Hellocon 2023: The Labyrinth of Dreams!

 Hello! I have a newfound inspiration to write again, as I guess every lolita who keeps a blog and lives at a reasonable travel distance away from Helsinki, since last weekend the was Hellocon! Hellocon is focused solely on lolita fashion and is THE con for finnish lolitas. I held a presentation there and it was a wonderful exprience! Thank you again my lovely listeners if you stumble across this post! 

I talked about challenges that I encountered while starting as a plus size person and how I am overcoming them and what I did. I felt very nervous, I shared some very personal things, but I think that I was able to help and give out some courage. 

Most of my slides were in finnish, as a reminder of sorts for me, but I'll post them and write a little about what I talked about under each slide. 

First little introductions, I'm actually not sure if I have talked about this in my blog but I do have both ADHD and autism! 

How did it begin? I first found out about the lolita fashion from Safiyas video, and then I fell into a big rabbit hole of googling anything and everything to do with lolita fashion. I found some more youtube channels, for example FluffyTori and a lots of blogs and websites. I then found out about Hello!Market, a little flea-market style meeting and I bought my first dress! And my first shoes and all that. I had listened to the advice and the first thing I bought for lolita was a petticoat. So, I have two pettis and both are from melikestea, I really recommend them, they have been sturdy and they are still poofy, almost 3 years later! 

So! I talked about the challenges of being a beginner and being a plus size person. I have had negative experiences, buying stuff that did not fit me when it arrived, because I did not know how to measure myself.

I was very afraid of how my spouse, my friends and my family would react to me dressing up "weird". Luckily for me, everyone has been very accepting of me, my spouse is happy that I am happy, and my parents, after 1 year of not telling them anything about this, I showed them some pictures of me and they saw that I was smiling more than ever in those pictures. 

It is hard at first to know what is good sizing to you and where to buy. I recommend these resources: 

-  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19myUO_yyY0kXtP1P4fauSxiQmUCON2zJ-cdd6n31Cd4/edit?usp=sharing

This is a Plus-Friendly Taobao List! 

- https://milkcircus.com/size-inclusive-sweet-lolita-brands-2020/

This lists mostly sweet lolita brands that have plus sizes! 

- https://likeateacup.blogspot.com/2021/01/lolita-shops-to-avoid.html

And these are the shops to avoid! 

I have talked in this blog about how it has been very hard for me to start taking pictures of myself. Because of my low self-esteem, I have not felt that I could ever be pretty. But I have been practicing that and I want to encourage everyone to think and talk good things about yourself. It may seem fake at first, but it gets easier, I promise you, it gets easier. 

Over those challenges? In many cases, its about taking the first step. The next steps are always easier, but the courage to take the first is really hard. Dressing weird and lets be honest, colorfully, usually catches eyes and is more noticeable than dressing in jeans and t-shirt. It can be easier to join meets and go out with a friend than go out on your own. 

Also, the liking-yourself-more -project that I have going on is one of the big reasons I am here. I have some confidence and I know that there are people out there thinking the same thoughts that I am and have. Its helpful to know that you are not alone. You are beautiful and you can do it. You can dress however you like and it will look amazing! 

Here you can see the timeline and me getting more and more comfortable in front of camera. You can also see some of my collection! Most of it is Lady Sloth, who are slowing down their lolita dress making and it makes me so sad! I love their dresses and I could always count on them fitting me! 

And so, what has happened during these 3 years I have worn lolita? I have gained more confidence, I like myself more and I am more comfortable taking pictures of myself. Lolita fashion has allowed me to discover that I really like wearing dresses and skirts that have fun patterns! I have found that I like expressing my feminity in a way that is in my control. I have found joy in beautiful clothes.

That was the most of my talk! I have the thank you slide to go, and here it is: 

I had a very fun time at Hellocon, after my talk I toured the vendor hall and saw the metamorphose fashion show! Took pictures with the comm and went to the afterparty! It was very exhausting but fun day! 

I bought the sweetmildred beret, FluffyTori bat pin and Niramuchuart tea time earrings! Small haul, but I really wanted everything I got!

And then, on sunday, me and my comm had a shadow teaparty! So we did not go to the Titanias teaparty, but we had your own. It was really good! 

I don't have good pictures of my coord on sunday, but I had a blast! I was very overwhelmed by the positivity I got after my presentation, it was so touching that many wanted to come and listen and many did! Its now on youtube! If you want to see the whole talk go see it! 

My talk! Thank you so much for filming it @freakyangel! 

So this concludes my post of Hellocon! I had fun and I am definitely going again next year! See you there~

-Laventeli