Dream Masquerade Carnival!

So I am still feeling ill, but I am going to try and soldier on with this post. Please bear with me!

So on the 27th of August I headed to London for the Tea Party Club event Dream Masquerade Carnival. I was only able to attend the tea party on the Sunday this year, as I had other commitments on the Saturday. I would like to say that my bank account thanked me for avoiding the inevitable shopping spree, but I ended up spending my money elsewhere anyway! I think I have a serious shopping problem! The truth is, I almost didn't even make it to the tea party. I had received some really bad news just a week before, which has totally thrown me and is going to affect me for years to come. So that has been playing on my mind quite a lot and as a result, I was feeling super anxious. It just didn't seem right going to London and eating cake, but I told myself that this would probably be my only chance to see Maki and Asuka from Angelic Pretty. I had so much support from friends throughout the day and they made my decision to stay a whole lot easier. Seriously, I cannot thank you all enough (you know who you are!). 

I didn't do anything too OTT outfit-wise this time. I didn't have as much time to plan an outfit as I had hoped, as I have been exploring other hobbies outside of lolita a lot more this year. In the end, I decided to pick a dress that A) was Angelic Pretty B) went with my pink AP Tea Parties and C) I didn't think was going to get worn by a large number of other attendees. I came so close to wearing Daydream Carnival, but in the end Milky Swan won out. It would appear that I have recycled a fair bit from previous outfits this time! The shoe feathers made a return and I feel as though I have worn these gloves to death. But I wasn't really focusing on having a super unique outfit. My priorities have changed a whole lot lately. In fact, I didn't realise how profound an effect this one day was going to have on me.

The hair and accessories were inspired by Odette from the ballet Swan Lake. As this was a ballerina themed outfit, I also took some inspiration from my favourite artist Degas. The feather clips refused to stay in the correct position and the purple roses were not quite the right shade, but overall I was really happy with my choices.

The first room we were all gathered in was very small and tightly packed. It made finding people very difficult. I didn't see some of my friends until later on in the day because there was just no way of mingling without barging in to scepters, hair accessories and all the usual stuff that comes with dressing up super fancy! But I did manage to get a few pictures of other people's outfits and eventually I found Michelle sat at a table. We had a good talk and she really put me at ease. She was dressed as a beautiful fairy. Ayumi from Rose Marie Seoir picked Michelle as her best dressed and I think Michelle was the only person on the whole table who didn't see that coming! 

I didn't get many pictures of the venue itself, but here is a blurry photo of a unicorn tapestry I took! I am a huge fan of the series of unicorn tapestries and get very excited when I see any of them hanging at places I visit. They seem to be very popular in fancy hotels because I see them quite frequently. This year the venue for the tea party was the Royal Horseguards Hotel. It was this venue where the Tea Party Club hosted the 5th TPC anniversary featuring Juliette et Justine and my first time back here since that event. It did bring up quite a few memories. There was even another proposal this year, which was so sweet.

The tables had some lovely goodies available. My favourite was the AP themed temporary tattoos. I got a proper tattoo done a few months ago (I was going through a 'f*ck it' phase and just went for it) and I keep having to resist the urge to get more done! But I am not sure if I would want to get a lolita themed tattoo, just in case I regretted in later on. So having a temporary option is fantastic! There were recent prints featured as well as some carnival themed ones.

I was left feeling a bit 'meh' about the food. It was lovely, but I have to admit that it is not the best afternoon tea I have had. I think there could have been more cakes provided. We ended up with about one each. I opted for the fruit tart. The fruit was lovely and refreshing. It complimented the sweet custard filling well. There were lots of sandwiches though and the usual scones. I felt a little bit sorry for our waitress, because we kept asking for refills of the cream and jam!

The Triple Fortune designers Babi and Kaie went around each table to greet us and take pictures. I thought this was really lovely. They made such an effort and I really hope they will consider coming back to the UK again. There was a translator as well, so we got to tell them just how much the UK adores their products, especially their beautiful bonnets. 

