The Grand Embassy in Madrid

The Grand Embassy. You’ve been waiting for this. I’ve been waiting for it for a literal year, since they announced it in November 2017. And boy, it did not disappoint! Make yourself a cuppa, for like all my event reports, this will be a lengthy one.

| Baroque Repose of Queen Teatime Dress | Hush Puppies boots |
Wicked and Whimsy ring | everything else is offbrand |

Big thank you to Rocio Ponce Photography for taking these on
my phone so I could share them instantly.

I kept my makeup simple and still it took a long time to do!

Mascara on LVL lifted lashes meant no need for falsies.

The inspiration for my outfit came by reaching out to my roots. Although I’m not Russian, I am Polish and wanted to celebrate the traditional beauty of Slavic women: fair skin, ruby lips, gorgeous eyes, long hair tied into braids… The colour palette I used, white with bits of red, was also inspired by my heritage, especially the boots – red boots like this are quite common in Polish traditional costumes and their modern versions. The rest just sort of happened: the print on this dress seemed the most fitting a Russian-themed event, the kokoshnik was a must so that I had some direct nod to the theme, the rose choker for extra red and extra roses… Truth be told, it wasn’t until maybe a month or so before the event that I realised how much my outfit resembled that of the girl in white on the event promo illustrations – which is cool by me!

The Grand Embassy banner, taken from the event Facebook page.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: this was the best event I’ve been to in a long time! There was nothing that I would’ve done differently and nothing that could’ve been better than it was. With a few cosmetic differences, The Grand Embassy gave me the same feels as Wicked and Whimsy did: I was excited to be there, I met new people and socialised with them without feeling like I was missing out on anything and I bought things I normally wouldn’t have. It was also neither too short nor too long, given that everything happened in one day. Socialising and shopping are my priorities at an event, so while I appreciate when people try to do things different or add some extras, if there’s too many of those, they take away the time from what I’m there mainly for (because FOMO will always get the better of me and I will end up overexerting myself), at which point I crash and stop enjoying myself. This is what happened at Dream Masquerade Carnival and, although to a much lesser extent, at Myths of Our Own (though it wouldn’t have if it was spread across two days). So for me The Grand Embassy ticked all the important boxes and I ended up having an absolute blast!

Now for the long version. I picked my hotel to be near the venue, Hotel Tryp Atocha, and it was within around an 8 minute walk (would’ve been less, but it was uphill). Inside we took over several rooms, which were pretty well signposted with banner signs – in case a crowd of petticoats wasn’t a big enough clue for you. Generally, you could tell that Amor Barocco, the team behind The Grand Embassy, had been to lolita events before, because they added some little touches that were genius in their simplicity. Like giving everyone a map of the shopping areas, so you knew straight away which brand was where. Or having a cloakroom, for when you didn’t want to carry your coat or had a change of shoes for later. Little things like this make the day go much smoother and more comfortably, it’s very much appreciated.

How beautiful does that look? Very fitting for the event!

I love this illustration!

Everyone got the red girl on their pin. She's
still cute, even if the white one would've
matched me better. :P

Everyone waiting patiently for the fashion show. Look at all this beauty!

The day kicked off with the fashion show after the welcome, which I feel was a good choice. All the stalls were closed during that time and the photographers were busy snapping the show, so there were no distractions. Having the fashion show first allowed us to really focus and appreciate it, whilst we were still rested, but also without using up too much energy since it’s a sit down affair after all. Especially given that the main guests were indie designers themselves, it did feel like everyone was paying attention to everyone. At events with Japanese brands in attendance there’s a sense that people are waiting for the indie fashion show to end and for the main guest to show their stuff. Which I understand, but it still hurts all the amazing creators who are either just starting, growing or just aren’t the big shots (yet). And trust me, I heard more gasps of amazement and wonder now than I did at any other fashion show. Let the photos speak for themselves, I will share my favourite creations and the ones that made me gasp. Both me and my wallet are still crying – me at the overwhelming beauty of these creations and my wallet at the damage it expects to receive.

