Mar 9, 2013

Meetup Report: Dolly House Runway

This past sunday was a a very, very exciting event for me and for all of the SoCal Lolita community! After much anticipation, we managed to pull off the first annual Dolly House Runway event hosted at University of California Irvine! For an independently organized event, it was quite grand. I participated as a designer, so the week leading up to the event was nothing but craziness, and I'm afraid I looked rather shabby, but it was worth it because my models looked awesome!!!

Everyone swarms the BTSSB booth.... Those striped blouses were so lovely!
After opening to the public, the event began with an exclusive documentary about the design and manufacturing process at Baby The Stars Shine Bright in preparation for their Japan Expo Paris show. It was a really heartfelt, relatable, and inspiring film, but unfortunately where my boyfriend and I were sitting, we couldn't really see the subtitles. I could understand some of the dialogue, but I mostly had to rely on video by itself.

After the video, there were fashion shows by BABY and Liz Lisa. I enjoyed them, but I had seen most of the things BABY presented before. I lent some shoes to Liz Lisa for the show but they ended up not using my very gothic items ;P.

Our adorable hostesses! 
 After the designer showcase, the floor was opened up for a brief shopping intermission, and then on to the main event, the independent designer showcase and competition! I was so nervous about my pieces, but when my models came out on the runway, I was so proud I nearly cried.






 I'll be showing these looks again and a few others later this spring at a fashion show in Chicago, so this was kind of a trial run! I have a lot of improvements to make, but I am so happy with the results in spite of not being 100% finished.  All together, there were seven independent designers, and each was very unique and talented! I really enjoyed seeing the wide range of interpretations of dolly fashion. My line, and a kodona-pirate collection by Other Type, were the only gothic designs on the runway, so a lot of people really received my collection well. Many people told me my looks were their favorite!


Cyril of Doll Delight was the judge for the independent designer competition, and in the end she chose the pirate-kodona collection, not mine :(. Congratulations Other Type!

I hope you enjoy these photos! All credit goes to Peter Huynh, the event photographer. Thanks for looking!

4 comments:

  1. Very beautiful, Lady Salt! My favourite is the second look, especially the lavender overdress/vest. Good luck with the show in Chicago! :o)

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    1. Thanks! I love that look too... it's the one that turned out closest to my original sketches. I recently moved to Los Angeles! No snow here!

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  2. All of these designs are great. I really like how you use transparent materials; it gives your designs a really ethereal feel. I'm glad that you did well, with a good reception. I hope that you can do well at the next show.

    Are you doing a show in LA?

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    1. Thanks! This was many months ago now, and it was in LA, yes, but I don't plan on doing another one anytime soon.

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