ACGC is a disappointment + Powder Closed + iSocks nightmare

by Miaka on Mar.23, 2008, under Beauty & Fashion, Manga & Anime

Current Mood: Bored emoticon Bored

My first impression was, “Why so many MMORPG booths”?
Ok…so I went to meet up with Tzeling first and had our lunch. Initially Kinyu and I wanted to go to Jln Silang to have our Beef Ball Noodles. But it was closed and we still have to pay for the 5-mins parking T_T, it was 4 bucks alright….

So after lunch we went down to the 3rd floor of Times Square to see a few cosplayers scattered here and there posing for pictures. I saw a lot of familiar faces, mostly from the Comic Fiesta crowd. Comic Fiesta has a booth there as well, with Kidchan demonstrating her uber drawings skill and Ben (from Powder/ex-Gempak) giving out autographs. After that, we went and check our other booths. To our dismay, there were only MMORPG booths. Now where does “Animation” and “Comics” in Animation, Comics and Games Convention disappear to? If there aren’t gonna be any animation/comics, why do they bother to name the convention as such. I don’t even want to go into the fact that it was held openly, unlike Comic Fiesta. There weren’t much cosplayers also, most are recycled costumes or bad cosplays. I think the only cosplayer which appear to be better than most was the Kyo (King of Fighter) cosplayer who could spark out fire from his hands!! But that’s the only good bits. Oh and I saw a friend’s brother, who was a hired cosplayer for Cabal. Hot guy he is, very much like Daniel Wu.

I also got a shocking news from chibiying who was working at Powder previously. She is out of job now because Powder is pronounced closed. It came as a shock to her because it was very sudden. It came as a shock to me! Cuz they only started promoting the first volume in Comic Fiesta, December. Osamau who went for leave on that fateful announcement day came back the next day to work to find his colleagues packing up their stuff. I must say Tzeling is lucky for not jumping over to Powder…

Before we head off, we passed by this shop call iSocks. I’ve bought a pair of pantyhose from them before, a lot of choice and service was good. I repeat, WAS. This time around, it was “urgh”. The salesgirls who looked like pseudo Harajuku-streetwear fashionista followed me around without saying anything until I went out of the shop. I wonder if they are really hired as a salesperson or a guard. The other ridiculous thing about the shop is, it has 4 outlets along the same row. Two of them side-by-side and the other 2 were just a few shops away. What made my jaw dropped was the fact that the 2 side-by-side shops are ‘members only’ area. To be a member, you gotta make a minimum purchase of RM200 at the 2 non-members shops which sells mainly SOCKS and some Japanese street fashion wannabes clothings. The members only shops sells gothic lolita and punk outfits which I was quite interested to check them out. However, after knowing that only members were allowed to go in, I went quite mad. Who do they think they are? H.Naoto? Sex Pot Revenge? Metamorphose? Baby, the Stars Shine Bright? Heck, even these brands open their arms wide to welcome the customers, not sealing them off! I give them 6 months to open their doors or they could kiss their asses goodbye. C’mon, the dresses they showcase are made out of cheap materials, even their laces are of cheap quality. Urgh. Seeing these eyesore shops made me wanna fly to Japan immediately and feast my eyes on the real deal.

Sonic the hedgehog!

Cosplayer for a MMORPG

Cosplayers for another MMORPG

Cosplayers for Cabal

i-socks gothic lolita members only shop

i-socks punk rock (mainly for guys) members only shop (see those chains?)

:ACGC, cosplay, gothic lolita, powder, punk

18 Comments for this entry

valho
March 24th, 2008 on 1:29 pm
I saw you on Sunday ^^. yeah the event was disappointing, no anime at all, mostly just games but at least they are some good cosplayer for me to shoot ^^
Miaka
March 24th, 2008 on 2:12 pm
I think I saw u too, Valiant! But I wasn’t sure because I went @_@, cuz of the crowd and the small space.
Mikoto Tsuruga
April 21st, 2008 on 8:09 pm
Hey, Miaka. You are so right about iSock’s. They do have some cool Gothic Lolita/punk/aristocrat clothes but it is very mean of them to sell the good stuff only to members only.

I hear business in Times Square isn’t so good these days, I hope they open up the members only shops or for sure it will close down soon.

The clothes in the other iSocks shop, after the one that sells only socks, is… horrible. Most of the things I wouldn’t buy even if kills me. They have some cute skirts but that’s it, all the other stuff is just… yuck.

I was told that you have to buy over RM 100 then you can be a member. Don’t tell me now must buy over 200 ah? Aiyoo how? The shop that is open to the public has utterly ugly clothes!

iSocks is so not fair to slowly growing Malaysian Gothic Lolitas.
Mikoto Tsuruga
April 21st, 2008 on 8:13 pm
Sorry for putting a double post, but you are so right about the iSocks salegirls. They just follow you around like a shadow until you leave the store. It’s creepy.

And some of them are rude to customers. I know, been there couple of times to see if have anything worth me forking out RM 100!!
Advocate
April 24th, 2008 on 7:36 pm
Dear Miaka-san

I am glad that somebody has finally said something about iSocks. I just completed my research into the Gothic Lolita trend in Malaysia, and it is not a very pretty picture. iSocks certainly is not helping to promote the growing popularity of the Gothic Lolita in our county. They even horrendously mixed Elegant Gothic Lolita with Punk. Gothic Lolita and Punk style have nothing in common really. They are not even related to each other.

