You would think, wouldn’t you, that going to a convention a mere 20 minutes from home would not cause me any packing anxiety. But because the plan was to stay at the hotel, decisions about clothing and packing the Giant Suitcase O’ Doom were involved. We chose to stay at the hotel because of the simple fact that my Gothic Charm School panel was scheduled for noon on Saturday. While there was a faint chance I could have been awake, dressed in my best frills, and fought the traffic on 520 to be at Innocente Seraphim in time for my panel if we stayed at home, it wasn’t a chance The Husband and I were willing to gamble on. So off to the hotel we went!
Due to assorted last-minute scrambles, I turned up at convention registration right before they closed. After chatting with some of the con staff, I collected our badges, then went back to the lobby to check in. We trundled our luggage into the elevator, and I pressed the button for our floor. Which blinked and did not stay lit.
“You didn’t hit the button“, said The Husband, who had been looking elsewhere. He pressed the button for our floor … and had the same thing happen. Up, up, up went the elevator, and stopped on our floor.
The elevator doors did not open; instead, the elevator went back to the lobby. It turned out that there was a key reader in the elevator: you needed to insert your room key, then press the button for your floor, all before the elevator started moving. How very … security-minded of the hotel. But we made it to our room, unpacked, and then met up with some friends to get some dinner before it was time for Gothic Lolita Bingo.
Hello, let us pose for you.
Yes, you read that correctly. Gothic Lolita Bingo. The Husband decided he didn’t need to attend this fun-filled event, so he waved as my friends and I wandered off to find the meeting room.
Gothic Lolita Bingo really was bingo. Someone in a frilly dress, calling out bingo numbers, and all of us staring at our bingo cards and muttering “Argh! No, one letter over!” It was surreal, but fun. There were people in ruffled skirts and charming hats, there were people with exquisite dolls sitting on the table in front of them.
(An aside. The “ball-jointed dolls” that were the other part of the focus for the convention are a particular type of doll that have a bazillion points of articulation, and generally look like they’ve stepped out of the most beautiful anime you’ve ever seen. They are a somewhat pricey hobby to take up, what with cost of the dolls, the outfits for them that can cost the same (or more!) as full-sized clothing for people, and the endless possibilities of different wigs and eyes you can change on the doll. These would be the reasons I have not succumbed to the BJD hobby, no matter how longingly I stare at some of the vampire dolls.)
The prizes for bingo were eclectic. There were some Gothic Lolita accessories (and a skirt, which I didn’t win, drat!), books of manga and anime art, assorted cookbooks (don’t ask me, I didn’t understand it either. But I won a nice Cajun cookbook, so maybe I’ll learn to finally make gumbo.), and BJD accessories. Upon winning a doll wig and a set of eyes in a box, I turned to my friends and said, “I feel like I won a tiny serial killer starter kit.”
—
Saturday morning(ish) is a bit of a blur in my memory. There was being woken up and presented with a cup of precious, precious coffee and the flurry of getting all dolled up and tracking down some breakfast, and then, off to the vendors’ room. Well, first off to the separate vendors’ room for Baby the Stars Shine Bright, one of the best-known Japanese Gothic Lolita fashion brands.
Oh, the frills!
Yes, BtSSB was a featured guest at InnoSera, and the convention attendees were delighted to be able to have a chance at seeing their wares in person. I saw a lot of very pretty, ruffly things in their boutique, but nothing that had the winning combination of being in my size and being something I was willing to suffer the sticker shock for. The same could not be said for the room with the rest of the vendors, where I found some pretty clothes that fit me (because really, I needed another pink Victorian-esque blouse and a black waistcoat, yes I did), and chatted with old friends and new people, all of whom were in extravagant clothing.
The Gothic Charm School panel went extremely well. I was a little nervous, because this was the first reading event where the audience wasn’t primarily Goths. But advice for Goths can also be easily applied to other subculture types, including Lolitas dressed up in white and mint green ruffles. For some of the panel attendees, this was the first time they had heard of me or of Gothic Charm School, so I was delighted when several of them came up and complimented me on the book and the panel.
After my panel, there was time for browsing through the doll boutique, with much sighing over the gorgeous resin creations. And I, erm, helped a friend make up her mind that she absolutely needed to take advantage of the convention-only special offer on a particular boy vampire doll and two outfits for him.
Fangs!
After that bit of extravagance, we ran off to the fashion show for Baby the Stars Shine Bright (oooh, the ruffles! Oooh, everything from their Alice and the Pirates style group!), and then scampered off to a charming tea party. I feel that every convention should have at least one tea party, because who doesn’t like little sandwiches, scones with jam and clotted cream, and tea? (Oh fine, I’m sure there are all sorts of people with perfectly valid objections to all of those things. I still think any convention would be vastly improved by the addition of a tea party.)
om nom nom!
That evening was the masquerade, which turned out to be not really a masquerade as I’m used to at other conventions, which are costume competitions. No, the InnoSera version of a masquerade involved attendees turning up in the ballroom, and then … being taught how to dance basic steps of the cha-cha and the rhumba, by professional dance teachers. No, I don’t quite understand it myself, but it was all sorts of fun. Okay, to be honest, I tried to sit out the dance lessons, but one of the convention organizers spotted me and carted me out onto the dance floor.
Sunday was, as the case for most conventions, low-key. The fashion show starring convention attendees displaying the different types of Lolita fashion was very clever (even if there wasn’t enough Pirate Lolita for my tastes), and a panel on designing your own Lolita skirts gave me some useful sewing information. Then it was time for one last whirl through the vendors’ room, in order to pick up a chibi-style caricature I had purchased. (I looooove chibi-style art, and had wanted a chibi!Jilli picture for ages!)
Yes, I am a cartoon.
Innocente Seraphim was a weekend of frilly, frivolous fun, and was astonishingly well-run for a first time convention. I’m planning on attending it next year, even if one of the organizers informed me that I was going to be in the fashion show next time around and that I shouldn’t argue with her …
Innocente Seraphim was also the last traveling-someplace event on the Gothic Charm School book tour! (That I know of, at least. Who knows, I may get an email tomorrow telling me that a convention somewhere wants me to be a guest.) That doesn’t mean I’m not busy, though! I have an interview coming up, a signing at The Dreaming (a Seattle-area comics and games shop which is run by some of my favorite people), and talking to photographers about some projects. Which means that I won’t have time to get cabin fever, right? Come back next week and find out!
London Edge is one of our favorite trade shows, being one of the first, and the largest, exhibitions dedicated solely to the “alternative” clothing niches. This year the convention will be taking place September 5th-7th in London, UK and our reps will be there showcasing all the latest Lip Service styles!
