Can I be honest with you all? On one side I feel terrible for not posting about this event anytime sooner than I am today. But on the other side I don't really feel the motivation to post about this event cause I had some hard times during the event and after I came home from London.
Though when I talked to my friends they said that they would love to read my story non the less so here it is. The second part of the Dream Masquerade Carnival event from 2017.
We ended on the first day in my last DMC post with the amazing experiences I had on my first trip to London. It was truly amazing. We walked for hours and explored so many things with my friends. But the next day would be the day of the event, which is even more exciting than exploring the city.
On the morning of the 26th of august we woke up around 6 to get started for the day. We decided that we would wake up at this hour cause Liv and Ayumi needed to leave pretty early for model rehearsals. As I was still laying in bed I tried to catch up on social media and getting excited for the day. Though I must be honest I felt pretty horrible already, no hunger at all and pain in my body from the day before. But luckily I had my medication with me so I could survive the rest of the day with no worries. Even when I had a terrible morning I was super excited to help Liv with her waist ties. She was wearing a gorgeous old school dress from Angelic Pretty which she coorded with a modern twist.
I tied her bow and loved how it turned out, it was so pretty and perfect.
After they left to the model rehearsals I got ready too, I planned an OTT sweet coord with my milky planet OP. It was simple, not to hot and still me. I felt so good in my coord and was ready to tackle the day. Together with Petra we traveled to the starbucks where Ayumi would wait for us after model rehearsals. Though somehow we ended up later than expected so we met at the bus stop instead and walked together to the venue. Liv was already at the venue cause she was lucky enough to catch a VIP ticket, but I was sure that we would see her again soon.
Loving my travel buddies! Ayumi and Petra are true sweethearts
There was already a small line waiting and soon I spotted some familiar faces! It is amazing to see all your friends again that are living all over the world. But it was also really nice to see that people recognised me, both from instagram or my youtube channel. I'm always a bit in shock that there are people out there who like and watch my videos or follow me on instagram. It was so nice to meet every single one of you, and I'm so thankfull that you said hi to me cause it felt so unreal.
Old and new friends together!
The day was filled with a busy schedule, going from Q&A sessions to game shows with Tripple Fortune, all kinds of fashion shows and my favourite part of the day was the guessing game where Tripple Fortune needed to guess which item was the oldest of the candidates. That game show was hilarious!
Of course we had the opportunity to shop a lot and boy it was hard to choose this time. Angelic Pretty Paris was there with a booth but also Imai Kira, Tripple Fortune, Tokimeki Gabriel and of course many indie brands like Summer Tales Boutique, Heaven's Atrium, Dream Holic and lots more. There was also a giant room filled with second hand items and a remote vendor table with lots of items to choose from.
In the end I ended up picking up my orders from Me likes Tea and Cotton Candy Feet. But also buying a second hand dress and some smaller pieces like socks and accessories. My husband Alexander was lucky this time too. When we visited the booth of Tripple Fortune, Babi and Kai insisted that he would try on one of their new jackets that where made to fit a male model. As my husband tried it on, they where both so happy to see the fit and explained the details of the jacket to us. In the end after lots of doubting we bought the jacket and I must say I'm not regretting anything. That piece is stunning!
One of my highlights was meeting up with the designer of Heaven's Atrium, I was so nervous to meet her but since I had contact with her for many weeks over on instagram it felt like we knew each other for quite some time but still I was nervous to go talk to her.
She is such a sweetheart and I still adore her brand a lot! We made some pictures together, cause what else do we do when we meet friends that we like.
I had so much fun at the event, talking to my friends. Visiting the different booths and activities during the day I forgot about time and the fact that I wasn't wearing my correct shoes most of the time. Cause yeah I wanted to look cute while taking photo's and running around at the venue. But this resulted in me being super tired, in lots of pain again and feeling nausea so I needed to rest for most of the afternoon on a chair hoping things would get a bit better with some rest.
I felt very sad about it but I had peace with it cause there was lots to do in the activities room where the fashion shows was held. I'm really thankful that I wasn't alone and that my friends came by to say hi, but we also had some drinks and lots of fun memories already. I couldn't wait for the next day!
After the event was over Liv, Ayumi, Petra, Alexander and me went out for some vegan dinner which wasn't the best to be honest but our dessert was amazing! We had vegan froyo, it was so delicious and it made up for the dinner we had. I was happy that all the locations of the restaurants where close to the venue cause I had some difficulties with walking. Luckily my dearest Ayumi was there to help me with walking. I can't thank her enough for supporting me and being my walking stick that weekend. It wasn't easy to accept my limitations that day but I needed to face it non the less.
