In memoriam of the amazing time we had // 10 day Lolita Challenge

While being in the fashion for over a decade I can say I had my fair share in attending meetings, tea parties and events. It is really difficult to pick only two from all the special memories I have with the amazing people I've met along the way. Living in Belgium, Europe sure is a big advantage. I can travel to different countries in a heart beat which is something that I love to do. I've been to France, Germany, England and of course The Netherlands for events and meetings. 

Traveling for an event is just half the part of the fun especially when you can do it with a lot of your friends. When I went to London for Dream Masquerade Carnival I traveled together with my Husband and my dear friend Liv who is a true angel. I also traveled together with Saltje a fellow Belgian Lolita to Frankfurt for a tea party a couple of times and with Lise an other Belgian Lolita to Amsterdam for a tea party and the Dutch Under the Sea, Street Fashion Europe event as well. 

But even with these special memories of traveling it is the magic of the event, meeting or tea party itself that add that extra special touch to the memories of that time. 

Enough rambling about traveling let's see which event is in my top 2 of moments to remember. 

Lolita Kawaii Weekend, The Netherlands July 2013

I still remember this event like it was yesterday, it was my first real big event that I was going to attend in a different country. I lived in the Netherlands for about 5 years before I moved back to Belgium in 2012. While I was living in the Netherlands I was also a part of the Dutch lolita community but I never many meetings from the Dutch community back then. Though I wasn't that active in the lolita community back then I did knew a few of the lolita girls in person through a similar hobby which are BJD dolls. Back in the days it was very common to bring your dolls to a lolita meeting. So a lot of girls collected these gorgeous dolls and joined BJD meetings as well. 

It was really nice that the organisers had an option to book an hotel together when ordering your tickets. This way it was really easy for us to get to the event without any extra headaches of finding a hotelroom since it was a two day event in the middle of summer. And that's what we did, we went for the ticket + hotel option for the event. 

Since I had good contact with the girl that was organising this event we decided to have breakfast together. Soon after that the two special guests for the event joined us to at our breakfast table. I was sleeping and eating in the same hotel as Misako Aoki and RinRin Doll how amazing is that. 

We had a chat with them and I learned them some dutch words and an easy sentence which they later on used to say hello to everyone at the event. I was so surprised on how well RinRin was able to pick up the dutch words. But Misako did great too! 

At the event itself we received little gifts from Japan en both Misako and RinRin did a lecture on their favourite places in Japan which was so interesting and unique too. 

In the evening after the tea party we had a lolita dance party and fashion competition. We had a singing performance from Misako with her single マエパツヒマカ(Maepatsu Himeka) and RinRin had three songs to perform that evening, her original song Kira Kira Dreaming and two covers Ram no love song and Oyasumi kiss me. We danced along with both performances and danced till late that evening. It was such a great time!

At this event I also met a lot of the German lolita community which I still see at events these days. Though some of them are retiring from lolita but I still speak them sometimes when I see them in Germany or at the past events. 

On the second day of the event we went to a castle with a gorgeous garden where we had a picknick. This is when I learned about the fact that all the clothes from both RinRin and Misako are rented and need to stay as neatly as possible. Their suitcases where filled with clothes wrapped in clear plastic bags, the ones your receive when you order a new dress. And it got me thinking of why this was so I kindly asked about it. At the hotel we had some breakfast chats again on this day to before it was time to leave for the second day. 

I look back at this event with a big smile on my face, this is the day where I met the German lolita community, two Japanese models (which was a big deal) at that time and I went to my first big event. So this needed to be in my top 2. 

Want to read the full blogpost about this event?

Blog: Lolita Kawaii Weekend - Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3

Grand Lolita Tea Party, Germany June 2015

So I'm not sure why I include this event in my top 2 of most favourite events but when I look back at it there where some magical moments for me to remember. And that is because I was able to meet Aya Nimura from Victorian Maiden. Oh boy I was in heaven when I saw her for the first time at the tea party. Like I mentions many times before my love for Victorian Maiden is out of this world. If it wasn't for the sizing issues I would have a closet full of VM dresses and accessories. 

On the day before the event I traveled together with my dear friend Josine and my Husband to Hamburg Germany. It was a long ride but we had lots of fun along the way. Our journey started out amazing, we had a great hotel room and sushi for dinner on the first night in Hamburg. 

The first day of the event was amazing as well, we went early to the event cause there where some difficulties with the Anime Matsuri team. But overall it didn't ruin the fun we had in the time before the guests arrived. I met a lot of new people thanks to Josine who knew a lot girls from the UK while I introduced Josine to some of the people I already knew. 

But everything was pretty normal and a great event until we had the opportunity to ask the guests some questions. I really wanted to ask Aya Nimura about the sizing problems we western girls run into but where I mostly run into when looking at their collections. Though the only problem is I get super stressed out from being in the spotlight and speak to someone while everyone is listening. So I started to panic when I raised my hand and the microphone was coming my way. I was shaking on my legs, my voice was going up and down, I lost my words and I stuttered like crazy while I was asking the questions. After I asked my question I sat down again, tried to control my tears with no succes and listened to her answer. The people around me started to praise me for my question and tried to calm me down again after this shock. 

The event went on like nothing happened with me and I took photo's with the guests and some of my friends. After the tea party we where guided to a different room where we where able to take photo's with the guests and get an autograph if we wanted or by the books from Misako. This moment I was walking around with Liese, a fellow Belgian Lolita who also joined us in Hamburg at the event and after a big yes no discussion she convinced me to ask Aya Nimura for an autograph. As shaky as I was while asking the question at the tea party I was yet again super stressed out about the fact I was able to talk to her again and ask for an autograph. The moment I asked my question and she said yes after some hesitation I started to tear up again as she was writing her name on my card. She told me this was her first autograph for someone else which made it even more special for me. While I was trying to keep my teary eyes to myself she saw that I was in tears and started to hug me and offerend me a tissue. This moment is one of those embarrassing yet emotional moments that you will look back on with the biggest smile on your face. 

Meeting Aya Nimura is definitely my highlight of this event. And I don't regret a single moment of that day. 

Want to ready the full report of this event? 

Blogpost: Tears of joy? My grand lolita tea party journey 

Youtube: Grand Lolita Tea Party in Hamburg