Later on, I got a chance to have my photo taken with them. They told me they loved my hair accessories and how they reminded them of Odette. So that was definitely a highlight of my day!

But that is not all the happened... Unfortunately this is the end of the Tea Party Club. Kyra has decided to step down and it seems Mica and the others on the team are in agreement. It was a huge shock, but I think ultimately, Kyra has made the right decision and I can empathise with some of the things she has said about her decision. I will be forever grateful to the Tea Party club for the most fantastic events they have put on over the years. They have achieved so much. But this does not have to be the end of the UK lolita scene's bigger events. It may take a few years to build up to this level again, but it is not impossible. I wonder who will be generous enough to step up? Whoever decides to put on the next big event, I do hope that the community will help out and support them.

I also ended up having a very in-depth discussion with this lovely lady called Charlotte. She has made me rethink a lot of things and I loved talking to her, as she is very passionate about what she does. I don't want to say too much about it right now, but I am very excited about the future!

So if I didn't buy lolita stuff, what did make my wallet weep in London? Well after feeling so terrible in the run up to the event, I promised myself that if I made it to the tea party, I would finally treat myself to a bottle of Luna by perfume company Penhaligon's. Thinking back, I can't remember if I shared the story about this perfume on my blog or not. Basically, when I had afternoon tea for my birthday last year in London, I went in to Penhaligon's afterwards and a sales assistant got talking to me. I told him what I liked and he picked out a perfume called Luna. With a name like that, it felt like fate! It turned out to be the most beautiful rose scented perfume I have ever smelt and the shop guy sprayed it all over my arm. Then he told me the price (it costs A LOT) and I had to try so hard to not show my horror on my face! As he had sprayed so much on me, I spent the rest of the day getting painful reminders of the perfume that felt way out of my league. So this year I put the money aside and I found the perfect excuse to finally get it! I also got some Tarot themed Dunnys. Those are the little vinyl figures at the bottom of the picture. I used to collect them years ago and the tarot series reeled me right back in again. The bird themed stickers are from Artbox and the snacks are from both the Japan Centre and Artbox/Tofu Cute. I got myself quite a few DIY candy kits because I am going to be making them and uploading the videos to Youtube. This is a little side project I am doing because I thought it would be a good way to combat my anxiety and get used to talking more confidently. So if the videos do well then that is great, but if they are not a success that means less people will see me making a fool of myself on camera! I will be happy either way! The idea came to me because I am having therapy at the moment and this felt like a good step to take to improve my interactions with people online. This is just one of many lifestyle changes I am making at the moment. The channel is not up yet, so I am not able to link it. But if you are that desperate to see me being an anxious idiot, then I am sure you will be able to find me!

A quick picture of some of the items that were given away at the tea party. I adore the fans! There were also some chiffon bows, but there were limited supplies of them and they didn't match anything I had anyway. Long Ears and Sharp Ears Studio made a lot of effort with their gifts and donated so much to the raffle as well. And speaking of Long Ears and Sharp Ears...

... I won one of their skirts in the raffle! This really made me smile because do you remember the post I posted literally just the other week about difficult colours? I commented about how I don't own any brown in my wardrobe and I ended up winning a skirt with lots of brown in it! But there is also red tones and some muted gold, so I am going to focus on those colours in the print. It just made me smile that a post I posted just 2 weeks ago has become so incredibly relevant to my current situation!

So I guess this is the last Tea Party Club themed post I am going to be doing on here. It has been a wild ride, and I feel as though there are a lot of things which I have forgotten to mention. Thank you Kyra and the Tea Party Club team. I set out to meet the AP designers and I made it! That is another goal to tick off the list. I hope everybody else had a great time and hopefully I will get to see some of you at another big event soon. This might give me the incentive to attend the next Street Fashion Europe event or search further afield. Who knows what the future holds!

Oxford's TPC Calendar Meet in the Botanical Gardens

The Oxford community are taking part in the Tea Party Club calendar again this year and on Saturday we had our photoshoot. We got given the month of April this year. I was so relieved we were not stuck with August for the third year in a row! We got so lucky with the weather because it was bright enough to look like a Spring month. We went to the Botanical Gardens this year because we chose to do a gardening theme.

