For March Bay Area Kei’s Bibliotheca theme was “Brackets/March Madness,” as suggested by Jenna (lovelylaceandlies.) Instantly my brain vomited up an idea for a battle between Nun themed EGL dresses. This was likely due to my recent Dream Dress acquisition (Miho Matsuda’s Lily OP) and Lent being right around the corner (I went to Parochial School for 9 years. This season just follows me whether I want it to or not.) Here’s my full, abridged recap of the competition.
Let’s get ready to nunmble:
The Competitors
- Innocent World: Square Collar Nun OP
- Sheglit: Holy Bustle Puff OP
- Classical Puppets/Broken doll: Evil Sister
- Alice and the Pirates: Simplice OP
- Ista Mori: Nameless Poem
- BTSSB: Maria’s Catholic Nun OP
- Souffle Song : Nun OP
- Victorian Maiden: Sister OP
- Miho Matsuda: Lily OP
- Angelic Pretty: Nun OP
- Metamorphose: Nun OP
- Heart E: Cross Spare Collar OP
- Moi-même-Moitié: Nun OP (1999)
- Atelier Boz: Giulietta OP
- Foxtrot: The Nun OP
- Atelier Pierrot: Sister OP
Setting Up
As we all know, there is a glut of nun dresses in existence, especially from the Gothic and EGA brands, so picking options was like shooting fish in a barrel.
My research entailed: searching for “nun” and “sister” on lolibrary, harassing my friends, and staring at my own wardrobe and Wish List since I hyperfixated on Nun-lita early on.
I decided to pick one per brand for the brackets (shoutout to Moitie and Boz for not making that easy for me at all) and narrowed them down even further by what I personally deemed “iconic.”
Instead of randomizing the match-ups, I set up the seeds by pairing similar dresses or similar themes together.
After finalizing the competitors I ran to Photoshop to dump too much time and effort into some fancy graphics for my stories. I’ve always loved high production Instagram Stories and felt that the Poll/Story combo would be a great fit for bracket style voting.
Round 1 Voting
Note: I chose not to vote in any of the polls because (1.) I love pretty much all of the dresses and I didn’t want to suffer through choosing and (2.) I somehow felt it would have been fair and I could have reserved my vote for any necessary tiebreakers.
Simple BxW Square Neck Bois
Innocent World (62%) vs. Sheglit (38%)
Alice & The Pirates (31%) vs. Classical Puppets (69%)
Hella Hem Crosses
Ista Mori (79%) vs. Victorian Maiden (29%)
Baby the Stars Shine Bright (57%) vs. Souffle Song (43%)
Round Neck Bois
Miho Matsuda (67%) vs. Angelic Pretty (33%)
Metamorphose (93%) vs. Heart E (7%, with a whopping 12 votes)
Actually Just Nun Cosplay
Foxtrot (23%) vs. Atelier Boz (77%)
Atelier Pierrot (54%) vs. Moi-Meme-Moitie (46%) (absolutely shocking results in my opinion)
I actually voted in the Heart E vs. Meta poll this round because I felt SO bad for Heart E.
Round 2 [Quarter Finals]
Simple BxW Square Neck Bois
Innocent World (64%) vs. Classical Puppets (36%)
Hella Hem Crosses
Ista Mori (65%) vs. BTSSB (35%)
Round Neck Bois
Miho Matsuda (61%) vs. Metamorphose (39%)
Actually Just Nun Cosplay
Atelier Boz (70%) vs. Atelier Pierrot (30%)
Semi-Finals
The Inevitable “Mercy Rule” Dress
Innocent World (44%) vs. Ista Mori (56%)
Nameless Poem came here to FIGHT.
Sophie’s Choice
Miho Matsuda (34%) vs. Atelier Boz (66%)
Winner [Final Judgement]
Two of you stand before me… One of you, a true underdog frequently labeled as “the ita nun dress”… As a controversial dress, people either hate you or love you with no in between. Throughout this competition you overcame all odds and beat out every OP you came up against, regardless of it’s Brand and status. But do you have the strength to stand on your own, despite all of your infamy, and uphold the status of Top Nun Dress?
The other: a dress so iconic, and so sought after. You have transcended time and have been through several re-releases and designs, including a post-mortem release. Without a doubt, poll after poll, you were the clear cut winner in every battle you fought this competition. But we have to question your ability to maintain a crown and title of THE nun dress. You were unable to keep your brand alive, so are you truly worth the hype?
Two great dresses, but there can only be one…
Americas’ Next Top Nun Dress…
Is…
Atelier Boz’s Giulietta OP
Main Event: Hell In A Cell
Ista Mori (46%) vs. Atelier Boz (54%)
Pre-Show: Wing & a Prayer (3rd Place Winner)
Innocent World (45%) vs. Miho Matsuda (55%)
Nameless Poem put up a noble fight (losing by just 14 votes) but Giulietta seized the crown.
Missed Plans
There were a ton of extra ideas I had for this competition. Unfortunately I never found the time to follow through (wildcards, story highlights featuring some of my favorite Nun-lita accessories, fantasy brackets, etc.) I fully intend on bringing this back in 2023 with more additions, puns, and maybe even a new theme (but definitely bigger and better, considering I planned and executed this entire thing in just 6 hours.) See ya next year! Hope y’all had fun!
The Discourse
- nun of this should have happened
- TEAM GIULIETTA FOREVER
- blessed, thank you for this
- Who did I vote for? Nun of your business 🤡
- The choices this time were so difficult 😫 not black and white at all
- I was really hoping the instagram link took me somewhere that told me to fuck off or something. Also hi Emma love you. – Swishiee
- Need a third choice for nun of the above 😏
- Please nunderstand that this was a difficult choice for me
- simplice is the winner in my heart and everyone else is simply wrong
- small town southern lawyer voice Now I may be a simple sweet lolita but this was nun-derful.
- Congratulations to Emma for winning nunderdome (YES. I WIN.)
In Memoriam
“They are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you. You will be worse. Rip and tear, until it is done.“
Your Doom Slayer: Coming Lent 2023…