Animecon J-Fashion Show

For years one of the members of our Dutch Lolita community, Pamela, has organized Japanese fashion shows for big Dutch anime conventions. Unfortunately, I was never available due to school or other cicrcumstances. So, when Pamela announced she was doing another J-fashion show at Animecon, the largest annual anime festival in the Netherlands, I checked my agenda and this time I was able to go! So I volunteered and was picked to represent Sweet Lolita style. ^^
I decided to wear Fancy Paper Dolls in a pastelly outfit combined with white and I ended up really liking my outfit!

ღ Sweet Dolly Bunnies ღ
My outfit rundown:
Headbow: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
Blouse: H&M
JSK: Angelic Pretty’s Fancy Paper Dolls
Socks: Angelic Pretty
Shoes: An*Tai*Na
Hair clips: Chocomint and Swimmer
Necklace: Dolly House
Bracelets: 6% Dokidoki, Paris Kid’s, Swimmer and offbrand
Ring: Dolly House

One of the other models ended up wearing Fancy Paper Dolls too actually! I wasn’t really sure whether that would be nice, but since she had it in a different colourway, different cut and was representing a different style than me it was actually quite cool after all. ^^
I took the train to The Hague on my own. Ah actually, I wasn’t alone at all, for I had my cute new Loppy with me! It’s just so soft and snuggly and adorable! I love it so much~! ♥

Just chilling with my Loppy in the train. 8D
I was supposed to meet my friend Iris at The Hague central station, but unfortunately she had to take a detour thanks to train problems. So I arrived on my own and despite having looked up which tram to take I decided to follow some cosplayers. Worst idea ever! Turns out they took the wrong tram and we ended up at the beach! It also started to rain, so I put on the extra dress I had brought over my Lolita dress. The cosplayers in question thought it was hilarious, but all I could see were hyperactive and annoying teenagers. ^^’ Oh well, I should have used my own brains.

Taking the (wrong) tram.
After taking a bus I finally arrived at the World Forum and went to find the right line to show my ticket and ask whether I could take my bag with petticoat etc inside with me (which was okay). I had never been to the World Forum or Animecon and it had been quite a while since my last convention. I was a little tired, so all the people and the noise were quite overwhelming. Luckily, I soon found some of the other girls participating in the fashion show and joined them.
Soon we were joined by more girl and allowed into the room. I was surprised by the size of the room and stage! It looked very nice.
I can’t really say much about the rehearsal of the fashion show itself I’m afraid. We practised. Then it was time for the show and we showed off our outfits, haha! XD The show was built around a story: one girl played ‘the dream model’, the girl who was dreaming about different worlds and our outfits portrayed those different worlds.

Some scenes of the J-fashion show.
After the show, we all sat down on the edge of the stage and the audience got to ask questions if they wanted to. There were actually quite a lot of people! I was pleasantly surprised. After the Q&A, the lights went on and we took some group pictures. ^^

The J-fashion show group. ♥
Since there were several little groups of styles, we also took a Lolitas only group picture! We were with quite a lot and many styles were represented. ^^

The Lolitas of the J-fashion show group. ^^
After the fashion show a small group of us decided to check out the dealer room together. I wasn’t particularly interested in anything other than one stall: Dolly House! Dolly House makes adorable jewelry and when I saw the owner posting on her Instagram about being at Animecon I freaked out! I had to go to their stall!
A small group of us went to the dealer room. Some had to hand in their bags so we waited for a bit and then we joined some other friends to browse for a bit. We soon found the Dolly House stall (which wasn’t hard to find since it stands out a lot with all the colours) and I happily browsed the adorable goods!

The amazing goods at the Dolly House stall.
There were so many cute items, I just didn’t know where to look! Luckily, I have learned how to separate the items you really want from the ones you think you want. 8D Colourful stalls can almost literally hypnotize you, so taking the item in your hand and holding it up to the ceiling where there is no pastel rainbow to distract you makes you focus on the item
itself. ^^ But I still ended up with several items, haha!
The Dolly House owner was absolutely adorable by the way!

The adorable owner of Dolly House. ♥
That is actually all I have left to talk about. The dealer room was nice and I went back a second time to the Dolly House stall and bought some more things. I even got a free bear ring, so sweet! I also took some pictures with Anna at a photobooth. After that, I went home. It had been a nice day, but very hot and very crowded. It was a bit too much for me in the end. But enjoyable nonetheless. ^^

Purchases of the day
Thank you for reading! ~☆

Abunaicon Lolita Fashion Show

On Saturday the 30th of August, my mom and I woke up very early to drive all the way to Abunai, one of the Netherlands’ biggest anime and manga conventions. I’ve wanted to go there for quite a long time, but this time I had a very good reason: my friend Cat organised a Lolita fashion show and I was representing the Sweet Lolita style! My mom came along as photographer for the day, so we had a fun ride to the convention, where we met up with the rest of the group.
For this occasion, I wanted to wear a dress that really represents the Sweet Lolita style to me: Wonder Cookie. I had never worn it before, so this was the perfect occasion! I will first show you my outfit (these pictures were taken after the fashion show actually, but never mind that), then I will tell you a bit about the fashion show itself.