I was able to gain entry into the Members-only shop. I am not a member myself. I borrowed a membership card from a Good Samaritan working at Times Square. Miaka, if you think the iSocks salesgirls, which work at the non-member shops are rude… then don’t go into the members-only shop! In there works the rudest, most arrogant, and conceited, salesgirl in the world! I have never met such a rude person in my life.

Now, Miaka-san, if you are still interested in getting a Gothic Lolita dress from the place, be prepared to fork out RM500 if you want the complete Gothic Lolita look. If you want the dress minus petticoats, then you will need to spend around 300 to 400, because that is how much a dress in that outlet will go. But, don’t look to the sulking salesgirl to give you any helpful hints. You will get scolded. Yes, you read right, the salesgirl there actually scolded a potential customer. The cheapest Gothic Lolita dress I saw was priced about RM257. It did not look too good, it was so-so, and it was a pinafore dress. Meaning no sleeves. They do have good ones, but they are upstairs and cost between RM399 to over RM550. They even have a very cute French Maid costume. I did not see the price on that. By then, I was irritated out of my mind by the absolutely rude salesgirl, who kept looking up and down at me.

I hear a lot of people get that treatment from the iSocks salesgirls.

For a ‘members-only’ shop that sells dresses, which costs over RM250 and up, they have the worst customer service in the world. I asked to see the person in charge before I left, unfortunately that person was out and I got scolded for asking to see the boss.

I have half the mind to write to the newspapers and defame iSocks for the horrid treatment I received. But I will not do so… yet.

Oh, by the way, if you spend RM50 and above at the iSocks shop that sells just socks, you can become a member… or, you can buy a pair of socks and ask the girl to give you a letter so you can go into the members-only shop to buy something. This is what I found out from the truly friendly and helpful salesgirl at that shop. It truly was a stark contrast from the girl, who works at the members-only outlet. Of course, this will be helpful if you are still interested in buying a Gothic Lolita dress after reading what I have written.

Take care.
Yatz
August 6th, 2008 on 2:08 am
welcome back to the blog-world and iSock wtf? lolll
LoL
December 29th, 2008 on 1:16 am
Hi, how to become a member o ? I already went to the i- socks and buy something, then they give me a form, but i didn’t filled in the form & give back to them. But, i wanted to create a member o…So that, wat can i do for it? Can u help me become a member? thx very much.
LoL
December 29th, 2008 on 1:20 am
Please help me to become a member. I already have the form & filled in it. If u want the form, i also can sent to u. Thanks very much.
LoL
December 29th, 2008 on 1:21 am
Please reply me as fast as u could. thx .
xD
December 29th, 2008 on 1:25 am
If u can help me to become a member, i will thanks for u with 100 thanks. Because I want to become a member very much o.Thanks.
Nana
March 7th, 2009 on 10:32 pm
hi. i’m new in this gothic lolita thing. i went to i-socks recently n i think the salesperson treated me well. i had just add them in friendster n facebook too but now i’m speechless n quite dissapointed of i-socks.
Selina
March 12th, 2009 on 12:20 am
I js left their fan profile in Friendster cs of this blog lol.
Nothing beats first-hand experience Nway, could anyone suggest other stores which also sells this kinda stuff? Thanks.
renza
March 15th, 2009 on 11:31 pm
i went there last week, and became the member.
i agreed with the annoying salesgirl following you around.
can they let us shopping in peace? duh.
i paid less than RM50 at the non-member shop and gave me the form.
i decided to check the “member only” shop. he, i think he’s the manager, he let me & my friends in. i checked out the store, it was lovely. saw mana & versailles posters on the wall. i bought few stuffs there.
quite satisfied, for now.
yumico
March 17th, 2009 on 1:39 pm
i think the i-socks is ok, because they follow besides you and you can ask them many answer, they were not very rude, u can talk to them and laugh with them too, because they were also a person.
i think they were so boring that they were nothing to do so,and they just watching you that you can get some help from them, and one of the shop that sells only girls department, a salegirl was very rude to me,i mean that REALLY!!!
princess
July 12th, 2009 on 12:42 am
what country is this? i mean, what specific area you found this store?
ALFRED
April 18th, 2010 on 12:55 pm
I DONT THINK SO…NOT ALL THE PPL CAN BUY THE EXPENSIVE CLOTHES… IF THE QUALITY IS HIGH, THEN THE PRICE MUST FOLLOW BY THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT… THEN I THINK JUST FEW PPL CAN SPEND FEW THOUSAND ON A SET CLOTHES…MALAYSIANS= “WHICH CHEAP, THEN BUY IT!”

YESTERDAY I BUY A USB FOR MY SONY.E CELLPHONE…

RM55…BEFORE THIS I HEARD SOMEONE TOLD TO ME ABOUT THE PRICE OF USB JUST BELOW RM20… COZ THE USB THEIR BOUGHT WAS PIRATE…
ALFRED
April 18th, 2010 on 1:03 pm
THEY DONT CARE ABOUT THE PRODUCT…
IT CAN WORK, THAT’S ENOUGH…
SO THE MALAYSIANS MADE THE MARKET OF MALAYSIA BECOME THIS… PLS DONT TALK LIKE THAT ANYMORE…
HAMPTONMabel27
April 25th, 2010 on 6:29 pm
Set your life time more simple get the home loans and all you want.