☆Sakuracon 2011☆ ~Con &"Stigma" discussion

Recently, me and my good friend Jenna drove to Seattle, WA. to attend Sakuracon!



Hung out with Kirsty and her best friend for a bit! Jenna & I roomed with my friend Danny, who is on the far right!




Kirsty is so cute! I really liked her choice of a mint coloured wig. Mint with lavendar is such a cute colour combo! I looove yellow with blue (another weird combo, I guess) but I'd never seen this one before!!

Me and Jennnnnnnaaaaaa ♥ ♥ ♥




I really liked the lighting in this bathroom! I kept going back everyday to take photos! XD


Jenna took this really cool nighttime photo! I love Seattle!



The lolita meet we both attended! There were a ton of lolitas~!

Our makeup shot! Jenna looks super cute, I think!


I am always one for cloying accessory shots, haha.


Everyone that was at the meet!



I really like this photo of her!! * 3*



Both of us~♥


One of my favourite pics ever of me! I usually hate most photos of my face!



I thought Jenna did a really good job taking this photo! I'm using it as my Facebook default right now I like it so much!

Overall, we had a really fun weekend! I got sick right as we were leaving, which wasn't so fun...but oh well, at least I'm not dying!

Even though cons are filled with a lot of things that I don't like participating in, I'm actually really fond of the enviornment! I'd much prefer a lolita meet to a con, but I'll take what I can get! They always end up being really amusing, to say the least!~

I know that, for a lot of lolitas, there's a certian, let's say, "stigma" towards going to anime conventions. I can understand the whole idea from trying to break away from cons (So that we can do our best to be associated as a different sub-niche of Japanese wacky-ness, rather than grouped in with the anime crowd) but I personally find that I tend to fit in at anime conventions.

On a random side note, I think my favourite comment the whole weekend came from a man driving through the same parking garage we were in, as we were getting things out of Jenna's trunk, dressed in lolita.

Man: What are you all dressed up for?
Me: Oh, just an anime convention. Lots of nerds, you know.
Man: An ENEMA convention?!??!?!?!
Me: Anime convention. Like, a convention with animation. For nerds.
Man (looking oddly dissapointed): Oh...
He then proceeded to drive off.

Do you ladies like to go to anime convetions? What are your opinions on Lolitas at anime conventions, vs. Lolitas in their own element?

☆New Items☆ Replica discussion ? ?

I've ordered a few new things recently that have finally come! When I can't find what I'm looking for with brands (Item is too rare and hard to find and/or far too expensive) I turn to replicas. I really liked the quality of this Angelic Pretty Sugary Carnival JSK!!~

I have three more items coming in the mail soon: AP Milky of the Fawn, AP Lamb print, and AP Lyrical Bunny!!




I really liked Angelic Pretty's Little Bear Cafe. However, not enough to purchase the real thing!


I also purchased the matching bow!



The seller was nice enough to send me this as a free gift!



She sent this as a free gift as well!!




On to the discussion!~


What do you ladies think about purchasing replicas?

This is of course just an opinion, and I know there a lot of them out there, but!

Personally, I believe that there is nothing wrong with purchasing replicas. Not everyone has money for full brand prices, and that's perfectly understandable (And even those of us that do, can't always find the items we want, or simply don't feel like paying a certain price for a certain item.)

However, I have been in the lolita community for years (Since around 2006) and I do recognize a few issues with replicas, such being:

-Buying replicas drives the re-sale value of lolita way down. (In all my years buying and selling, even major economy crashes did not drive re-sale down too horribly--it was when many replica companies came into business that this arose.)

-Buying replicas may eventually drive smaller indie brands (or possibly large brands) out of business. I say this because: You, the consumer, are what funds brands like Baby, the Stars Shine Bright, Victorian Maiden, and Angelic Pretty. They're not huge multinational corporations with million dollar funds--each purchase sincerely does affect the outcome of their future lines, and prospective business. When you buy from a replica company/group, instead of funding your favourite brand, the brand you love so dealy may eventually cease producing prints...prints for replica brands to rip off. And before you know it, there might not be very many brands around!

That is, of course, a worst-case scenario, and unlikely to occur.
But either way, there is still no reason to not purchase from replica companies. To each their own, and I, obviously, have no issue with purchasing from them!

I think the best way to buy is to support major brands and buy from them to keep them in business, while also purchasing from replica brands/other brands!

~What are your opinions on the idea of purchasing replicas that rip off original brands?~