Mcduff's Auditorium: February 2013

As I mentioned before I would be in a Lolita fashion show for Fly away fashion. Well the fashion show took place and I have lots to share with you about the whole day. So let’s get started.

It was the 10^th of February when I woke up to find that my town was snowed in. I love snow but I was worried that this could mess up my schedule just a bit. Luckily public transport worked just fine so I had no issues getting home from my boyfriend’s house. While my boyfriend was still tucked in nice and warm in bed I shoveled my way to the bus stop. It was quite an adventure but fun.

My friend Deborah would be picking my up at 10 and because I wouldn't be wearing Lolita during the event I could take my time to get ready until then.

The land of snow!

I had packed in all my clothes for the fashion show a day before so it cost me less time the following day. I hate running about searching for my blouse or socks. I had also spent about 2 hours the day before preparing my bento that I took with me. It all looked so delicious and I couldn't wait to eat it.

I prepared two onigiri filled with spring onions and salmon and tuna fish, ebi tempura, steamed broccoli, salmon, cucumber and tomatoes slices and a cupcake.

I got dressed into my Pikachu kigarumi, which I had lent from a friend (Such a sweetheart) and got very excited. I had always wanted to wear one of these but hadn't found one I liked online yet. The material was very soft and warm and great for keeping warm in the cold weather outside.

At 10 Deborah arrived and we headed off to Tsunacon.

The event took place in Rotterdam at the Erasmus University. It was quite difficult to find the entrance at first because there were no signs anywhere and we ended up walking around the whole campus. We did eventually manage to find the entrance after following some other cosplayers. To our amazement there was a huge line. Deborah only wore a miniskirt with a thin blouse for her Chi from Chobits outfit so she froze her butt off. Luckily it was fun to stand in line. We chatted with the people around us and munched on Chocó koalas.

After waiting for about 30 minutes we were finally allowed inside. It was nice and warm and crowed with cosplayers. Everyone was so colourful but I didn't see anything that spectacular.

It took us ages to get checked in. We were supposed to receive free entry because of our participation in the fashion show but no one knew who we were. After walking all over the building we finally received our badges. We quickly entered the dealer room and dropped off our bags at the Fly Away Fashion stand.

Finally bag free we browsed the crowded dealer room to admire its merchandise. So my mind was set to buy an Alpacasso because I didn’t buy one last time. But to my disappointment there were hardly any plushies to be found.

I did end up buying some cute under eye lashes from Kawaii Deluxe. Her shop is awesome by the way. I have been following her Twitter for ages and when I found out she was going to be at Tsunacon I knew I needed to have a look at her lovely goodies. I also took a company card with me to make a little advertising for her.

I met Rosalynn at the convention too. She really wasn't hard to miss; pink, white and pearls. She wore her cute Milky Chan JSK. I really loved how she coordinated it. She looked like a sugar fairy princess. She also participated in the fashion show and was just as excited.

At one o'clock I and Deborah went to the butler cafe to have our high tea. I had reserved this for us a few weeks before. It was so delicious and the butlers were so cute and polite. They constantly asked if everything was fine or if they could do anything else for us. They served green tea which I stared at sheepishly at first. I had drunk green tea before and wasn't a big fan and Deborah wasn't keen on drinking it either. She said that it tasted like seaweed to her.

Because I was curious I did try the tea and ended up loving it. It was slightly sweetened with honey I believe. I think I drank the whole teapot all by myself. :-)

The cakes were all presented on a huge étagère. The top and bottom floors were covered in purple flowers and the other two floors were filled with delicious treats. There were brownie pieces with cream, chocolate assorted biscuits, a berry muffin, two scones, jam and clotted cream (delicious) and two mozzarella, tomato and pesto sandwiches. They smelled and tasted delicious. Everything was so good. It was just a shame I couldn't eat it all. After we had finished we got to be in a picture with the butlers and received their signatures. They were too cute. It was a lot of fun hanging out at the butler cafe.

So then we went in search for Leyla so that Deborah could pick up her order. She had bought some cute earrings at Mfashion.

It took us awhile to find her but eventually found her in the dealer room together with Danchelle. It was nice to chat for a while and take pictures of each other.
A little while after I came across the best costume of the whole event. Seriously it was such an amazing costume. Someone was dressed up as Oogie Boogie from the Nightmare before Christmas. I just had to have a picture together with this guy. His costume was A-MA-ZING! Still can’t believe I’m on a picture with the Oogie Boogie man :-).

It was already early afternoon and we headed back to the FAF stall and met some other lovely Lolita’s from the fashion show. At that moment I checked my phone and saw that Liselotte had sent me an sms stating that she was lost and scared. I immediately called her and ran outside to try and find her. Luckily she wasn't far and we embraced the moment we saw each other. She was so scared and I was glad I found her. We soon went inside, got her badge and entered the dealer room to meet up with the rest of the people.

At this point in the day we started to get quite tired. We had missed the Lolita panels and other things we wanted to see and there wasn't much more to do than browse the dealer room some more. I ended up buying a cute kitty bell necklace and two wig stands. I had been looking for some for ages but never found a decent price for them. I was really happy with my purchases but my money was soon all gone, which was also a good thing.

Liselotte, Sandy,

It was nearly quarter past five and time to meet up for the fashion show. So I got my bag and we all headed up to the auditorium.

It was a huge hall where university students normally sit for their lectures. The stage where we would be walking was where the teacher would stand.

I was quite hungry by then so while everyone got dressed and there was hardly any room for me anymore I ate my bento. It was so tasty. I received a few complements on my creativity and people thought it was really cute I made everything myself. I really enjoyed my meal but left half for later.