ღ Sweet for a Fashion Show ღ
My outfit rundown:
Head bow: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
Blouse: Bodyline
Dress: Angelic Pretty’s Wonder Cookie
Socks: Angelic Pretty
Shoes: Bodyline
Cookie pin: Angelic Pretty
Bracelets and bangles: Chocomint, 6% Dokidoki and offbrand
Wristcuffs: Angelic Pretty
Rings: Angelic Pretty and Chocomint

What do you think? Did I represent Sweet Lolita well? ^^
The fashion show consisted of quite a big group of people: nineteen girls and one guy would walk either alone or in duos, representing different styles. Some also wore clothes from Cat’s mom’s brand: Christeline. The show would take place at 10.30 am, half an hour after the convention would officially open, but luckily we were allowed inside earlier to get redressed and practise. Two weeks before we had practised as well, but we needed to make some changes in our walking route since the stage was quite big and had some stairs
as well.
The stage and lighting weren’t very special, but luckily there was a big screen where pictures could be projected on, which made for a nice background.
After our practise round, Cat gave us some last advice and it was time to hide next to the stage while the doors were opened. To our great surprise, nearly every seat got filled! Our show was so early we thought not that many people were able to come (or would be interested at all), but it was quite the contrary!

Full room! We were happily surprised.
Cat came back to wish everyone good luck. Wigs were put on, accessories were adjusted and last minute dress fixes were done. Then, Cat walked up the stage and welcomed the audience. The music started and it was show time! For every group of styles, Cat had selected fitting music. She had also recorded herself as a voice over, to explain every style briefly. So the show was not only fun, but also informative for the audience! I especially loved the music for the Classic Lolitas, since they walked on ‘Fairy Dance’ from Peter Pan (2003), one of my favourite movies.
My mom took many pictures of everyone, so I will show you my favourite per person
or style. ^^

Sylvia wearing Old School Lolita.

Anne wearing Gothic Lolita.

Tamara wearing OTT Gothic Lolita.

Anna wearing Punk Lolita (outfit by Christeline).

Balint wearing Sailor Lolita (dress by Christeline).

Saltje wearing Pirate Lolita.

Liselotte and Alexandra wearing Kuro and Shiro Lolita (dress by Christeline).

Sophie and Charlotte wearing Classic Lolita, twin style.

Pichi wearing Classic Lolita (dress by Christeline).

Eline wearing OTT Classic Lolita.

Renske and Marinda wearing Hime Lolita and Ouji (outfit by Christeline).

Nathan wearing Kodona.

Alicia wearing Country Lolita (skirt by Christeline).

Colleen and Demi wearing Sweet Lolita, twin style.

Me wearing Sweet Lolita.

Iris wearing OTT Sweet Lolita.
Everyone did really great! No one fell and everyone looked wonderful! I was quite nervous myself, but managed to stay somewhat graceful I think. Next time I should practise some more poses though. ^^’
After the show we had the big finale, where we all walked off the stage and into the room, making one big round while the audience applauded. It was quite empowering, hihi. ^^ We also took a group picture of course.

The Abunai Lolita Fashion Show 2014 group.
The show was a big success! There were multiple fellow Lolitas and friends in the audience and I was very happy to see them! They told me they enjoyed the show as well, yay. ^^

With Eveline, our Classic Lolita girls and with Iris. ♥
Now that we were all done, it was time to enjoy the convention! I was very curious to see what Abunai was like and of course I wanted to have a good look at the dealer room. One of my friends told me Tofu Cute from the UK was present and that they had brought some items from their second brand, Dreamy Bows. When I heard that, I almost jumped in the air with happiness! Dreamy Bows, as you might know, is a store that sells Japanese fashion and accessories. I was so happy to hear that, my mom and I went to check out the dealer room right away!
I have only been to two conventions in my country before, but they were both smaller than this one. Nevertheless, Abunai wasn’t as huge as I expected, but I loved the dealer room. So much stuff! *_* It was my mom’s very first convention, so she asked me some questions and was amazed by some of the cosplayers. It was quite fun to share this experience with her. ^^

Clockwise: with a Kyary cosplayer, a bunch of badass Titans, some kind
of cute animal guy and How to train your Dragon’s Ruffnut and Tuffnut! *o*
When we arrived at the Tofu Cute booth, I was so happy! They had a rack with amazing Lolita-like accessories, a rack with adorable key chains and phone hangers, lots of Japanese snacks and drinks, loads of Alpacas and the cutest bags! The whole booth just had a ‘kawaii’ atmosphere! The shop girls looked incredibly cute and colourful and they were incredibly kind as well. It made me so happy! *o*

The super cute girls at the Tofu Cute/Dreamy Bows booth!
The girl wearing the pink outfit had such an amazing hairdo, she really inspired me! I ended up buying one of the hair pieces she was wearing. I had wanted a big pink flowery head piece for a long time, so this was the perfect opportunity! I also bought two buttons. I love buttons and they were just too cute. ^^ I fell in love with an amazing envelope-shaped bag as well, but since I didn’t have enough money with me I had to think about it (and get money in case I decided to get it).

