If Yumemiru Musical Paradise was last year's event of the year, then the Baby the Stars Shine Bright opening was this year's. I have never seen more enthusiasm, sisterhood, and beauty in one place before. The gathering of the lolitas alone was marvelous. And I have plenty to write about this, believe you me - and tons of footage, both photo and video! But I want to speak about the more subtle experience of the opening.

I recently made the speculative post about brand competition, which had seemed neck and neck. Would Baby be able to pull off the opening and if so, could it be the push they needed?

It was. The effect was like magic, like a drug. I think Baby cultivated more brand loyalty in two days, than it has so far made in a lifetime as a brand. By reaching out to us on a personal level, they have finally won back some of their former glory.

We all clustered outside of the New People building, a sea of curls dotted with opened parasols like sail boats. From the glass storefront, the designers and shopgirls watched and sometimes waved, causing every lolita to scream, shout, wave, and jump up and down in excitement. In the time between, music played and Miss Lumpy and I had fun humiliating ourselves by swishy our bustles to the beat.

When we finally entered the building, it was like some frenzied kind of dream - you could see any real item you wanted. You could examine the tiny lace of a wrist cuff, try on rings, and find, like fortune cookies, the few parasols with the pagoda frames. And there were other girls like you - not just the other shoppers, who you could bond with my snagging the item they wanted for them in the midst of the crowd, but with the shopgirls. In Paris, it was hard to speak to the shopgirls - both of us fumbled through French and then gave up and switched to the typical Japanese-inspired lolita language that is generally spoken in heart-hand shapes, exaggerated nods, and shy smiles. But here, the girls could not only help you with finding that particular item, they could also talk to you about sizing, coordinate advice, and hair and makeup.

The next day was the Baby tea party, which began with a gathering frill (collective group of lolitas?!) Everyone looked beautiful. For once, you could see a row of girls dressed in Baby instead of Angelic Pretty, all with their own spin on it - no clones in sight. It was so adorablethat something washed over you like mind control, and I had a deep urge to dash into the store, drop my $300 on the same print, pop it on, and then stand with the group. It wasn't a feeling of conformity. It was the same bubbling of happiness one gets from being with sisters.

At the party, girls chatted and selected their sweets - pink malt balls, lollipops, and a special blend of tea called Honeybush Lollipop Delight. An impromptu concrete picnic began around the low benches (who decided that a gaggle of frilly girls wouldn't need tables for their teacups?!), in a very communal and friendly way. Space was made so that every tea cup could fit; you could crouch down and look at the delicate embroidery on a girl's handmade skirt. But the girls fell quiet when Uehara-san and Misako began their Q&A portion.

They were surprised to see so many of us, they said (and of course this was a small percentage of the international lolita community); they were surprised that we weren't just dabblers who wore a bow, but full-blown lolitas who studied the look seriously and dressed as much as any girl in Harajuku. When asked if anyone had seen the Bibles or other Japanese fashion magazines, every hand in the room shot up - Uehara-san and Misako Aoki reeled backwards. They had no idea, it seems. They had probably never figured it would expand beyond their microcosm, but here they were, some thousands of miles away across the sea, with a group of girls looking for the same things as they were. How do you react when you realize, unicornlike, that there are others like you?

We all had that feeling today. We knew there were other lolitas, yes; this was no surprise. But to see them all in one place, to see that there were people who felt the same ache and followed the same path; that was miraculous. Lolita didn't just exist one the Internet anymore. We had real names and met with real people, simply because they were friendly and interested.

As I escaped the tea party, running to catch a plane like a modern-day Cinderella, I saw Isobe. He was lurking in the back hall, a little shy when faced with so many lolitas. He wasn't used to the publicity, which he preferred to pass off to the adorable designers and staff. I waved at him as I ran off, but now I wish I had thanked him profusely. If it wasn't for his brand, Novala Takemoto wouldn't have written Kamikaze Girls. If it wasn't for Kamikaze Girls being made into a movie, I wouldn't be in San Francisco that day, with a glittery bow and cherry-printed socks. I wouldn't have had friends to blow kisses to as I left. I wouldn't have smiling eyes. I'd still be waiting to bloom.

So thank you...

for letting my petals open enough to see that...

Baby, the stars shine bright.