When we traveled back to the hostel with public transport but Liv noticed that she lost her totebag with all her goodies and items from the event. So we stopped at the first busstop we could stop and got out. Called both restaurants in the hopes that her bag was found again. Luckily it was still at the froyo place and we went back to pick it up. We where so happy to see that everything was still in there, the owners of the froyo restaurant where so sweet and helpful. They placed her bag behind the counter while we where traveling back to the restaurant so no one would steal it. Once everything was alright we headed back to the hostel and called it a day. Cause tomorrow would be an other day filled with amazing moments.
Curious to see what I bought at the event? I made a haul video about it, you can watch it here
it's been way to long since my last blogpost but I'm happy to say that I will be posting some new blogposts at least once a month. My plan is to make a blogpost every week but I know how bad I am with keeping up with everything so lets start with once a month, just to be safe.
Today I want to talk a bit about the next event that I will be attending which is Urban Fairytale in Berlin. This event is organized by Ribbon City, the local community of Berlin and Court of Fables which is the overal global community from Germany. Urban Fairytale is their first big event and they have some great names on their guest list. The main guest is Baby, the stars shine Bright with their three representatives. More about them below.
I've met most of them already at other events but it's always great to meet them again. Especially when they are doing a new fashion show at the event as well. I am really looking forward to this, a lot of my friends are walking in the fashion show so I need to cheer for them.
Besides Baby, the stars shine Bright we also get to meet Sana. He is a musician. To be honest I've never heard of him before the announcement. But I'm still looking forward to meet him, maybe I need to start looking up some of his music.
Masumi Kano is the designer of Baby, the stars shine Bright.
She studied design and pattern making in university and came to the company after receiving het diploma.
One year after she joined, she was already the foremost designer for the company.
Her foremost responsibillity in Baby's elegant world, is to design dresses that are elegant and doll-like, but not overly sweet.
Masumi Kano has also been active with promoting the brand overseas at conventions and in fashion shows. Including Japan Expo in Paris and many events in the US, Canada, China and Sweden.
I had the chance to meet Masumi Kano before at the La vie en Rose event in Paris last year. Though I didn't got a picture with her I am really looking forward to see her again in Berlin this year and ask for a photo. Not because I want to meet her so desperately or because I'm a big fan of her in general but I still like the fact that she is coming to Berlin. I do hope that she will smile a bit, since every time I see pictures of her she looks so bored.
Rin-Chan is the store manager of the flagship store in Harajuku. Besides being a store manager she is also a well seen model for the annual tea parties from the very beginning. Rin-Chan has her own clothing line which is very populair. Some of her well known designs are the Rubbit Watch series, Black Cat series, Tinker Bell series, Dreaming Kitten series and the Gretel series.
Rin-Chan isn't only a model in Japan but she has also walked in some fashion shows in the US, China and Canada. Besides being a model, store manager she had also the tittle of Model Staff Representative on her name for Baby, the stars shine Bright.
Now she is someone I'm looking forward to, still I haven't heard of here before this event though. Just like SANA, but after doing some research I really fell in love with her designs for BTSSB. Especially the Tinker Bell series it's so light and airy. Maybe I can add this dress to my wardrobe some day.
Sana started his career as the guitarist of the Japanese Visual Kei band MASK, gothic rock band Kain and as a support guitarist for many other Japanse artists. Since then, he has also made some name for himself with a successful solo career. In the last few years he has been touring around Europe both as a support guitarist and with his solo tour.
This year's solo tour "Where is my Honey" is also going to stop in Berlin, where he is going to attend the event with us. Besides being a musician he is also a a well known face on the Japanese runways where he has modeled for Black Peace Now, Atelier Boz and HELLCATPUNKS.
I have never heard of SANA before and after doing some research about him I didn't found any music files of his current solo tour. Maybe I am not that good with looking up music in general but still. At the Osharecon convention in 2015 was ADAM a special guest and they played a small set, but sadly enough most of the people didn't know who they where or enjoyed the performance at all. I do think this is going to be the same, not everyone that is coming to a lolita event is interested in the same music. Let alone love the same artist. There aren't any clear details besides on his official Fb page that he is going to stop in Berlin on the 23th with his tour. Though on the event page we only got the announcement about the fact that he will be modeling in the fashion show for Alice and the Pirates.
I'm not a big fan of their music so far but I am still looking forward to meet him and seeing him in the fashion show. Especially since he will be wearing male clothes! More shopping opportunities for my husband, hell yeah.
If you are interested in coming to this event as well you can still buy your tickets till the 23th of June! Get your Tickets HERE!
It feels like I didn't spend any time with the Belgian community these past months. Traveling to Holland and two times in a row to Germany for their meetings, just like I did on the 18th of December.
