After a delay of more than a year due to Miss Rona, the day finally arrived where we were able to get dressed in our best oldschool finery! But this wasn't your average, run-of-the-mill oldschool-themed EGL meetup. This was Raschel. On the 29th August, we arrived at the Dukes Hotel, Mayfair (very fancy indeed!), with out 35mm analogue and polaroid cameras at the ready, all adorned in our finest...well...Raschel-covered lace-monster dresses. Having completed lateral flow tests prior to arrival to be sure we were all Covid-free (safety first), we were permitted to enter our long awaited celebration of oldschool EGL at 1:30pm - just in time for a spot of high tea. Good thing it was a teaparty.
Having placed our coats, cloaks, capes, caplets, bags, batons, parasols and sceptres in the bagging area before entering, team R.R.Memorandum were escorted to our table, upon which we had the pleasure of the company of many fabulous individuals, including our lovely host! The centrepiece of each table featured older Gothic and Lolita Bibles for guests to read at their own leisure, and everyone received a commemorative event tote bag and pin designed by Alice and Becy and several raffle tickets.
The lovely host in question - Imagine being greeted by this vision in Metamorphose Bouquet Print! <3 Your fave could never.
After a resounding sigh of relief that we were all finally here, Alice (TroubleInTheMessageCentre - or TitMC for short) gave a beautifully worded address that made everyone feel at ease and set the tone for the day. It was a relief to know the planned order of the day, as well as the genius way the raffle was to be run (you could 'bid' your tickets on the items that you wished to win).
Goodies at the table: spoilt for choice!
During the afternoon tea, the staff could not have been more lovely! The gentleman serving us, Fidel, was so gracious and gave wonderful service as well as conversation! The whole Duke's team made us all feel at incredible ease throughout our afternoon tea as the various courses of delicious food were served and enjoyed. The sweet course in the afternoon tea was especially lovely, each small cake as unique and delicious as the last!
As with all lolita events, my personal favourite part of the day was mingling and getting to know everyone! It was especially really fun to speak with some of the fellow content creators in the community! One of my favourite parts of the whole day was talking to a couple of people about niche things I love - shout out to my Worst Witch (1998-2001 series) appreciators! I reckon we should start our own club! During this time, lots of people were creating content - one of the most fun ways people did this was by using film and polaroid cameras instead of digital technology, to give the photos of the event a more authentically oldschool vibe!
Photo take on Ophelia's film camera of Ophelia, Alice, Becy, Kath and myself in our Gobelin finery (goblins, the lot of us!)
The raffle was then held, with several people winning smaller prizes such as Kamikaze Girls merchandise, accessories from independent brand Curiosity Cabinet Creations, burando prizes and, of course, R.R.Memorandum £100 vouchers to spend on our upcoming collections! Team R.R.M came out well from the raffle, both of us winning some burando!
Kath and I wearing our raffle prizes, a couple of days after Raschel <3
Although it was difficult to get large group photos while passers by tried to photograph us (including a VERY rude man who took pictures from his car and had to be given a good talking to by a whole bunch of us, and the incredible Dukes staff member who handled the situation with so much professionalism), we did manage to get a couple outside, and also the Dukes staff were kind enough to take some shots of the group indoors for us!
Photos from Becy and Ophelia's cameras of the group
The event was, without a doubt, one of the most special EGL events we at R.R.Memorandum have personally had the honour of attending. Everyone was so wonderful and looked so fabulous in their coords - and we have high hopes that this will be an annual event!