They really had the cutest items at the Tofu Cute/Dreamy Bows booth! ♥
My mom and I walked through the entire dealer room. I passed by Katie’s Summer Tales Boutique booth (where Katie so kindly offered me to exchange money, yay!), many stalls with mangas, loads of figurines, dolls and even replicas of Angelic Pretty bags! O_O That was quite strange…
After I compared prices, I finally bought the last two missing volumes of my Fullmetal Alchemist manga collection. I finally have them all now! ;_;

So much manga~! ♫
My mom and I decided to walk around the convention for a bit as well, so we walked past the game room, many rooms with panels, the butler/maid café (where I said hi to some Lolita friends) and so on. There was a really sweet girl who asked me for a picture, because she loves Lolita so much. I gave her my blog link, I wonder whether she has
found it..?
I have to be honest: the convention disappointed me a little. I was expecting something grander maybe? But nevertheless the fashion show and dealer room were really great, so that totally made up for it. ^^
I got really tired after a while, so we decided to buy the last things I wanted and then head home, so we went back to the Tofu Cute/Dreamy Bows booth and I bought the envelope bag and three adorable phone hangers, plus an alpaca tote bag and Oreo-shaped mirror for my mom. After that, we went home. It had been a very exciting day! :3

Purchases of the day

Summer Darkness Fashion Show

Two weeks after the Kawaii Event, there was another Lolita-related event: Summer Darkness. Summer Darkness is an annual Gothic festival with all kinds of different acts. Leyla of the Lolita shop MFashion organizes a fashion show together with Linda Friesen from 4 O’Clock there every year and I was lucky enough to be chosen as a model! I had visited last year’s Summer Darkness as well, which was a lot of fun (you can read about it here ), so I was beyond happy to be showing off my frills on the catwalk this time.
I had decided to wear my Jewelry Jelly outfit from the photoshoot I did together with my friend Cat in March. It’s cute and colourful and it would show my style perfectly. I took some pictures of the outfit in advance, to send in for application, which is very convenient, because this way I have nice outfit pictures. ^^

♥ Jewelry Jellies ♥
My outfit rundown:
Head bow: Angelic Pretty’s Jewelry Jelly
Blouse: Angelic Pretty
Jsk: Angelic Pretty’s Jewelry Jelly
Socks: Angelic Pretty
Shoes: An*Tai*Na
Heart clip: Swimmer
Bow clip: Chocomint
Necklace: Angelic Pretty
Bracelets: Chocomint, Swimmer , Angelic Pretty and offbrand
Wristcuffs: Angelic Pretty
Rings: Angelic Pretty

And a bonus picture in my garden, next to the beautiful pale pink flowers.
So on July 28th, I dressed up in my frills and left for Utrecht together with my mom (aka my official photographer). We had a little trouble with her camera, but eventually everything got sorted out. All the models assembled at the Dom Square, where Leyla explained to us how and when to walk. After that, we went to the backstage area where everyone got ready. It was a lot of fun to just chat about all kind of things and finally, it was time for the fashion show to start. I was really nervous, but as soon as I walked up the stage I felt empowered. It was so much fun to show my outfit to the audience (and the flock of photographers)! Here are some pictures of the amazing models that day (there were more, but I forced myself to choose for once)!

Renske, who looked like a total fairy, opened the fashion show.

Rebecca in her adorable fruity outfit.

And me. Look at all those cameras!

Jannike looking like a flower princess in Eternal Rose Bouquet.

Pichi looking adorable.

Kari looking like a swan. *_*

Josine looking gorgeous as always.

Anne who had the highest hair of all (in the best way possible).

Everyone made one last round and then we ended in one big group.
After the show, my mom and I walked around for a bit to take pictures and to be photographed. One photographer had a really weird request, so I politely declined (Some people… -_-). The other photographers were luckily very kind and enthusiastic. ^^

Posing in the beautiful Dom Garden. This photographer was very nice. ^^
Then we all gathered for a group picture. I had to sit down for quite a long time, there were so many photographers!

Somehow I like this side picture more than the pictures from the front!
I talked to some people, posed with Cat’s adorable cousin (she was so cuuute >o<) and took pictures with everyone I could.

Posing with the awesome Renske and Anne! Don’t they look beautiful?
After that, my mom and I had some lunch and then left. Back at the car, I changed into ‘normal’ clothes, after which we drove on to a birthday, haha! XD It had been a lovely afternoon~! ^^

Bonus picture by Anne: the Lolita-making-bows-train!