonade. It was fresh and delicious but incredibly sweet. I enjoyed getting to know everyone. 

Sable took this really cute candid~

Once we were finished there, some of the group split off to go home, but some of us decided to walk somewhere to get food. I was pretty overwhelmed by the heat even with my parasol, because it was just so humid. We ended up going somewhere in Chinatown where we got food and chatted more, then Amanda and I got the subway together. It was a lovely day and really nice meeting everybody!

Here's a photo of (almost) all the stuff I bought in New York: A BTSSB parasol, a BTSSB headdress, a Sex Pot Revenge oversized top, a Yoh postcard, a set of Alice 1988  themed stickers also by Yoh, an angel postcard that changes angles, and a moth patch. 

And here are some photos I took of the Baby the Stars Shine Bright storefront on the day I arrived in New York~

I didn't wear lolita for the rest of my trip so that's all I will share, though if you go far back enough on my instagram you can see more photos from my time in the US~