2022 Fanimecon round up!

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Hello! WOW. What a way to bring back our home convention: LAUNCHING THE ALL NEW J-FASHION DEPARTMENT.

I’d like to say thank you to all of the Fanimecon Staff who worked SO hard to make all of this new content and the event a huge success with only minor first year hiccups. Also thank you to all the attendees who stopped by my booth, attended the fashion shows, made time to chat with me, came out to my panels, etc. It was a very rewarding weekend. I loved getting to spend time with my peers in J-fashion. Now on to some important house keeping items:

Here is the list of ALL of the brands and partners I was representing this weekend at the booth. I realize that I need to generate a QR code with this link for next event. Definitely my mistake! I am always SO lucky to be able to partner with so many brands it is hard to carry and rotate out the correct business cards, so a QR link for an event specific list will be my new normal.

And for our next trick…

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or treat? Happy Autumn! My favorite holiday of the year has always been Halloween, so I hope you’ll join us for the next event we’re helping produce called Gramarye! We’ve decided it would be FAR easier to put all the information on these big events on a separate website so I’d love to direct your attention to BayAreaKei.org. My amazing team of organizers and I are looking forward to seeing you at our next event!

Welcome to June!

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Hello everyone! We took some time off after Ursa Major to unwind and we’re pivoting to finishing up some private orders we have, so shop updates this month are likely to be sporadic. That being said, this is a great chance for us to support and shout out our LGBTQ friends for pride! Remember: STONEWALL WAS A RIOT.

Ursa Major: A Virtual J-fashion Event!

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Hey there! We’ve teamed up with several AMAZING indie brands as well as talented panelists to bring you some of the content we were helping produce for Fanime this year to your very own home. The participating brands are:

A Gato Designs: https://agatodesigns.com/
Releasing “Shiro Goshikku” Collection

Aini: https://www.ainiwaffles.com/
Releasing a limited amount floral & ribbon embroidery pieces in the theme of the event

Belladonna: http://belladonna.storenvy.com/
Putting up newly restocked items and some new items, and a shipping discount promotion

The Black Ribbon: http://www.theblackribbon.com/
Re-releasing some very popular items and adding entirely new releases.

Lily of the Valley: https://linktr.ee/lotvdesigns
Releasing a small number of Mushroom Print skirts

Lipton Cunningham: https://www.facebook.com/liptoncunningham or https://www.instagram.com/liptoncunningham/ (DM to purchase)
Releasing an accessories collection

Nerdy Bit: https://nerdybit.co/
3-5 all new items as well as offer 20% off during the event use code: fanime2020

Paradise Rose: https://linktr.ee/paradiseroseshop
Offering a release of sakura resin sampling, an ode to older pieces as well as some newer designs

Puvithel: https://www.puvithel.com/
Having a pin sale during the event

Sweet Mildred: https://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetmildred
Releasing a new themed collection, “Celestial Emissary”. It will include dresses, skirts, matching accessories and jewelry

We plan on publishing a full schedule by next week but here is a simplified one until we have the final details completed. Please check back for the latest information! Cheers!

Below is our Panel schedule for Saturday May 23.

ALL PANELS WILL ALSO BE HOSTED ON OUR MAIN CHANEL https://www.twitch.tv/ursamajorjfashion

12:00pm PDT – Capitalism, but Make it Fashion – Hosted By Puvithel and Lolita Collective! – twitch.tv/virtualtekkofashiontrack
Building a Brand Learn how to set yourself up for success.

1:00pm PDT – Coping through Art – Menhera Fashion – Hosted by Puvithel twitch.tv/virtualtekkofashiontrack
Menhera is casual, cute, and a self-expression of our struggles, sickness, and symptoms. Come learn about this fashion with indie designer Puvithel.
This is highly recommended for J-fashion beginners as menhera is a very comfortable and personally meaningful style.

2:15pm PDT – How to Tie a Casual Obi – Hosted by The Black Ribbon twitch.tv/retrogamechan
Learn 5 different ways to tie a casual obi, including some VERY quick and modern styles. Additional Panel info at: https://theblackribbon.com/kimonopanel/

3:30pm PDT – Where to Buy Lolita Fashion – Hosted by Mindy Pile twitch.tv/mpile13
Where and how to buy lolita fashion and accessories – brand, taobao, indie, and everything in between!

4:45pm PDT – Posing Panel – Hosted by Plentiful Pie twitch.tv/cookiesandcream 
The perfect outfit deserves the perfect photo! Not sure what to do in front of the camera? Learn some practical tips on posing from a seasoned J-fashionista and start looking your best!

6:00pm PDT – Intro and History of EGL Fashion – Hosted by Obsixwi twitch.tv/obsixwi
Have you ever been curious about EGL fashion and its history? Join us for a deep dive on one of the most recognizable J-fashions through the years!

7:15pm PDT – J-Fashion Sewing “How to Pattern a Gored Skirt” – Hosted by The Black Ribbon twitch.tv/retrogamechan 
Want to know how to make a classic A-line skirt? Let’s do it at 1/2 scale together and you can try it out on your own at full size later!

 

NEW WEBSHOP!

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Hello lovelies! We hope you’re doing well. We’ve been working on preparing our brand new webshop. It has less fees charged to our customers and hopefully is a better over all experience. We look forward to your feedback on it. To celebrate we’re offering 8.00 off any order over 20.00! Enjoy!

 

Tekko Virtual Convention

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Due to social distancing, Tekko is currently postponed. As a result Puvithel decided to raise people’s spirits by hosting an at-home virtual con featuring much of the fashion things that would have taken place this weekend. Generally Tekko is too far physically and poorly timed for us to participate but an online panel is much more doable! So I hosted a panel on my other hobby: Kimono! I made a panel page which you can check out with some additional information and links to more info here: theblackribbon.com/kimonopanel and if you missed it we uploaded it to youtube as well!

Social Isolation…

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Hey guys! Halley, the designer of The Black Ribbon here. We’ve been on a social isolation lockdown in our local area officially since 3/17/20. How has this affected us? Well I stocked up on sewing supplies from my favorite local small fabric shop: https://califabrics.com/ (please support them through their online shop in this down time), and messaged our factory to see where this left our upcoming release “Blushing Swan” and checked to make sure the post office would still be open. So with all of that here we are. Settling in for the long haul and prepared to continue sewing up new items for the webshop and listing them to sell directly to you. We are ship ONLY at this time, no local pick up.

To help entertain you while you’re all cooped up though we’ve started including a small sewing kit to make your own headbow in all orders over 25.00. We will absolutely do our best to ensure the materials match your order.  We also published our first tutorial video on how to make the bow using hand sewing techniques:

Full instructions on how to make your own are included even if you do not have your own kit. Here’s a small list of things you need to make your own:

  • Cotton fabric (Big section is 7.5″ x 7″, small section is 5.5″ x 6.5″ and middle is 2.5″ x 4.5″)
  • Scissors
  • Needle and thread (try to match your fabric and trim)
  • Ruler
  • Some pins
  • Alligator clip or headband
  • Lace trim (fully optional)
  • Iron and ironing board
  • Chopstick

We’ll be releasing a machine sewn video soon!

Annual Customer Survey!

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It’s time again for our annual customer survey! This is only the second time we’ve done this, but it has really helped us better understand our customers’ needs and what they are looking for product-wise. We’d love your feedback. Thank you!