I decided to wear March of the Duck by Metamorphose. It may seem an odd choice for the theme, but it was because I found a duck shaped watering can and I wanted to match. Some lolitas have matching scepters, but I have a matching watering can! I kept my outfit quite casual because an OTT outfit would not work with the gardening theme. My only real regret is not wearing a wig. I curled my hair but it was just refusing to behave itself and I wasn't happy with how it turned out. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that it wont look too bad in the final calendar picture.

I even found some real duck friends. They may look cute but the female duck ruthlessly swiped and ate this dragonfly! It all happened so quickly that it was like the duck had ninja-like skills! Poor dragonfly... But apart from that, the sleepy ducks were a nice distraction during the photo taking.

The Botanical Gardens were in full bloom. I am actually quite surprised that we haven't really had any meets here before. I have been here with James but never with the Oxford group. Perhaps we will have another meet here next year.

I don't want to share any photos that are like the final photo we pick (I doubt we will be using these bench photos!) but here is a group shot of us. Lauren's sister was great and gave us plenty of directions. We spent quite a lot of time at different locations as well. I am confident we have at least picked a fantastic location for the background of our photo.

And here we have the duck watering can! I found it in the 99p store and they were getting rid of their Summer stock, so it feels like me finding it was fate. My obsession with ducks knows no bounds...

Afterwards we were going to go and try somewhere new for a late lunch, but we ended up at the Mitre! We were all feeling quite exhausted and the Mitre happened to be the closest food place. They had a new menu, including this mixed berry cheesecake. I was very impressed with my dessert. It had a firm base and the compote was so good.

So despite being concerned about my dodgy hair, I was so glad that I got the chance to take part in the calendar again. I always feel like I never get enough photos at these meets but a photoshoot meet is the perfect excuse to go a bit mad with the camera. We got plenty of photographs and I can't wait to see how they turn out.

Regalia!

Last Saturday I attended the latest Tea Party Club anniversary event- Regalia! It is amazing how quickly these anniversary events creep up on you. This year, the main guest was Innocent World.

To celebrate Innocent World coming I wore Grazia Crown, seeing as it is the only IW dress I own and it matches my favourite bag! I knew a lot of people were going to be wearing royal themed outfits but most people were wearing either Union Jack or Gobelin Crest. Grazia Crown has always been my favourite Innocent World series though, so I am glad I went with it. Later on, I added my handmade gold sash and I ditched the bolero and gloves (see further down). 

The venue was on Pall Mall and whilst it was beautiful inside, I have to admit that a lot of us got harassed by the tourists going by when we were outside. Thankfully, some of the tourists were also very polite and did ask nicely for photos. The location was also convenient for popping to the Japan Centre for lunch! We all got melonpans! 

When we got inside there were several vendors rooms. We didn't really spot the room with Innocent World in right away, as it was hidden away at the back, so we probably missed out on some of the stuff they were selling. I heard that some of the popular stuff was selling for above retail price anyway. The bring and buy room was pretty much constantly packed. I had a bit more success with my purchases this time than I did at Revelry, but I decided to save my purchases for another blog post. There was definitely an interesting variety of sellers and stores there but I don't feel the space was used to its full potential. One of the rooms was practically empty and I do feel that the other stores that were also in the bring and buy room could have been moved to the quieter room. The texting system for the bring and buy was a good idea, although I don't think all of the sellers got their text notifications through. I do hope this idea is brought back next time though.

As I had a silver ticket, it meant I had access to the VIP room. Here is a blurry shot of the free macaron I swiped! It was the last box, so I got there just in time. There was plenty of free drinks and cake on offer and I was so grateful this free stuff was available. The room was very small though, so there were hardly any seats.

