as promised, some impressions from my trip to London last week! If you follow my tumblr (btw, who else is on Tumblr?) might have seen some of them already (^.^)
Friday, day 1:
I arrived at 7.30 in London and took the train to Victoria Station, where I met the lovely Jennifer, whom I shared a hotel room with. We went sightseeing, to the V&A museum and in the evening, we went to see the musical Wicked with the Austrian Lolitas who joined us in the evening.
Arrival at Victoria Station
In front of Big Ben!
Scones and iced tea
At the Victoria & Albert Museum, there was an exhibiton called "Wedding Dresses 1775-2014", which I absolutely wanted to see, since I have a weakness for wedding dresses (^.^). Besides astonishing gowns from the 18th and 19th century they also showed modern pieces, for example the wedding dresses of Dita von Teese, Gwen Stefani or Duchess Camilla. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures (>.<)
The musical stage. It was really awesome! (^.^)
Saturday, day 2:
On saturday was the big Tea Party Club Anniversary event at Gray's Inn, a beautiful and very suitable location. There I had a stand where I sold my creations from Medusa Couture. I didn't get to see anything from the rest of the programme that day, like the fashion show (Metamorphose and Grimoire showed their newest pieces) etc, but I still had a lovely time chatting with the other Lolitas and sellers.
I was a bit early so I took this photo before everyone arrived (*:*)
My stand
Outfit
me again xD
Sunday, day 3:
I was super tired on saturday evening so I went to bed quite early, because on sunday would be the tea party and after party! In the morning, we went (after breakfast lol) to Peggy Porschens shop to eat some extremely delicoius cupcakes!
Ohmnomnomnom
The tea party was at a place called The Rag. We had to wait first in this lovely saloon before we could go to the actual hall where the tea party would be.
Our table! (^.^)
The food was absolutely amazing!
Pretty shop window
A bit more casual outfit for the afterparty
Monday, day 4:
Sadly, my companions had to leave earlier, but I had almost the whole day left. In the morning, I went to the Warner Bro's Studio tour, which was so awesome I can't even find words to describe it! I even completely forgot to take pictures because I was so overwhelmed... if you like Harry Potter, you should definitively see it if you have the chance!
In the afternoon I still had a little time left so I paid 221B Baker Street a visit and went to see the Sherlock Holmes museum, although only from the outside, because I had to return to the airport.
First goosebumps moment of many to follow. Little insider tipp: if you do the tour, go where the wands are shown and ask the staff to tell you why they all look different, it's extremely fascinating!
Best adress ever
that's actually a teapot! want!
As you can see, I didn't take super elaborate outfits with me. I wish I could have, London is after all a fashion metropole, but my bag was mainly filled with stuff for my stand on saturday. However, since I sold some pieces (yay! ^^), I could also shop a tiny little bit myself (*.*)
Halloween stuff from Claire's (it's so expensive in Switzerland so I prefer going to Claire's when I'm aborad), The complete Sherlock Holmes edition (so pretty!), A hat from H&M (which I wore on 3 of 4 days xD), Hogwarts stuff (I think I might look a little geeky now *cough*) and presents and postcards
If you made it through here, congratulations! Please have some tea and biscuits as a reward! (^.^)
I decided to split the report from my travel to Helsinki in three parts. There is so much I would like to show you, and there's no way that would all fit into one post.
Unfortunately, I haven't recieved the official pictures yet, but I'd like to write this post now, so I'll just use the pictures I have.
So I start with the Hellocon, the Helsinki Lolita Convention, which took place on saturday. I arrived by plane on friday night and went directly to the Hotel Anna, where I shared a room with the Austrian Lolitas, to save money and have some company, since I was the only Lolita from Switzerland.
The Con started at 10 a.m., which gave us enough time to get ready (except for Dani, who had to leave earlier because she was modelling for Lady Sloth).
The place of the Convention was just around the corner. When we got in, we went first to the second hand flea market and the stands of the many (Indie)brands. Of course, we also didn't want to miss the programme on the stage! After the opening ceremony, there was a Q&A with Midori Fukusawa, guest of honor and model for Baby, the Stars Shine bright, Innocent World and many others.