The first gasp of the fashion show: this beauty by Jacq the Rimmel.

That green was so royal, I want it!

The Amor Barocco team modelling for I Do Declare. This was a full on
performance, not just showcasing the clothes!

I loved both of these colourways of the Enchanted Dream Couture design.
They were also selling one in dusty green/mint and apparently they're all
made out of silk. Waaaant!

All three models from Advent.

Miss Danger's collection is to die for, can't wait for it to be released!

Pièce de résistance: L'Esprit de la Noblesse models. My heart stopped, I cried (metaphorically), I died and this gave me life, so I could be resurrected. The designers (couple in the middle) are total sweethearts too and KILLED that fashion show!

The designer from My Inspiration also did a dance to accompany her
runway. These pieces are a collaboration with Eat Me Ink Me, where
they provide the sewing and My Inspiration - the embroidery.

And another My Inspiration x Eat Me Ink Me collab. This one I might
even get - I know it's high waisted, but it's more historical, which I
quite like. And the embroidery! Check My Inspiration's IG for details!

Then came the time for a quick break followed by the buffet. I was so glad that I got my professional photo done before going in because the queue was stretching as far as the space would allow it. The photographers were busily snapping away all those beautiful outfits. I had already had a feeling that the attendees of The Grand Embassy would be predominantly Classic and Gothic lolitas – from what I’ve glimpsed of both the Spanish and the Russian lolita communities, those are the most popular styles in those countries. Everyone, literally everyone, brought their absolute A game to the event and everywhere you looked, your eyes were met only with beauty. It made me smile once I realised how few Angelic Pretty prints I saw (from what I can remember, I spotted 4 or 5). You all know that I have nothing against AP, but it was truly inspiring to see the vast majority of attendees arrive in either lesser known/popular brands, indie brands and handmade dresses. These days very rarely do I find a coordinate featuring a big popular brand that makes me gasp and appreciate its beauty – because you see certain prints so often that it’s difficult to create something completely fresh with them. This time I saw so many prints I haven’t before and I feel like 9 out of 10 times I complimented someone’s outfit, it was handmade. I’m also super impressed by the number of gents in attendance, about half of which were clearly there out of their own volition, not dragged by girlfriends/partners/someone else. It did make me wonder whether ouji and aristocrat fashions are more popular elsewhere in Europe (like Spain and Russia) or whether this event was simply much more accessible/better advertised to the male guests.

The buffet was a very nice selection of Spanish food. While it would’ve been nice to have individual dishes labelled, that would’ve been impossible as there were several tables with the foods on and only a handful of items that were hard to identify if you weren’t knowledgeable about Spanish food. The selection was really nice and I enjoyed everything that I tried. Upon entrance waiters served wine and soft drinks, and later you could go to the bar for more. Some tea would’ve complimented the desserts later, but I can see how that would’ve added a whole extra step for the catering team – and the soft drinks selection was large enough too.

Slightly blurry, but the savoury selection was generous, varied and
without exception delicious!

I tried not to be too greedy and only had 2 of the mini cakes. The pots
on the side had yoghurt and some fruit compote.

Plenty for everyone.

Now that I think about it, I like how the event was scheduled to mix busy times with down times. Busy for entrance, then brief down for welcome. Then busy for fashion show, then down for the buffet. Then busy-down for shopping, busy for the raffle and group photo, and then the end. It was very cleverly organised and meant that you were guaranteed some rest breaks and would have an opportunity to chat with people and take some photos with them. It was during the buffet time that I found out that the London comm had come down to Madrid as well (I recognised one of them from Dublin), as well as chatted with a whole variety of people I had either met the night before or at previous events.

I was meant to spend the first hour and a half of the shopping time volunteering. However, on the day it turned out that the brand I was assigned to didn’t need my help and there were enough volunteers to cover what needed to be done at first. So I made myself known to the volunteer coordinator and we agreed that if she needed me at any point, then I’ll still step in. In the end I wasn’t needed, yet still got the volunteer thank-you gift, which I feel a little guilty about – but also very grateful as it’s super cute.

