Frills.

So This Saturday I headed over to the Japanese Art Festival in Richmond. It was my first visit to this con and it's a cute little one if I do say so myself. I didn't stay that long, however, as I had a meeting with one of my elusive and mysterious scriptwriters who happens to live in the area. Previously, at the Japanese embassy a couple of weeks ago, Sonia had cruelly and drunkenly tricked me into agreeing to accompany her to the Lolita in Wonderland event in Bethnal Green. Feeling I needed backup to avoid being torn apart for my lack of wildy-expensive imported frills, I cruelly tricked Kaz into tagging along. Bethnal Green's not the best place in the world to get a drink if you're dressed in full evening wear and studded rhinestone boots, but I managed to remember the existence of Bistrotheque, a very (very) groovy artists-cum-indie rockers hangout in a warehouse down a dark alleyway. So we all went for cocktails and discussed the artistic merits of Ero manga while Sonia regaled us with the stories of her sexual exploits that I really didn't need to know.

The Lolita show was actually much less terrifying than I had imagined. Annoyingly, Blondedebates had already skipped town by the time I staggered in, so I had to lean on Sonia and Kaz for moral support. We got into healthy debates on corsets, dungeon photography and the joys of nurses outfits with various people, defaced nearby walls with soon-to-be-priceless artwork and admired solid gold bespoke knee-high boots that I can't afford.

At that point my companions were forced to take their leave, so I walked to Brick Lane to indulge my bagel fetish. I thought i'd phone up Temujin and try and drag the evening out. Temujin had been drinking since eleven in the morning and could now barely talk, let alone come out to play, so I returned! And was very glad I did. I was able to witness Boykitten demonstrating the art of Japanese self-suspension bondage and had the finer points of the Lolita lifestyle expertly explained to me by Wing and her friend in wonderful tartan print Metamorphose (whose name escapes me). Finally I was utterly terrified by Wing's Ball Jointed Dolls. But then they always terrify me.

All in all, a magnificently weird night.
~John~