On the day before the Candy Day tea party I traveled together with my husband and Saltje to a small city near Frankfurt named Offenbach. This little town was 20 minutes away from the meeting that was held in Seligenstadt. Last year I also attended this annual meeting, it was my first time so I was more that happy when we got our tickets this year. The ticket sale went super fast, it sold out in 2 minutes! But last year we did our trip of 6 hours on the day of the meeting. This was something that I wanted to change. We booked the cheapest hotel I could find and was amazed by it when we arrived.
Our room was smelling like freshly renovated place, this wasn't on the website but awesome non the less. Saltje surprised me with a peel off face mask, so while my husband was sleeping we did our girly things and applied our masks. While browsing through the latests photo's on tumblr and facebook we waited for our masks to dry.
Since we traveled the day before the event we had plenty of time in the morning to get dressed. I had everything plannend in my head, make up, coord but not my hair. A couple of days before the event I made my own headpiece, this was the first time I made something like this but the end result was beautiful.
We arrived just in time, I already spotted some of the lolita girls in the garden of the monastery where the event was held. After we dropped of our cupcakes and cookies we headed towards the group of girls outside. I brought some food to share since I couldn't eat anything from the pre-made items that was made by the catering, it was super nice of the organization that they allowed us to make something and eat it at the event.
In the garden I saw some of my friends waving at me, but I couldn't tell from that distance who it was. I think I need some new glasses, my eyesight isn't the best these days. But soon enough I spotted who it was! It were May, Jenny and Amaya. Also some other girls, but I haven't met them before. I was super excited when I saw them and we immediately made some photo's together. After we said hi and hugged each other of course.
I didn't make any single photo's of their coords which made me a bit sad when I was writing this post but I love the pictures of us together.
We didn't attend the guided tour through the city instead we wanted to have our pictures taken by the official photographer Christian Rösch who makes beautiful photo's. But we didn't want to wait for an hour to get our pictures so we wandered off to explore the church a bit that was just behind the garden. Inside the church we had a little shoot by ourselves but sadly the pictures didn't come out that great. Non the less it was great to hang out with the ladies.
After a while we came back to the garden where we found some of our other friends and an other amazing photographer named Michael. I already knew him and asked if he could make a photo of me as well, he made my wedding photo's as well so I knew how awesome his work was. It was great to work with him again and the result is stunning as always.
It was cold that day so after being outside for quite a while we headed inside to drink some hot chocolate in order to wait for the doors to open. I found a little chance to head back outside to get my pictures taken by Christian, I was really surprised by his photo's when I saw them online. I knew the Candy Day community had an amazing photographer but I didn't know he was this good!
At 2 a clock it was time to head to the event, the doors would open in a minute. Everyone was chatting in the hallway and I met some more of my friends. There where so many people that I knew that day, this really made it so special for me.
We shared our table with May, Carmen from Liparo, Jenny, and two other girls named Aleister and Larissa if I'm not wrong. And of course Saltje and Alexander. The tables where beautifully decorated with chandeliers, goodies, christmas decoration and little frog badges with gold crowns. They were adorable, we could write our name on it so everyone knew what our names were.
Hoa, one of the organizers of the tea party opened the event with a little speech telling us that she was very happy with the response she had from the ticket sale and about the fact that there where people coming from Belgium and France this time to attend the tea party. It's getting bigger and bigger every year! On our table we found a little bag of homemade cookies which we could exchange for a vegan version. This was super thoughtful of the organizers and really appreciated by us.
The buffet was just like last year filled with the most delicious looking desserts and savory snacks. Even some other girls made some vegan treats as well, in total there where 8 vegan participants. This was a lot more than I thought but amazing non the less! Sadly I still don't know who they are but their desserts where delicious.
I participated in the secret santa so while we were enjoying our sweets the staff brought us our gifts. My secret santa had made the gift herself which is always so nice when they do this. And to my surprise it even matched my coord of the day. She made me a headbow clip and a small bow to go with it. It was perfect, now I have a matching headbow to go with my Drosselmeyer JSK. I was so in love with it that I asked Alexander to put it in my hear so I could wear it the rest of the day.
It is a sort of tradition to have coordinate contest at the candy day christmas tea party. I knew from some girls that they would enter the contest but I was still doubting. It wanted to enter but I was also very afraid to speak in public. After I made my headpiece a couple of days before the event I started to think about entering but I hadn't made up my mind. Hoa walked by to ask if I would enter the contest, but I said... "Euhm, yah, euhm, I don't know..." I still wasn't sure if I wanted to go through with it all. Hoa laughed and said you fit perfectly in the theme you're in, just like all the other girls standing around me. I thanked her for making the decision for me since I would have been disappointed if I didn't join in the end. May told Alexander that he should join me as well so we could enter as a couple and so we did.