Since I had to be early to volunteer, at least I could photograph the room
whilst emptier.

And check out the stock for things I wanted, of course!

Because even without Japanese brands in attendance, people made a beeline
for all the iconic indie brands' stalls!

And yeah, the rest of the day was shopping, chatting with and complimenting people. No word of a lie, when I chatted briefly to the L’Esprit de la Noblesse designers, I had a major awkward fangirl moment because they looked absolutely divine and made my heart stop during the fashion show. And then it turned out what sweethearts they are and as they complimented my kokoshnik and coord, I turned into a puddle of ‘sempais noticed me’. However awkward it may have been, it’s still one of the best moments of my life and I’ll treasure it forever. Since Dublin I’m trying to be better about taking photos with people, to keep as mementos of the events I go to, so once I did my shopping rounds, I tried to find as many of the people I met and take photos with them.

Andrea is a total sweetheart I met at Wicked and Whimsy. It was so lovely
to see her again. Picture nicked from her Instagram.

I look composed, but I was internally
squeeing so hard! I even match them.
In a 'that cousin who's trying' kind of way :P

With Andrea, whom I only met the night
before the Embassy. She was the most
beautiful Sugar Plum Fairy there!

With Sasha, whom I met through Amino. It's
amazing when you finally meet the people
you've been talking to online and it's as if
you've always known each other.

With darling Sara. She had taken her crown
off by that point, but she's still a true queen!

With Miriam, the designer from Promised
Land Creations. She is super talented, I love
every piece I bought from her.

With Isabella and Sara, two lovelies who
have adopted me into their group the night
before. I can't wait to see them again!

Bonus picture of the Russian squad's group photo. That's too much beauty for
just one picture to take, they're all so amazing! Note the bear-print squad at
the front - they designed that print just for The Grand Embassy. Commitment!

Then it was the usual end-of-event things. Raffle, which I didn’t win anything at (probably for the better because quite a few of the prizes I already had from elsewhere), the best dresser and the group photo. I stayed behind a little to chat some more and wait out the wave of people leaving the building, especially as there were some roadworks outside the hotel, so the streets were narrower. I still managed to catch up with the friends I made the night before, then joined them in a supermarket trip and then McDonald’s (cliché lolita thing to do after a meet/event?). Although there was an afterparty, called The Dark Embassy, it didn’t start until 11:30pm and I was too tired to even try, so I didn’t end up going. Instead, I went back to my hotel room, had a hot bath and a sheet mask (my face literally slurped all that moisture in, it was very much needed) and packed, so that I could sleep in at least a little the day after.

Like I said, I had an absolute blast at the Grand Embassy. It was very well organised and without any hiccups that would affect me as an attendee (you never know what happens behind the scenes). The whole idea of making indie designers the main guests and centre stage was wonderful as I now lust after some of these. I met some wonderful new people and had the opportunity to meet some I had only ever known online before, which is always fantastic, and I bought myself some great pieces (as well as some for the ILD raffle and some for Secret Santa). I will leave you with the haul video instead of posting it separately, and if you’ve lasted all the way to the end, then congratulate yourself. You are awesome!

Here’s to more successful events like The Grand Embassy!

The Day Before the Embassy Meet

This post will be very short and sweet, as I would still like to document the meet and the outfit, though I don’t have that much to say.

Some time before It was time to depart for Madrid and the Grand Embassy, someone suggested a meetup the evening before. This was mainly to get to know each other, whether you were coming to the event on your own, like myself, or simply wanted to meet new people. It’s a lovely idea, so I was determined to go and make some friends.

| Metamorphose Wizarding Lesson ~ Trainee Wizard shorts | Miss Point blouse | Putumayo socks | Hush Puppies boots |
After Midnight beret | Innocent World Original Crown Tassel clip | Fantastic Grim Jewellery necklace | Wicked and
Whimsy ring |

The necklace is not supposed to open like this, but I didn't have anything to fix it with.

A flatlay so you can sort of see what the bottom half looked like.