The fashion show was interesting but I was a bit disappointed that Innocent World didn't show off any new releases. There was nothing shown that hadn't already been released, like Metamorphose did last year. But it was still great to see so many of my friends modelling for Innocent World! I was so happy to see Blair get picked! I also felt that the brand names needed to be announced because a lot of the time I had no idea who these dresses were by. Apparently some of the models didn't know what they were wearing until the actual day! That kind of made me feel glad that I did not apply to model this time. I like to be prepared for these things. I think all the models did well, given the circumstances. 

Earlier in the day there had been a Q&A session with Fujiwara-san of Innocent World. I didn't stay right until the end, so I missed the last little bit and also the trading cards that were given out. What I did find out though, is that Fujiwara-san is not keen on re-releasing a lot of IW stuff because she has lots of ideas for new stuff. We also learnt about how much Fujiwara-san loves Europe (answer- a lot!) and got told about her visit to see the crown jewels in London. She is also visiting Belgium so who knows, maybe we will see a Belgium themed print next!

And this is what my outfit looked like with the sash! I had been dithering about whether to wear it or not but whilst we were queuing I got some opinions from my friends and they agreed I should put it on. I was kind of glad- I had spent a long time making it!

And here is the silver ticket goody bag! It was filled with a lot of the usual stuff like postcards and stores offering discounts. There were mirrors and badges again. We also got given bath bombs but I had to give mine to Sammi because I had my bath ripped out a few years ago and I only have a shower! It is a shame because I really miss having a bath! 

I felt that we got a lot more in our goody bags than we have previous years. For starters, the silver tickets got a proper gift from Innocent World! I was so happy to receive this navy blue bow with moon charm because I had been thinking about buying it. It is a good thing I checked the goody bag before visiting the Innocent World table.

There was also the usual raffle and group photo at the end. Maybe it is because the numbers were read out quicker, but it felt like there were less prizes this year. I still won this make up bag though! It is such a generous size and it has a pocket inside as well. Apart from Sammi, I think I was the only one of our little group to actually win anything. I was really happy with my prize. Because my bath bombs had crumbled inside my bag, I came very close to asking if I could have another bag. I am glad I didn't because if I had changed bags I probably wouldn't have won anything!

So after saying our goodbyes, we headed to Chinatown for dinner and then headed home. I was so tired that I almost passed out on the train. When I was walking home this little girl genuinely believed I was the actual queen! I thought that was really cute. I am really looking forward to next year's event and finding out who the guests are going to be but for now, I am enjoying having a bit of a rest and recovering!

Oxford's Tea Party Club Calendar Meet

This year the Oxford group decided to take part in the Tea Party Club calendar again. We got given August as our assigned month again this time, which proved a challenge in a dreary, rainy Oxford in the middle of November. However, I think we did a much better job of hiding the Autumn leaves this time around.

This time our shoot theme was Marie Antoinette. I was torn between wearing Fancy Egg and Cinderella Jewellery for the photo shoot. In the end, I chose Fancy Egg because the lighter colours are a bit more Summery. It gave me the perfect excuse to wear my Stocking Shock tricorn hat. I teamed it with my blouse from The Floral Notebook. The sleeves are definitely too long on me and I had to choose between rolling them up slightly or letting them fall down and covering up my gloves and wrist accessories. Aside from blouse issues, the outfit came together okay. I found the perfect matching jewellery and the print on the dress fitted the theme really well. 

We decided on a couple of different locations for the photos. The problem with Oxford is that a lot of the buildings are small or tourist traps, so it is very difficult to fit our groups in places without causing a lot of havoc. So we stuck to outdoor locations. Lauren's sister very kindly agreed to take the photos. She was very patient with us, even when some of us wanted individual shots. 

When we were doing some of the smaller group photos that wont be used for the calender, I decided to try and coax this pigeon in to getting in the photos! And I was successful! Sammi and Shalisa didn't seem to mind.

We also went in to one of the colleges to take full advantage of the beautiful architecture we have here. I really liked this location and I hope we use one of these photos in the final calendar picture. When you live so close to Oxford and visit so frequently, sometimes it is easy to forget about the beautiful surroundings.