I was super nervous while we where waiting in front of the christmas tree to do our little talk about our outfit. In my best English I told them about why I decided to wear the coord that I was wearing that day and that we made the accessories ourselves. Everyone clapped their hands and we walked together towards the photographer to get our picture taken. It was all over, but I was in shock about it. My hands where shaking and I almost started crying from all the stress but I did it. I took part in the contest and I talked in front of the group, mission accomplished!
While I was writing my little valentine cards to put in the little envelopes they started with the raffle. I think everyone won a price, this is why I like this tea party so much. Everyone goes home with a a smile on their face. Not only from the raffle prices but the whole atmosphere gives it something special. I was lucky enough to win a big bow, still not sure if it fits my style entirely since it's so huge but I will find a good use for it some day. Alexander won a cute necklace which he gave to me as well. Since most of the prices are for the ladies, a man like him can't use a dusty pink butterfly necklace.
Some more time passed by, more pictures where made and it was time to reveal the winners of the outfit contest. Too my biggest surprise we ended in third place! I still getting used to it but I'm so thankful that people liked our coord so much that they wanted to vote for us. Hoa handed over the price and I was so surprised when she held a frame in front of her. Inside was the artwork of this year made by Meri, her work is amazing and I couldn't believe that I won a print of her work. I'm a big fan of original artwork so getting this was the cherry on my pie. The rest of the price was super adorable as well, we won some cute stationary, a small bow, ring and a photobook.
To all good things comes and end and also to this day. I'm still thinking about this day like it was yesterday. Meetings in Germany have a special place in my heart, I don't know why but I love them!
We drove back to Belgium that evening after we said goodbye to everyone we know. I received little gifts from friends and took my valentines home with me. Every one of them gets a special place in my book.
Thank you all for your time and I'll see you in my next post!
The mori community in Holland just started a couple of months ago and last weekend we had the first meeting. In Belgium we don't have a mori community so I'm really happy that I can be a part of the dutch community as well. For myself I started wearing mori about a year and a half ago I think well I did tried it out in 2012 already with a lolita, mori crossover outfit which turned out pretty good if I can say myself. Over the years I collected many mori items but still I wasn't really sure if I did it right. I've never took the time to do some decent researched besides reading some styles blogs or browsing through pictures which ends in my style today. Still very insecure about it but I managed to attend the first mori meeting with a pretty good amount of confidence about my coord!
My trip to utrecht started pretty good, I pulled out a colorful coord out of my closest which was also very comfortable to travel in since I would be traveling after the meeting was over.
A car packed with food, picknick blankets and drawing supplies. Along with my suitcases for traveling I was on my way to Utrecht in Holland.
We arrived at 13:05 at the central station where we would all meet up, but I walked by them since I was looking for the second Starbucks coffee. The first one was way to busy! Though the second one was in restoration or so?
After I turned around I saw a group of mori girls and some familiar faces standing in front of the ticket booths. I found the group!
Everyone looked amazing especially Gabriel in his dark mori/strega coord, you can see more of him down bellow.
I didn't took the time to greet everyone at this point since I wanted to get my coffee first, what is it with me and starbucks? Must be true love.
I said hello to the whole group with a big smile on my face, I'm always so happy when I meet new people! Some on them I already knew from Facebook, other communities but some of them where also new to me. It was a bit scary to talk to everyone but I survived it after all.
The weather wasn't that great and since it was the first time that Mariska organized a meetup for the community it wasn't all going as smoothly as it should be. But I'm totally fine with this, I'm enjoying myself anyway. She did an amazing job after all, if it wasn't for her there wouldn't be a community after all I think!
We stayed inside for the first half an hour, sitting on a big artwork in from of a fancy store for old people. Well not old old people but more like a fancy boutique for your mom.
All the store lady's where checking us out while we dived into all the home made foods. Must have been a funny scene for them..
Photo by Kristina
When the weather started to clear up a bit so we headed outside to find a nice place for our picknick. We still go a lot of food left! It was hard to find a nice spot inside Utrecht without traveling with public transport. None of the girls or boys knew a place where we could go so after we checked on the map for the closest green spot I took the lead when I made a photo of the little map. Since the others didn't took the lead to start walking. I guided everyone to the park that we had choose but there was a festival at that time. So after walking back we went to a little garden park and decided that we would stay the afternoon here.