The meetup took place in the evening, so it was too dark to take outfit shots (at least on my camera) and I couldn’t get more than this in my hotel room, hence I’m supplementing this with a flatlay. I was travelling with only a small suitcase and didn’t have much room, so I tried to bring things that would multitask. As it turned out, this was to be my ouji debut – both because I could roll the shorts really tight and because they worked with my event shoes. The rest just sort of happened. Everyone was very surprised when I said that was my first time wearing ouji and I think it’s because I approached coording it as I would a lolita skirt. Things like colour balance and accessorizing are transferable, so all I did was pick a theme (here it was something more schoolboy-ish) and went with whatever worked best for it (and that could also pack tight and wouldn’t need ironing).

The meetup was set at the Retiro Park, the biggest and most famous one in Madrid. As I got off the metro, so did two other lolitas and when we got to the actual meeting point, we joined an already big group of others. The people that evening were predominantly Spanish and Russian, with only a handful of attendants from elsewhere.

Both fortunately and unfortunately, we were a big group. It was great to meet so many people in a relaxed setting and try to remember their faces as much as possible because people look different with wigs, makeup and OTT outfits. But it also meant that we were too big a group to go to pretty much any of the bars or restaurants. At first we just strolled around the park and chatted (I haven’t had a chance to return there during daytime, so can only presume that it’s even more beautiful), then proceeded to find someplace that would accommodate us.

By that point some people started going back to their hotels. Beauty sleep is important before a big event, but also many had arrived earlier that same day and simply needed rest from the travelling. I ended up breaking away with a couple of the very lovely Spanish lolitas I had met, who stayed in the same area as I did. We ended up in Subway and then walked back to our respective hotels. It’s nothing exciting to write about, but it was an incredibly fun evening – even if I did feel a little guilty how I was the only one who doesn’t speak a lick of Spanish and my presence forced others to use English. But the conversation was fun, never a quiet or dull moment, and we covered everything, from typical lolita topics like brands and releases to drag queens and Brexit.

Let me end this post with a quick selfie that we took – the only other photo from that night.

Thank you for adopting me into your group! <3 

Garment Horror Stories

This Lolita Blog Carnival prompt may trigger some of those bottled up traumatic memories you tried to forget. In all seriousness though, we’ve all had some horror stories with our garments. Some people have had some absolute nightmare horror things happen to them. Luckily, I’m not one of those people – but I still have had some bad things happen.

The most recent is actually still ongoing. I ordered a dress from Haenuli that I absolutely fell in love with. It got to me, I filmed an unboxing, I’m trying it on… and the zip gets stuck. At first it kicked my self-esteem in the butt and I thought that I had gained a little weight (I was worried whether I was too optimistic when choosing the size). Even though zips get stuck at waist seams all the time, I still thought that maybe I should’ve gotten a size larger. But then I swallowed my pride, asked my Dad if he could zip me up… and he couldn’t move the zip either! So I took off the dress, tried to do the zip – bam!, it got stuck in the exact same place. I messaged Haenuli about it, who told me that they used a different supplier with this release and she told me to send it back for them to inspect and fix. As of today it’s still there with them, but that might be the worst garment horror story I’ve had. Thank goodness that Haenuli’s customer service is top notch – if that was AP, I probably would’ve been screwed. 

I'm now convinced that zips are hateful creatures who hate everyone.

The only other horror story was when I got Crystal Dream Carnival. When I put it on to try, a button holding one of the straps popped off. It was my ultimate dream dress at the time and I had just gotten it, so I was horrified and cried. But I quickly told myself that it’s nothing, I can fix that, besides, it’s not like I was planning on selling that dress anyway. Last time I took it out and tried to find out which strap was it and couldn’t, so I must’ve done a better job at stitching that button back on that I thought.

It sucks when something happens to your most coveted dream
dress the moment you get it.
Photo from Lolibrary.org.

