I didn’t wear a costume for Halloween, but I did do something out of the ordinary! There was a tea party on Halloween at a tearoom downtown, and the dress code was themed for the holiday. The recommendation was gothic lolita or guro-lolita, and I didn’t want to be the one person not in on the fun!
Since I don’t own anything suitable for gothic or anything I could muss up for guro, I asked a friend if she would mind dressing me up for the occasion. Miss Nena was very helpful–she didn’t just pick out an outfit for me, she brought a huuuuge selection of gothic-appropriate lolita dresses over to my apartment and let me try them on to select one to wear. There were quite a few that looked really cute, but in the end I chose an elegant black one-piece by BABY, the Stars Shine Bright.
We made a few jokes that I would be dressed up as her for Halloween, since she’s worn that dress many times (because it is so beautiful). Other people even recognized the dress at the tea party! (Although so many people were so shocked to see me wearing black that they didn’t even know what to say.)
I didn’t have a lot of things to coordinate with it, but I think I managed alright. I wore black tights with a very beloved pair of black high-heeled shoes. They’re made of a very soft leather that stretches slightly to fit one’s feet, with rounded toes and satin ribbons to tie around the ankle. I bought them when I was in junior high school, because they looked like high-heeled ballet shoes. Lots of people at the tea party thought I had just tied extra ribbon around my legs to mimic rocking-horse shoes, but really my shoes just came that way!
For my hair, I just added a black satin bow. I tried doing a Victorian-inspired style, but I’m not really satisfied with how it turned out. I also wore makeup with this outfit! I almost never wear makeup because I have numerous topical allergies and it’s itchy-itchy-itchy and sometimes leaves a rash. However, it just didn’t seem right without some blush and dark eyeliner. I hoped to channel a kind of darker, eerie beauty without going for a look that was too heavy. (Although by the end of the day I couldn’t WAIT to wash it off… ;_; Ouchies.)
Overall, I had a lot of fun being a gothic lolita for a day! Everyone was very surprised–I waited outside the tea house to make sure everyone was accounted for, and my friends did many double-takes trying to reconcile an Alice wearing something not pink and cute.
I hope everyone else had a great Halloween, lolita fashion-related or not!