This picture is from the college garden. If we weren't so busy taking photos I would have loved to have taken a stroll around the gardens. All the leaves were such pretty colours. 

A close-up of my accessories. I am really getting in to gloves at the moment. They are a bit awkward when you are trying to use your phone or eat something though, so I have to keep taking them off!

Afterwards we went to Noodle Nation for food. Loads of places were full, but we did bump in to Bethanie and the food is tasty so I am glad we came here. This is the fortune I got in my fortune cookie. I have no idea what it means!

I am very confident we got a good picture this year and I can't wait to see them. I felt absolutely exhausted after the photos and I was recovering from another cold, but I am glad I made the effort to come. I just wish my tricorn didn't keep falling off during the photos!

Revelry Purchases Reviewed

Now that Revelry is well and truly over, I have had time to sit down and have a proper look at the items I purchased during the event. So today I will be doing a review of the items I got.

First up is this birdcage headdress that I got from Shinku Rose. I have to admit, this was a bit of an impulse buy and I wasn't too fond of the price tag. I was a bit concerned about how I was going to transport it home though! It was wrapped up in one of those cardboard cupcake boxes and it didn't fit in my suitcase. Somehow, I managed to get it home without damaging any of the fragile parts. The birdcage part itself feels very firm. Despite being made out of some sturdy wood, it still feels very light when worn. It feels good to know that it has this solid frame, although I think the wood could have been lined up a bit neater. I'm also not a fan of the random pink beads used to attach the veil, as they stick out quite a bit with the ivory and cream colour scheme.

The veil itself is made from standard netting. It is no better or worse than what you find on a lot of vintage hats. The veil is nicely shaped. I really like the lace used to fill in the birdcage gaps. It has got a pretty design to it. The lace also seems to be of a good quality. The fake roses remind me of the ones you can get quite cheaply in Hobbycraft. But aside from the roses feeling a bit cheap to the touch, they look quite pretty. I like how the bottom of the cage has been filled with rose petals so the base doesn't look too plain or boring. There is a random brown petal in there. Whilst it does match the colour scheme, it does sort of stand out a bit. Luckily, the sole brown petal is hidden a bit.

Inside the cage there is a bird perched on a swing. The swing actually moves. On the one hand, I like that it moves because I personally think it looks more interesting. On the other hand, it could prove a bit annoying when worn as it may randomly get caught on the lace or rose petals.

My main issue with the headdress is the clip that is used to attach it to the head. To be fair, the clip has been neatly concealed with ribbon. However, the actual metal clip is smooth with no rough grips. It means there isn't very much to "grip on" to the hair and hold it in place. I found the birdcage moves around quite a lot and slips downwards. I am definitely going to have to replace the clips as I found it near impossible to keep the headdress on my head when I tried it out (hence why there are no worn photos. It would not stay in place long enough for me to take one).

If I am being honest I do regret buying this headdress. It is a bit expensive for what you get and there are some things that do need improving. I am still going to use it once I have replaced the clips. I have heard some very mixed reviews about Shinku Rose's quality and I can understand why some people may be a bit put off by their designs. I don't feel this headdress is a complete disaster but I don't think I will be buying from Shinku Rose again unless some improvements were made.

Next up is Sweet and Tiny!

Sweet and Tiny is a store run by Mini Mo, who many of you in the UK Lolita Community may be familiar with. She used to make stuff a while ago but then went a bit quiet for a bit. But she is now back and I am so glad she has returned! I seriously could have brought everything at her stall. In the end, I limited myself to a ring and a necklace. I got this macaron ring which is quite big in size, but I like it! I love how crisp the Sweet and Tiny logo is. It is a very classy looking logo as well and it definitely reminds me of a French Patisserie. The whipped cream has been piped so neatly and everything has been placed so well.

The filling inside has also been piped with care. I love the little pearl details inside the filling too! Mo makes some of the nicest looking sweet jewellery I have ever seen. It also looks quite realistic and even as I am typing this post I am getting hungry looking at these photos!