Photo by Kristina
It was perfect for photo's with all the little flowers, old walls and pretty people of course! Since the sun was shining it was the perfect weather for a mori meet. We sat down on the stones, it wasn't that hard on our buts as it sounds but instead it was super cozy with all the little blankets. After we made all the photo's and talked to each other a bit more we sat down on our blankets for a little introduction round. We didn't know each other that well so it was super nice to do something different than all the other meets. It was funny to hear the stories from everyone why they started with mori fashion, what their hobbies are or just some funny facts.
Photo by Elizabeth
Together with the lovely Kristina and Lidy
Normaly we were supposed to have a crafting meet but we had so much fun together that we played a little game called "Weerwolven van Wakkerdam". I never played it before but I think I did a great job when I won the game. It's not the easiest game to understand when you lack concentration since it can go pretty quickly. Loved the way how we played together with each other while Lidy and Anne's boyfriend sat on a bench to read some books together. They waren't in the mood for playing the game so it was totally fine that they did something else.
Playing games
The mori book club
All the food was gone, the game was over and people started to leave. I stayed together with a couple of friends to go out for some dinner. We choose to eat Pancakes at a famous pancake house in utrecht. It was so delicious but so hard to choose from. It was really nice to talk to every single one of them on a more personal note than before at the meet up.
Selfie wall with gorgeous people
It was such a nice meeting and a lot different than the Lolita meetings that I'm used to. But most of all meeting different kinds of people that aren't into lolita fashion as well. Since a lot of the girls that are into lolita are also wearing or want to wear mori fashion in the future. Though I think it would be so much nicer that the lolita community stays apart from the mori community. It's not that I dislike the fact that more and more people are wearing mori but seeing the same people at every event get a bit boring over time don't you think? Or is it just me?
Well that's about it sweeties, I have some outfit photo's for you to look at. Everyone looked amazing that day and it was a true inspiration. I tried to label the different styles a bit but I found it to hard to do so I deleted it.. Have lots of fun darlings!
All outfit photo's are from Kristina, thank you so much sweetheart!
Hi sweeties, while my video is processing at this moment I thought I will write a bit about my journey from last weekend. I'm pretty quick this time with my report so I hope you'll enjoy it.
It all started on Tuesday morning around 10 a clock when we packed everything in the car for a six hour drive to Hamburg Germany. But before we could cross the border we needed to drop Fonske off at the dog hotel, I bet he had a tea party as well with his doggy friends at the hotel.
After we brought Fonske to the hotel I was ready for the event of a life time. Who wound't be excited about an event hosted by Anime Matsuri. Atleast I was super excited about it before all the drama started in the community but I bet you have read all about it in the meantime. Since a lot of people where selling there tickets and where doubting if they needed to go or not, I was being my silly self and told everyone that it's going to be a blast no matter what. So we drove towards Hamburg but first we needed to pick up Josine. She is a dutch lolita who wanted to attend the event as well but wasn't able to travel to the event. Basically I told her, if you don't mind sharing a hotel you can come with us! And so she did!
I picked her up in Eindhoven, which was a small journey on itself. We should meet each other at the station but when I arrived at the station there was no lolita waiting for me. I decided to walk to the other side of the station but I didn't found her there either. Where is she?
After a little text asking where she was we headed back to the first place where we went to look for her and luckily we found her. As a little tradition I bought myself a drink at the starbucks and we all continued the trip to Hamburg. Since I was driving the first 4 hours my wrists starting to hurt real bad so I needed to stop driving and Alexander took over. I wasn't driving 4 hours without a break but still I was a bit bumped about it that I needed to quit because of my health issues.
JSK: Handmade
Bag: Swimmer
Rest: Offbrand
We arrived in Hamburg around 6:30 in the evening, found our hotel and where a bit surprised by the size of our room. We booked a room for 3 people and we got one that was suitable for 5! That was one big bedroom, but it was really nice that Josine got a separate room inside our hotelroom. The hotel itself was old and could use a bit of modernization but it was good enough for us. It was simple and basic but when you aren't staying in the hotel for most of the day it was the perfect place.
That evening we went out for some dinner, the options that we had where Sushi or Falafel. Both Josine and I said the same thing.. sushi! It was a cute little restaurant and the sushi was great as well. We even got miso soup as well within the same price, this was a nice surprise. Josine ordered some tea to go with her dinner, it came in the most cutest little tea set that I've ever seen. She managed to drink around 10 cups out of one pot amazing isn't it?