She is super kawaii, I admire how she keeps the cuteness up in everything she does. The interview was interesting to listen to, what surprised me was that she likes to be outside in nature and even does bungee jumping in Cosplays! I have never heard of that, but I bet it's fun (^.^)
Following that, there was a Brand vs. Offbrand fashion show. For a given theme, they had a girl dressed fully in brand and one completely in offbrand and handmade dresses. The audience decided, by clapping and cheering, who wore the better outfit. I didn't find a video of that, but a picture with all of the contestants.
Picture by Lisa
A little bit later, another highlight was on the programme: the Designers Fashion Show. They showed new designs from labels such as Cloudberry Lady, Lief, Lady Sloth and Atelier Pierrot.
Following that was the Q&A with Yuko Ashizawa, the designer of Atelier Pierrot. Amongst others she said that she prefers drawing to sewing and that she likes wedding dresses at the moment and gets a lot of inspiration from them.
After a little break, the Fairyforest Fashion show was held on stage. I think this was my favourite moment of the day! See for yourselves:
I heard only parts of the Designer Panel Discussion, because we went to get some pictures taken in the meantime.
Just before the Closing Ceremony, the last show was presented: Dancing Dolls. Lolitas performing ballroom dance, ballet and even poledance! It was made very cute:
Unfortunately, I didn't participate in any workshops. Although some of them sounded really interesting, they were always held at the same time as a show on the main stage which I also didn't want to miss.
Furtheron, I realized that it is absoutely impossible to be in a room full of Lolita clothes and accessoires and not to buy anything. Yes, I broke my no-shopping resolution:
The blouse is from the second hand flea market was was only €5.-. It's originally from H&M, short-sleeved and very versatile, I already have some coordinations with it in mind. It'll be very convenient in summer too, it's very light, so I can wear it under a jsk.
The necklace is from Moonbunny. Another fawn! It's so adorable! And it matched my outfit that day. How could I have resisted?
I also bought something else, but it's a present and since I'm not sure if the person reads my blog, I can't show you.
We took some additional outfit photos alswell, so here's mine:
After the Hellocon, we went back to the hotel, changed and walked a little through the city to go to the After Party, which was held in a bar/restaurant. We were the first ones there, and since we couldn't have dinner there we went looking for a restaurant to eat something first. When we returned it was already late and many had left already, but it was still fun.
Jassi, me, Punkangel, Katrin, Yaya and Dani in front of the Helsingin Tuomiokirkko, the Helsinki Cathedral
I can finally make the big announcement I've been looking forward to for quite some time (^.^).
I opened my own etsy shop! It's called Medusa Couture and you can find it here.
As I've always wanted to be a fashion designer, I decided to become a wanna-be fashion designer.
No, seriously, I've dreamed about this for a long time and thought, I'd finally make a step and try it. I'll be selling some accessoires, but mostly I'll focus on Lolita clothing, such as dresses and skirts.
I hope my designs will be appreciated, as all the items are handmade with love. Each item is unique or produced in a very small edition.
I would be honoured if you would follow me on the facebook page or on the Medusa Couture blog.
By the way, the artwork is made by the amazing Meri from Tentaclething!
tomorrow, I'll go on a little interrail journey, starting in Frankfurt am Main and ending in Vienna (the tea party! Omg! xD), so this will be the last post for the next ten days.
We had a Lolita meet-up last Saturday, but because I didn't get all the photos yet (you probably know the dilemma...), I'll write about this when I'm back home.
However, there's something else I wanted to share. Last week, me and the beautiful Aya, who is visiting her old home, went to St.Gallen, to the texile museum and the fabric store of Bischoff Texil, to buy lace. Yes, this is almost exactly the same we did at the meet-up in April (my Birthday, maybe you remember?).
But it was really worth it. At the textile museum, they had an exhibition called "world in boxes". It featured several collections, of costumes from the theater fund, of vintage designer clothes, of turn-of-the-century sewing utensils... so beautiful!
despite my resolution to resume blogging, I don't really have something new from this week to write about... however, there are a few things I wanted to share with you (^.^)
NHK made a broadcast about Lolita fashion. I think the show is well worth seein; besides the usual information about the fashion, there are also insights to the office and sewing shop of the brand Baby, the Stars Shine Bright.
Lolita label Putumayo developed an app for the iPad, where cou can see their designs in a 360° view. I really love the idea, I wish more brands would do that.
(I'm really sorry, the video function on blogger doesn't work for me currently, I have no idea why).
ModCloth
Do you know this online shop, modcloth.com? They sell lovely clothes, with a hint of vintage, and really adorable shoes. I could spend so much money there (>.<)
