Hello my lovely wonderful followers,
I am sure a lot of you have seen this already if you are a fan of the Pop Princess Facebook page, but I wanted to reiterate it here on the blog just to get the word out there to as many darling lolita darlings, fashion lovers, and Pop Princess' fans as possible.
As I'm sure you already know, by looking at the Otakon 2013 schedule the indie lolita fashion show, along with other lolita fashion related panels, have been axed from this year's convention. There are a lot of rumors going around right now about why that is, and we don't have all the information. We think it is unjust, however, that the lolita community is being excluded especially if this decision was based upon the actions of one person, which ends up judging all of us to be the same. Many of us have decided if this is the case, that we will not travel to support Otakon this year.
A frilly (and may I add quite magical and mighty!) group of us lolitas from all over are banding together to write letters to Otakon petitioning them to reinstate the indie lolita fashion show---to name a few: myself, the awesome Melissa Lipscomb, Victoria Suzanne Stella Alice, Kelsey from I Do Declare! So if you have a favorite indie brand out there that you were headed to Baltimore to see, then it's time for you to write a letter too, and share this with as many friends as possible.
All we can hope for is change, and show our support for our community and each other! So pop open those word documents, pull up the Otakon contact page and click the option for "con chair person" and send out those emails!
If you need an example to follow, here is the one I wrote! Good luck, my loves! xo Annika
To Whom It May Concern:
As both a member of the lolita community, an indie designer, and a
regular Otakon attendee, I was very disappointed to see the lack of
fashion and lolita panels on this year’s proposed schedule. In
particular, I was very much looking forward to flying out to participate
again as a designer in the indie lolita fashion show that Otakon has
had on schedule for approximately the last five years. Many of us a part
of the lolita community drive or fly out from all over the country to
show our support for the indie brands, network among the community, and
showing appreciation for our fans, followers, and friends who also come
out to see us.
As a designer who participated in the fashion
show under the close watch of Kelsey Hine and Melissa Lipscomb last
year, I was very much looking forward to working closely with them again
for another successful fashion show with what would hopefully be
another full house of eager fans. Under Kelsey and Melissa’s watch, they
were able to draw designers both nationally and internationally to the
indie fashion show, featuring designers from all across the globe. They
were both extremely fastidious in their ability to organize, maintain,
and produce the fashion show in a way that was professional and
courteous to all its participants. I applaud their efforts in
maintaining a well balanced, and kind hearted manner under what was
certainly a stressful and pressuring time, and I believe Melissa would
have furthered the success of the indie fashion show this year.
I am sure you recognize there is a great deal of chatter across many
social networking sites expressing disappointment in the fashion show
being excluded from the schedule, and whispers about why, what, or whom
may have caused the panel to be axed. Without the incentive to
participate in lolita fashion panels, and especially the absence of the
fashion show itself, a great deal of lolita are already talking about
not attending the 2013 Otakon convention. Due to lack of fashion panels,
as well as a general frustration of having no real interest in
financially supporting an institution that has, as it appears, excluded
them from the attendee fan base, a good deal of the community has chosen
not to attend.
There has been no official commentary from
Otakon as to why the fashion show and other lolita panels were excluded
from this year’s schedule, which only creates further speculation to
populate across the community and the web. We recognize that perhaps the
convention had used up all its budgeted funding on other special guests
or panels, but considering that the fashion show is run for and by
fans, we would be more than happy to have a less elaborate fashion show
than the years before. The show is not about the stage, music, or the
lights but about being able to share and be a part of exhibiting moving
works of arts from talented indie brands from every walk of life.
Otakon brings in the biggest revenue out of any event for the city of
Baltimore year round, and it would be a shame to further disappoint the
lolita community across the country, especially if a majority choose not
to financially support the convention by not attending.
It
would make a great deal of us happy if the indie fashion show was
reinstated, or if at the very least, Otakon would make an official
statement on why it was excluded.
Respectfully,
Annika Simmons
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