°˖✧✝ Death Becomes Her Meetup ✝✧˖°

Source: The Met's Death Becomes Her Gallery 

At the end of January, some friends and I gathered to view a spectacular costume exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art called Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire. Temping all of us Victorian Goths (or wannabe in my case), the start of this exhibit peaked its way at the tail end of last year, in October, and continued all the way in to the next, ending on the the first of February. 

As soon as the exhibit's details were published, a fellow Gothic Lolita friend messaged me a simple message stating "We're going, right," which acted as more of an affirmation on her part than a request. Of course I was going, nothing would've stopped me! Besides, what kind of Gothic Lolita would I be if I didn't go? And three months seemed like an endless amount of time to arrange a meeting, or so we thought. Before we knew it, 2014 had past and I was left scrambling to organize a meetup for the day just before the the exhibit's end. Though, it's not entirely our fault, multiple blizzards can make a person lose count of their days.      

The wind messed up my hair! It made me a bit upset. *pout*
Don't let my coat-less self fool you, it was FREEZING that day.

OP- Atelier BOZ
Purse and Socks- Metamorphose temps de fille
Accessories- Handmade or Thrifted

If my Atelier BOZ Carroll Sharon OP didn't arrive in time, I wouldn't have known what to wear! With every meetup, the amount of new outfits I have are slowly dwindling. (I've become a diva. I don't like going to an event with an outfit I've worn before.) But I'm glad this showed up just in time! It was a graduation present from my mom, and I was waiting since the end of December for it to arrive. This OP will forever be treasured because, for one, it's a graduation gift that says job well done and, what's more, it's my first major brand piece that isn't secondhand! That's right, I purchased it straight from the brand's website, via shopping serve, and paid full price. I'm more of a secondhand kind of girl because I'm more of an Old School kind of girl (can't buy a 2001 dress new), so the fact that I actually liked something current enough to buy it firsthand means a lot to me. Oh, and with some of my money from my dad, I threw in a new purse from Metamorphose for good measure!      

I'm not going to drag out this post with every single blurry picture that was taken, you would do better looking at The Met's gallery pictures (linked above in the first picture) to capture the exhibit's true beauty.

The exhibit was beautifully located at the bottom of two sweeping stairwells (don't worry, there was an elevator nearby) that lead into a shrouded showroom with a faint sound of somber classical music lingering throughout. This was the second to last day of the exhibit and the entrance way, along with the exhibit's path, was packed with many attendees trying to experience the exhibition for the last time. In short, it was packed! But even so, it wasn't bustling with noise as one would expect from a room packed with people. Even from the stairwell, you could hear the unnatural sound of hushed mummers and, at times, silence. Nothing grew louder than the light, waning melody of the mournful music, a testament, I believe, to how great of an impact the exhibit was. There were no spoken words, just emotion.       

Don't be fooled, there was't just black and gray pieces.
Also, the next time some says arm warmers don't belong in Lolita fashion,
I'm going to show then the last photo along with a picture of Mana!  

The main display was located in the middle of the room like an island, which called for everyone to rotate around it in order to view everything. Though, with the grave atmosphere weighing on the room, an otherwise short walk, turned in to a solemn stroll paced to the downbeat music. There was no one directing. We just came in quietly and slipped into the endless march around the room. Truthfully, it felt like I was in a funeral line waiting for my turn to see someone laying in a casket.  

For those of you who know me personally,
you know why this certain quote is meaningful to me.
HINT: It's a particular word

In addition to the main display, there were also projections of quotes describing mourning alternating across the room's walls. However, while there certainly was a respectful tone that swept the exhibit, I couldn't say that same for people's actions.

There was a constant battle to take pictures without someone stepping in front of you or even bumping INTO you (without saying excuse me). This shot of the quote was the best I could do without having someone's blurry figure rushing through it ("You SEE me trying to take a picture!!!"). And let us not forget the majestic "Step into someone else's shot to take a picture of the same thing" stance. To drive the point home, make sure that you're as tall, if not taller than the person you're being rude to.

It got to a point where we didn't want to feel like a bunch of packed sardines and found ourselves in an adjunct accessories room with dark jewels, veiled hats, and artfully drawn mourning pictures. Though small, it was less crowed and severed as a great place to regroup. After admiring the room for a long time, we made our way out to the stairway for pictures. Not everyone wanted to take pictures, and we respected that.    

Some cute guys and gals from my community.
Someone called my friend's Innocent World Stradivarius Flare JSK a guitar dress!
It has become a joke in my community now!

While it would have been nice if all of us could have dressed in a mourning theme to match the exhibit, I didn't want to be exclusive to the other Lolitas who wanted to experience the showcase, but didn't have a matching outfit. I was more worried about having as many Lolitas who wanted to go being able to come. So there were a fair share of Sweet and Classic Lolitas. Really, in a group of fifteen or so, there where probably only five of us Gothic Lolitas, hahaha!

Gothic VS Sweet: The Ultimate Battle!

"How do you mourn, Sweet Lolita?"

"Why, in my carousel dress, of course!"

I always try to get everyone to take a picture, or at least be apart of a group shot, but the huge crowds made it that much harder. Every time we would pose, someone (more like five people at a time) would bombard us with questions or snap unwanted pictures of us. Why do people believe that if a person is posing for a picture that they are entitled to take a picture too? It became really chaotic and we inadvertently caused a crowd in the already crowded museum. Even the security guard came! It quickly became a snap and go situation.   

  

But I had to get a picture with the pretty wall art.
The painted weeping willows were such a nice touch!

We were starting to really get cramped and the constant badgering put a damper on things, so we decided to give up the ghost and move to our next stop. But we couldn't win, if we weren't in the crowded, hot museum, we were in the brazen cold outside (going to a meetup in a single layered skirt after a blizzard isn't a good idea). It was a few blocks away, but we rushed to Meiji Ramen shivering. It was my first time go to this restaurant, but I really want to go again! Everything was so tasty!

Some product and decoration shots in Meiji Ramen.
Hello Kitty and milk bottles? What a coincidence!
But she's not technically a cat, remember. 

Appetizer: Pumpkin Tempura with Green Tea Salt
Ramen Dish: Spicy Chili Ramen in Beef Broth
Dessert: Japanese Hiji-tea Creme Brulee with Apple Crumb Cake and Green Tea Ice Cream

We froze our butts off, but it was well worth it! Nothing beats pretty black dresses and a pretty ramen bowl.

°˖✧ 'Till next time