I like how Mo has also chosen a slightly fancier looking ring base as well. The gold design is a bit fancier than your standard cheap ring bases. Also, with a wider ring base it really helps to balance the heavy design on top.

I also got a matching necklace. I love the little Eiffel Tower charm! You can maybe see that the filling is spilling out slightly but overall, I am very impressed.

Last up is the butterfly tights that I purchased from Himitsu by Syrup. I was very excited about these tights and the £17 price tag was a nice surprise too. These printed brand tights can go for a lot more than that.

So here is a worn photo. The material is a nice thickness and feels lovely when worn. I think the size is quite standard for Japanese "one-size" tights. I am about 5'4'' and even with my bottom-heavy thighs I found I was able to wear these tights quite comfortably. I think these are just a slight bit more comfortable to wear than my Juliette et Justine tights. I wouldn't want to stretch them much further though, so if you are tall then these maybe are not the tights for you.

I was worried that when I put the tights on it would stretch the print and make the pattern look strange. However, as you can see the print is still very crisp when worn and the colour is still bold. This definitely makes these tights better than my JetJ ones. They do start to look a bit faded when they reach my thigh area but not enough that it is that noticeable. And I will be wearing these tights with knee-length stuff anyway! 

They even have a cute bow design on the ankle. Apologies for the dodgy photo angle!

And finally, it just wouldn't be brand tights without some random stuff going on at the crotch area! This lovely little slogan is displayed on my bottom when I wear these. And now that you know the slogan is there, you wont ever be able to forget about it whenever you see anybody wearing them!

So overall I am quite pleased with my small haul. I strongly recommend Sweet and Tiny and Syrup. I really regret not buying more from these stalls when I had the chance. The Shinku Rose birdcage was a bit disappointing though. I really hope that Syrup come over for another Tea Party Club event in the future. Next time I am determined to save up even more money so I can truly splurge on their stuff! It is definitely worth it.

Revelry!

I have finally recovered from my massive weekend in London! So on Saturday the 20th it was the Tea Party Club's 7th Anniversary event called Revelry! Shalisa, Sammi and I went for just the Saturday event. We decided to make a little mini holiday out of it, so we went down to London on the Friday and stayed until the Saturday. We wondered around some vintage shops on the Friday, although I don't think any of us were that impressed by what was on offer. Sunday was a pretty fun day as well. We went around Chinatown and I ended up buying this cute little doughnut plushie in Artbox. But anyway, back to the Revelry event!

I arrived at Gray's Inn nice and early because I went for the model rehearsals. After helping Kyra unpack boxes full of lots of lovely items, we got down to business and practised our walks. Later on we got sent back out again to queue and stuff.

My outfit for the day was in honour of the main guest, Ms Taira from the brand Metamorphose. Fairy Tale is a print which has very special meaning to me so it made sense for me to wear this skirt. Fairy Tale is a Meta series which never really got that much attention but I love it. I teamed it with navy blue and white. Some day I will wear something other than navy blue to these big events! I just happen to really love lavender and navy blue combinations. I wanted the outfit to have a princess feel to it, so I wore my princess sleeve blouse from Baby the Stars Shine Bright and made myself a navy over-skirt based on the ones by Lady Sariel. The over-skirt took me a week to make as I had to do it by hand (chiffon is a real pain to work with!) and unlike the Lady Sariel ones, I stitched a hem the whole way around the edge to make it look neater. The butterflies on the bonnet were also handmade, although I am not sure I like how they turned out in the end. They also got a bit bashed in my suitcase on the way home so I doubt I will be using them again. My new obsession is wearing gloves with lolita. In recent months I have purchased several pairs with varying quality. I wore a crochet pair this time and covered the lacy wrists with Bodyline wrist cuffs because the lace on the gloves was a bit cheap looking. Overall I have mixed feelings about this outfit. I like it, but I loved the outfits I wore to Frock On and Enchanted a lot more. I am going to have to work extra hard next time!