Since we traveled a lot this day we decided to go to bed real early, well at least before 11 in the evening. While we checked on the lastes Facebook updates we noticed that the organizer of the event *Mr J. Leigh* posted an update on the event page. With the notice that the event would start 2 hours later than planned. He and the special guests missed their flight in Istanbul. It caused a lot of extra tention on the event but quickly after we saw the message of May that they waren't going to wait till 2 in the afternoon to enter the venue! I decided with the rest that we would join as soon as possible when the doors would open at 12. The people above our room where celebrating that the Ramadam had started so we were treated by a night full of singing and dancing while we wanted to sleep. Luckily I'm not bad with noises around me if I'm tired so I fell asleep real quickly.
The alarm clock went off at the time of 7 it was event time. We got dressed and Josine asked me if I could help her with the wig that she wanted to wear for the event. I kindly helped her along to safe the wig that she brought, yeah I know that I use the word safe but it was kind of death before we started the operation save-the-dreaded-wig. It was really fun to do since I was able to fix the wig without damaging it even further. I was really surprised that the wig was so full of dreads, she told me it was an old wig from a friend but still! After I restored the wig as good as possible it was time for the hairstyle itself. Josine told me what she wanted with the mood of her hairstyle and I made it possible for her. She looked amazing afterwards, it was a hairstyle where I used her own hair together with the wig. When I was finished with her hair I started with my own hairstyle, which was a simple side updo with flowers and my star clip.
We arrived at the venue around 12:30 and some of the German lolitas where already making pictures and talking to each other. Quickly we noticed some of the people I knew which was pretty awesome! I also talked to some of the girls that I've seen before but never spoke to them before since I'm always super shy. Well basically I'm always a bit scared to talk to people I only know from photo's, is this only me? Time passed by and all the other girls came in as well, Josine was kindly enough to introduce me to a lot of the girls she knew. It was time to find a place to sit since all the guests had arrived. All of them looked amazing, and I got the biggest smile on my face when I saw that Aya from Victorian Maiden was standing behind me!
After the opening speech and the introduction from all the guests we could enter the Buffet. Which was loaded with amazing kinds of different dishes. Starting from little salads to main courses and desserts, there was so much that we all could go for a second round but I don't think anyone did this hihi. At the tea party there was also an unlimited amount of tea to drink for everyone, I sticked with the green tea. Since I didn't liked the fruity one that they served hihi. While we went to buffet the staff members place little goodie bags on our seats that were filled with pretty nice items. A lot of postcards which is something that I love, a cameo hanger that was also your raffle ticket and a little towel from Victorian Maiden whoohoo!
While we where eating our delicious meals the first raffle round started. I still don't know how we managed to do this without looking stupid whit our faced stuffed with food but it was a succes. Some of the prices where the books of Misako, Koko Kim and Midori but also some lockshop items like wigs and tights. Our table was sort of lucky but most of them was my husband. His number got called so he stoot up and walked towards the middle. Everyone was clapping for him while he proudly posed with his price, the lockshop alice thights, for a photo. A lot of girls said to me you are so lucky! And you got both changes of winning, which I answered, yes that's true but I also bought two tickets hihi. It's always nice to have an extra spot in the raffles but it comes with a big price tag. And believe me this is not why I bring my husband along to all the events.
When the raffle was finished it was time to take pictures with the special guests. They walked to the balcony in the room where the photographer placed his flashlights and camera to capture this special moment. It was nicely organized, every table would take pictures to there was a minimal of waiting time. Our table was second in line just like with the buffet. Everyone looked amazing when they where standing next to the designers. You also got the opportunity to make a polaroid photo with them as well. I only made photo's with them and afterwards and I took shots from everyone that followed after me but sadly enough I'm not really happy with the result.
The day was filled with raffles, all pretty small to be honest but it kept us busy during the day. We had lots of fun and I've met a lot of new people, some of them already knew me from Instagram which was pretty cool to be honest. I never expected that people would recognize me, most of the time I'm the one that is like I know you since I've seen your photo's and you look amazing. When all the photo's where made by the official photographer it was time for the Q&A session with the special guest. I was planning on writhing the whole thing out on my blog but I don't feel like doing it so much. It's not that I forget everything they said, which is also a bit true but I have all the footage on my laptop it's just to much work. Instead I'll tell you a bit about my two questions. The first one was for Aya from Victorian Maiden. I started my question with the fact that I'm in love with their brand since the beginning of my lolita life and that I wanted to know if they could make their items a bit bigger. I told them that I love the dresses so much but I just don't fit in it! It was super terrifying speaking in front of a group since I was standing and especially speaking to Aya! Nervous as hell and I even lost some of my words. After I suggested that it could be made bigger with shirring or just some extra centimeters, everything was fine for me as long as the European girls would fit in it.