After getting dressed we practiced the show with music a few times. It was a lot of fun and we made a few mistakes on timing but that’s what practicing is for right? :-P

There was also be a live streaming of the show on the internet. No reason to get nervous right? I had told my parents and boyfriend to watch too. After the show I heard that half of my family, in England, had watched the show.

Last minute pep talk. Everyone looked so pretty!

Then it was nearly time to start. We had to wait on the sides behind the screens while the audience came in. I got really nervous and my blouse was soaked in sweat. Moments later the music started and it was time to begin. My heart was racing. I was one of the last people to go on stage so my nerves where building up by the minute. Everyone was so perfect on stage from what I could see from the side. Then it was finally my turn to go on stage. My starting music was Heavy Rotations from AKB48 (love that song). At that moment my nervessness disapeared and I did my thing. I think I lightly tripped a few times because of all the cables on the floor but it felt good standing in the spotlight. I felt so full of energy and I glowed. I loved my outfit. It was the same as last time. It was already my own and I loved to rock that JSK. I hope to wear something Gothic for the next fashion show. That would be a nice change. I took the hand of the next person to go on stage and slowly walked behind the screen.

I squealed with joy as soon as I was backstage. I saw there was a laptop on the other side for people to watch the show. It was really cool to see. A few minutes later it was time to do the final walk together and take our bow. Katie gave another little speech and the audience applauded.

I was congratulated by some old school friends that came to enjoy the show. It was so sweet they came just for me :-). We posed for some groups shots a few moments more and went off stage. I get quite nervous when people are taking too many pictures of me for a long time. It makes me feel awkward. Luckily I'm not the only one. Liselotte dislikes it too.

Group picture!

The fashion show was over and everyone re-dressed into more comfortable clothes. I was glad to be back in my Pikakitty kigarumi (as I called it^^).

It was already half past 8 when we finally walked down to the car. It was really sweet of Deborah’s parents to bring me home again. I finished my bento in the car and just dozed whilst thinking about the busy day. When I was home I excitedly told my parents about my day and later on my boyfriend came to pick me up. Luckily I was free from work the day after because I was so exhausted.

I had such an amazing day and I hope that Katie will organize a fashion show for the Abunai convention. That’s the biggest convention here in the Netherlands and its three days long so a fashion day a day would be awesome.

Thank you for reading this huge test and take care!

Moment of honor

I would like to add that I think it is truly amazing what Katie does and has achieved s far in her Lolita career.

I was discussing this with my mum and we both agree that Katie, as shop owner, has already created such a great reputation for herself and her shop. It’s pretty amazing what she’s already achieved and now that she’s all by herself it’s even more amazing. I really look up to her and find it so inspirational for what she’s managed to create all by herself. I really see her living from her shop’s income later in life because I know for a fact that she will make it. I believe in her.

Thanks for reading and take care!

So I finally have time to write about the Rococo themed Lolita tea party I was at. I can tell you everyone looked amazing. Even though it was a classical theme I still decided to go in sweet, but chose red as my base colour. That’s quite an elegant, classical colour in my opinion. I decided to wear my candy house dress because it’s my favorite and also very comfortable. It also provided the warmth I needed because temperatures here have dropped drastically.

I met up with the lovely ladies, Dieuwke and Rowan, at the station so we could travel together. I was really worried I was going to be late (which I did end up being) because of the rain and slush on the roads. But we did manage to get there just round the right time.

The meet was organized by the lovely Anne and Jostine (Toothless Tigers blog) and they did a great job in organizing everything. Lots of people attended and the location they chose to eat was amazing.

We had a lovely high tea at this cafe called the Kollonie in Utrecht. It had a lovely atmosphere and the decor was very beautiful. The light was also a little dimmed down which gave it its dreamy vintage look. I loved it.

My friend Crystal also attended this time which was great. We had so much to talk about seeing that it had been months since we last met up. We had a lot of fun. She looked amazing in her blonde wig and I loved her cute bunny clips.

We were first served tea which I ending up stilling over most of the table. I would have failed in being a good wife in the old days :-) But I did manage to enjoy a few cups of tea during the meet. About 10 minutes later the high teas arrived. I shared a high tea with my friend Rowan because I have much difficulty eating one by myself. Plus we could share the costs which was also very convenient.

The high tea was nice though I was very amused to find that the clotted cream wasn't clotted cream but sour cream. I found this out after I put it on my cake. But luckily I quickly grew fond of the combination and covered the rest of my cake-lets in it.

After the high tea we paid and left the cafe. The sun had come out to greet us as we walked towards a church to take pictures inside. Once inside we were shooed away by the church keepers because they’d rather not have any people of “our kind” in their church. Oh dear I totally forgot that when I wear Lolita I worship Satan. Silly of me to forget.

Instead we visited the Dome garden and took our pictures there. They all turned out very beautiful even though we were all cold from posing without our coats on.

I think this one is really cute!

The lovely hosts Anne and Jostine!

Then it was time to go because Rowan needed to be home for dinner. So we left with a group of people heading for the station. Rowan and Dieuwke bought a Starbucks hot chocolate again but I decided to break our meet up tradition and skip on the Chocó this time.

When back in my town Rowan met up with her boyfriend and me and Dieuwke had dinner at this great Japanese place. You have about 6 rounds to choose 5 dishes. Making a decision wasn't always easy because everything looked so tasty.

I also ended up trying green tea ice cream and I loved it. Dieuwke loved the flavor but said that you either love it or hate it. Luckily I love it seeing I also found out I love green tea too^^ but that’s another story.