Oh, and one more! I thought that was all, but just remembered. A few months back I sent one of my dresses to be altered (lower the waist and change the zip from invisible to normal). The first time I put it on after being altered it was fine. However, when I tried it on again after that, to see if my coord idea would work, the zip got stuck (curses!) and then I managed to actually break it (the moving part was attached only to one side). It was more annoying than a horror story, since I had just had that zipper inserted and now had to spend money on getting yet another one (because I don’t have the skill to do that myself). It’s fixed now, hopefully I won’t do it again, else it’ll get to be one of my most expensive dresses very quickly.

And now that’s it. Hopefully there will be no more after that, as it’s never fun and it’s stressful to deal with having to fix a garment. But like I said, at least I was fortunate to only ever experience fixable damages. Let’s have a minute of silence for those less fortunate than ours who have had their best burando ruined. And after that go sympathise with the other bloggers who participate in this week’s prompt, they deserve some kind words too!

LINKS TO BE UPDATED SOON

1 Dress 4 Looks Take 24

Sweet Cream House was one of those prints that just grew on me. It’s popular and reasonably cheap second hand, so you do end up seeing it a lot. The more I did, the more details I noticed and eventually got one myself. No regrets! Even if I do lack a few more shades of brown to really make this shine.

Look 1: Chocolate

| DreamV cutsew | Angelic Pretty Sweet Cream House OTKs | Sosic Shop shoes | Cutie Creator
headbow | Milkribbon brooch | Once Upon a Cookie Treat necklace | Twinkle Kitty Boutique rings |

This is a pretty standard look. It’s not too dissimilar from the one I wore to Doki Doki last year, although thanks to the cutsew it feels much more casual. While I’m not 100% sure how the two necklines would work together, I kind of like it on the flatlay. It’s a shame that you can’t see it on this photo, but this headbow is a near exact colour match to the velvet bows on the JSK bodice!

Look 2: Mint Chocolate

| Magic Tea Party blouse | Bodyline shoes | Innocent World Lauretta OTKs | Angelic Pretty
Diner Doll headbow | Mojiangxiaopu hair clip | Angelic Pretty Chess Emblem brooch |

While I hate the taste of mint chocolate, the two colours work super well together and I love mint x brown coords. In an ideal world this would be paired with some mint wrist cuffs or bracelets, but I don’t own any. If I were to wear this, I’d probably pair it with a cardigan to mask that. I was also thinking of doing this with Diner Doll OTKs and brown shoes and headbow, but I decided not to flaunt how few brown pieces I actually own and tried to create an illusion that I have more variety.

Look 3: White Chocolate

| Angelic Pretty Creamy Shirring blouse | BtSSB Heart Marble Chocolate and Sugar Coated
Cookie bolero | Angelic Pretty Odekake Ribbon OTKs | Sosic Shop shoes | Cutie Creator
headbow | offbrand necklace | Twinkle Kitty Boutique rings |

We tend to think of white base as a little boring, but it doesn’t have to be. White is a great canvas that lets you introduce other colours. I quite like how this coord manages to introduce three heart0shaped elements and a few really subtle touches of pink, it keeps it a little bit more interesting. Also, fuck Baby for those long names, why would you use seven words and forty-seven characters to name a bloody bolero?!

Look 4: Strawberry Chocolate

| Angelic Pretty Large Ribbon Brooch blouse | Angelic Pretty Sealing Border OTKs | Angelic
Pretty Heart Charm Velveteen Ribbon wrist cuffs | Angelic Pretty Logo Ribbon Charm wrist
cuffs | Cutie Creator headbow | offbrand hair clips and shoes | After Midnight doughnut hair
lip | Angelic Pretty Milky Candy brooch | Wonderbox Designs rosette | BtSSB Merry Sweet
Cake ring | Twinkle Kitty Boutique ring | Cutie Craze Café ring |

It all started with the pink blouse… the OTT part happened almost on its own. And I tell you what, I am excited to wear this. No idea when that would be, but I just feel the itch to put this on, it’s so much fun! Granted, it would look tonnes better with brown tea parties, but I don’t own any. I could potentially swap out the socks for some browns ones and then wear the pink heels from Meta, though I feel it looks better with pink socks. What do you think?