I set down again and started crying, OMG it was just insane. Most of the time I'm not so emotional but when I have stress when I need to speak in front of a group I break down sometimes. Everyone around me was so sweet, telling me I did a good job. When the translator was finished with my question it was time for the moment I've waited for! The answer of Aya, she told me that she was aware of the small sizing but that she will do her best for the next collections of Victorian Maiden. This was one of my happiest moments of the day! All my prayers from over the year are finally heard.
My precious moment, posing with Aya! Whii
When the Q and A sessions with the special guest was over it was time for an Q and A with the kawaii ambassadors and Misako. Not that many girls wanted to ask them something, I really have no idea why. Maybe they waren't a fan or so? I asked a question to both of the kawaii ambassadors, I was really curious if the people of their own community look down on them or think that they where better than the rest. Most of the kawaii ambassadors are first a part of the community but when you get a specific titel I can assume that they group will look different at them.
It was funny to see that the two kawaii ambassadors told us a different opinion on it. Daniella from Mexico had the two sides of the trofee, with on one side the people that knew her before she was a kawaii ambassador and already her friends but on the other side there where also some haters she said. Ann the kawaii ambassador from America was telling us that she only had positive things when she joined the kawaii program. It was a bit strange to see that they where promoting the kawaii ambassador titel a lot. Atleast where I'm from we don't need a kawaii ambassador and I also think we don't need one in The Netherlands either. So seeing them promoting the titel like a nice opportunity to travel around the world felt so forced.
Around 5 I think we needed to move to a different room since the event was ending. When we arrive in the other room we all where amazed by the looks of it! It felt like a palace with gorgeous paintings on the wall and nice seatings where we talk a bit more with everyone. We also took a lot of photo's there. Misako was holding a signing session, I asked John if it was possible to get autographs of the other designers as well. Since I already had one from Misako I really needed a autograph from Aya so badly. I stood in line to buy Misako's second book, at home I already had the first one so getting the second one without the shipping and import costs is always better.
I went also to Aya to ask her for an autograph as well, she told me that I was the first one that asked for one. It was so special! I handed over the postcard where that I wanted her to sign I started crying again. I felt a bit silly since it was the second time in a row that I cried for her at the event, she really represents my dream image of a lolita. When she noticed that I was crying she hugged me and searched into her handbag for a little tissue to wipe off my tears. At this moment I still have this little tissue that she gave me, it may sounds a bit silly but to me it's special since it reminds me of that day.
I talked a bit more to her, took a selfie and had an other hug from her when I said goodbye.
After Aya it was time to ask Taira and Gabriel for an autograph and selfie as well.
They where all so sweet even though Gabriel felt a bit awkward during the event I think. He is very conservative and closed to everyone but maybe if you know them a bit better he's totally different.
When everyone was ready we went outside for some photo's and more chatting. We paired up with the girls from England to go out together and eat some sushi. At that time all the girls from the UK were still new for me but after we went to their apartment we became a bit more familiar with each other. I'm happy that I've met them and at the restaurant there was also an other girl which teamed up with us. It was Raven she has her own shop with jewelry that are perfect for casual, classic and gothic coords. She didn't got a ticket for the friday event but she had one for the saturday so I was really happy to hear that she would be there as well the next day.
Together with Monika the owner of Sweet & Tiny we went back to the tram station to head back home to get a good night of sleep since the next day it was day two of the event.
Selfie wall of Friday with amazing people!
On the third day there was a lot of stress in the morning but on the other side it was also a bit relaxed as well. Josine was a volunteer at the event for the second day so she needed to be at the venue around 9 in the morning. When we walked back from the tram station the evening before I noticed that we needed to walk true a creepy part of the central station where all the homeless people where sleeping and I told her that I would wak with her the next morning so she wouldn't be alone in the morning with all those people. Not that they are aggressive but it was the whole atmosphere around there that was scary. After we where finished dressing up, well when Josine was finished dressing up we took some photo's of her coord outside. She looked amazing in a gorgeous JetJ dress, that brand is just so lovely!
We arrived at the venue just in time but there was no one from the staff waiting for the girls. While we waited in front of the building we spotted Gabriel from Tokimeki, he was all alone and walked towards the back of the venue. Since no one else was there we decided to follow him like true detectives. He didn't noticed us but he walked super fast, maybe that's why. After two streets we gave up, he wasn't walking towards the entrance of the venue so we headed back.
A couple of minutes later we spotted a girl dressed in frills, she was one of the models for Metamorphose. All the models needed to be there around 9, there were a lot of them. It was quit funny so see that some people didn't recognized me that morning. I went for a quick and super casual outfit with floral tights, a black Baby dress, my natural hair in a messy bun and no make up.
When the group was complete there was still no sign of the organization, designers or other people than the models.
One of the girl had a phone number of the staff working at the venue and asked for them if they could let them in. We said goodbye to all the lovely girls and headed back to the mall, quickly after I noticed that the Japanese guests and kawaii ambassadors plus the event staff knocked on the door of the venue. I went back and guided them to the same entrance where the others girls went through. He was very impatient the whole time from the moment that I told him about the fact that everyone was already inside and while we needed to wait till the venue opened the door for them. He didn't said thank you or anything but just walked inside, the Japanese quest where very sweet and smiled at us while they bow forward and said thank you which made me feel a bit better for telling them the way in. We had some time left, the entrance for the normal guests was around 12 so I took the opportunity to make some photo's and get myself some coffee at the Starbucks that I found in the shopping mall.
It was around 12 that we went back to the venue to check in for the second day of the event. This time it was in a different room and I almost made the best entrance of the whole group since I didn't was the step at the end of the hall. That would have been a funny story afterwards but luckily that didn't happen. When we checked a girl gave us a goodie bag that was filled with different kinds items than the day before which was pretty awesome! There was even some letter paper from Victorian Maiden so gorgeous! The VIP ticket holders got a VM mirror and some socks as well with all the other postcards and cameo badge. Inside our bags there where also some drink coupons 2 for the normal guests and 3 for the VIP. The room itself looked like a runway but with very bad lighting, there where also two lady's playing on the violin, I'm still not sure why they where playing live music. It didn't add something to the day...
Together with Lise I walked passed the little shops and bought some jewelry from Tokimeki, Sweet & Tiny and Fantastic Grim they al have some amazing stuff! I also bought a pink blouse from Metamorphose as well which I didn't had so I'm supper happy with that as well. The day going real slow to be honest, everyone was sitting on the chairs, standing on the side or just sitting on the ground. There where some small raffles which where build up all the same with the host asking the same questions to every winner on the same tone of speaking. The fashion show was pretty nice though, Lise and I walked towards the little stage and there where some seats open to sit. We looked to each other and decided to use them. So we sat on the front row when the fashion show started. It was so nice to see all the designs passing by, the models needed to walk pretty far before they could make their turn back towards the little stage. We saw some beautiful designs from Krad Lanrete, Metamorphose and Victorian Maiden.
The organization had also a surprise for Misako, a big birthday cake. We agreed to sing a birthday song for her while they brought the cake to the front of the venue. It was not a big cake it was huge! The only downside was that we all could have piece of cake after we went to the buffet. I decided to join the whole group towards the buffet since I was super hungry at that time. But when we arrived the only things that where suitable for me as a vegan where some spring rolls and antipasti. Most of the plates where already empty when we arrived which was about 10 minutes after it opened. So as quickly as I could I grabbed 3 mini spring rolls and one antipasti. Everyone was standing in front of the table where the empty plates where standing and just eating while they walked to the next spot.
My husband asked to the staff if they would bring some more food since most of is was already gone but they told him that everything that was sanding on the tables was the last. All the people that came after us which was about 15 minutes after the buffet opened everything was just gone. I think a quarter of the guests didn't got anything from the buffet and afterwards I heard that some people gave their food away to the Japanse guests since they didn't got anything as well. Other girls went outside to buy food and others went to the Mac Donalds for food. How is this even possible? We were devastated about it, friday was perfect with lots of food for a whole army and today not even the little mouses got something to eat. It set the tone for the rest of the day sadly. I was bored as hell, didn't pay any attention the the same Q&A session with the special guest and to all the other raffle rounds as well. Though my husband won again in the raffle, he won a kokokim set which is super cute but oh so tiny. Even my dressing doll is to chubby for it..
The VIP girls would get priority for the signing session with the guest but this never happend, there was so program and people went outside without knowing the event went and missed some of the things. The organization was terrible and we all felt it. Which is pretty horrible if you ask me as a guest that is not even a part of the organization. I've made a little blog from my days in Hamburg and my honest opinion for the last day. When the event was over we teamed up with some of the girls and went to a little coffee shop to drink some tea instead of joining the group photo. I've met some more girls outside which I didn't see inside the venue they where all so sweet! We made lots of selfies together, it's a good way to make new friends.
Our day was short but super tiring and an overal heavy atmosphere. We went to bed real early since we would head back to Belgium on Sunday morning. This was truly an event to remember both in a good and a bad way. I'm looking forward to the next event from Street Fashion Europe they do a much better job with events than those American people. Overall I had a great time with my friends but it would be so much better if the second day was just as amazing as the first one.
Well next time we will do it bigger and better!
You can watch my vlog about the Grand Lolita Tea Party on my youtube channel.
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