There was another look I put together with this dress, however, I won’t feature it here. You will have to wait for December to see that one. Keep an eye on the YouTube! ;)

First Ouji Trousers Unboxing

This year I have had many style debuts: first trying out gothic lolita and now trying out ouji. Since I had to get into ouji the hard way, I started off with way too many criteria for my first pair of shorts and the only ones I found that fit all of it were these: Meta's latest release of Wizarding Lesson ~ The Trainee Wizard ~. Apologies for the odd sound, I was using a different camera than normally.

Fancy at Bettys

Another weekend, another meetup. Or, well, it started out as a meetup, but gradually people dropped out until it was just two of us, which makes it more of a catchup. So I guess: another weekend, another chance to wear lolita!

| Mary Magdalene Paulina JSK | Angelic Pretty Romantic Bright blouse | Red Maria tights | Cutie Creator headbow |
replica heels | Axes Femme cameo | offbrand bracelets |

Also, these are my own lashes. No mascara, no filters, no editing, no falsies, just a bit of tightlining. I had an LVL lash lift
done and am obsessed with how good it looks!

For such a long time I was #teamnaked for this. Nothing really inspired me and I started having too many criteria. I wanted something that could be warm, that would be comfortable, but still fancy, and ideally something I’ve not worn in a while. This was a very last minute effort, which started from the thought of “What’s fancier than my dream dress?”. Truth be told, while I like the outfit (even after I changed shoes after the photos to more comfortable ones), I do wish that I had gone with my clip-on fringe or just did something different to my hair. It wasn’t the best hair day and I feel like a different style would’ve pulled this look a little bit more together. Instead, I prioritised sleep and comfort. On the bright side, because I kept everything so simple, I had plenty of time to take a gazillion photographs before leaving the house, so I could just enjoy myself out in York.

The rosti with some caramelised onion chutney. Very nice and good for cold weather!

Winter berry cheesecake - very creamy, solid 10/10.

And a Swiss chocolate torte. Can't go wrong with a chocolate and hazelnut torte. 11/10!

I hadn’t gone to Bettys since January last year and really needed my posh tea room fix. However, instead of going for afternoon tea (this would’ve been the third time I had the winter variety, I never had their summer one), I opted for individual items. While I got the regular bacon and cheese rosti, my friend opted for the Christmas special one which had bacon, chicken and cranberry. And then, since I couldn’t decide which dessert I liked the sound of more, I went for both – no regrets, they were both delicious, if very different.

This was also my first time going to Little Bettys on Stonegate as opposed to the flagship one. They are literally a stone’s throw away from each other, but if it means less queuing, then I’m totally up for it. To get into Big Bettys at lunchtime you’re looking at a solid hour of queuing in whatever weather graces York that day (and in November you shouldn’t expect much). While we still queued to get seated at Little Bettys, it was inside and there were only three groups in front of us, so it didn’t take much. Yes, the savoury menu is much smaller there compared to the flagship, but as far as I could tell all the cakes and patisserie were still the same, so you’re not missing out on much. If you want the posh experience sooner, go to this one.

It was so nice to just sit back, relax and chat. The girl who did come is a friend and we’ll be sharing a room next month for the winter ILD I’m organising, since we’re both out of town (cheaper, more convenient and less hassle than trying to do day trips). She even gave me some good ideas on what else to incorporate, which I’m going to get onto next week.

This year's Christmas display at Bettys is a train delivering all the sweet goodies. This is all cake and fondant!

A different sweet shop on Stonegate. Their window made me feel like a 5-year-old and I love it!

 

Afterwards we went shopping to the typical spots around York: Imaginarium, Yorkshire Soap Co., Lush, a couple of other places. Nothing too exciting, although we did stumble upon a very small Christmas craft fair (which was more indie vendors with some handmade items and very tiny indeed). Although it’s too early to switch on the city’s Christmas lights on yet, many places are already decked in their best Christmas decorations, which is making me super happy. It is the best time of the year! Though I guess that I better get on with my EGL Secret Santa shopping – eek!