We got inside pretty quickly and whilst everybody else seemed to head upstairs, we decided to go right to the Bring and Buy room. Straight away, Sammi found a cute blouse for a really decent price. I wasn't quite so lucky though. I have been super picky with my wardrobe lately, so I didn't buy anything unless I was absolutely sure I wanted it. I did come very close to buying a lavender Glass Doll skirt by AP and also an Emily Temple Cute macaron print dress but in the end, I held out. It just means I have more money for Sweetie Violet, which I am currently trying to hunt down. 

During the Q&A all the guests introduced themselves. Ai (in the green) later held a presentation about what it was like to be a lolita in Japan. I missed most of that talk as I was recovering from modelling! I haven't heard any more about the talk, so I have no idea how good it was.

Ms Taira from Metamorphose! I can't thank her enough for letting me model for my favourite brand. Some very interesting questions were put forward about how each of the designers come up with ideas for their pieces and whether they ever have any creative blocks. It turns out that all the designers were very confident in coming up with new ideas. It will be interesting to see if any of them got any inspiration from their visit to England and from meeting the international lolita community. The editor of the Gothic Lolita Bible also got asked about an English edition (I don't think the question asker realised this had already been attempted) and whether an online version could be made. Shalisa and I also had our photo taken for the GLB. Neither of us are confident that our photo will actually get picked, but who knows!

Then it was the fashion show (photo credit- Meshya Nightingale). There were 2 models for Grimoire and 6 for Metamorphose. I think it is a shame that the Grimoire models didn't get more of a chance to pose and be on stage because I know a lot of people were interested in the London special early release dresses that the models wore. The 6 Metamorphose models had to stand on stage whilst Ms Taira went in to detail about the dresses we were modelling. I was the first Meta model on stage and I was wearing a brand new print which had never been shown before. I forget what the official print name is. I think it might be something like Night Carnival? As I was standing on stage it felt like there was this really massive pause before Ms Taira started talking (I heard afterwards that the pause before my outfit was longer than it was for the other models!) but I suppose it is a good thing that everybody had enough time to take photos of the Meta models. Dani and I modelled the first new print. We both got given tights and I was pleased to discover that I do fit Meta tights! I think the tights were my favourite bit of my outfit. There was also another new print (I think it is called Moonlight Astrology but don't quote me on that because I was backstage at the time) which Michaela and Manda modelled. Their dresses had all these beautiful details up close and it is definitely going on my wishlist, especially if it comes in navy blue. I don't care who I have to fight to get hold of it- it will be mine!

My friends were hiding up on the balcony and managed to get a few shots of the whole modelling group. 

Shalisa, Sammi and I took full advantage of the photo booth on offer. We had about 4 VIP vouchers and I think we did about 3 goes. This was by far the best of the photos we took. I am so glad we managed to get Old Spice Guy in the photo!

The goody bags had the usual fliers and discount codes inside. We also got given lace badges, mirrors from Syrup and meta, some Meta badges, hair flowers and a poster. Both the poster and the tote bag were designed by Madeleine, who is a part of the Oxfordshire Lolitas. I really love her swan design! It was very appropriate for Metamorphose.

A little close-up of some of the goody bag stuff.

After Ai's presentation we waited around for the raffle. The way the raffle was held was a lot more efficient this time around and we even got some say in what prizes we got. I got 2 prizes because James' ticket won as well (my poor husband was on photographing duty). I picked a white bow with dangling star from Cherie Cerise and because my second ticket was the last of the small prizes, I got given a pack of stickers as well. I really wanted the macaron charm that Shalisa picked but she got picked before me. It turned out that Sammi had made it! Now I just need to persuade Sammi to make me one too! (Sammi, if you see this, I will totally pay for you to make me one!)

And here is a photo of my haul from the day. I have decided to do a full review of the items I got in another post, as this post is already getting a bit long. So look out for a post on these items soon (probably next week).

So overall, I feel this was a very fun day. I still think Frock On has been the best TPC event but I did enjoy Revelry as well. I have made some new friends and got to see a lot of old friends as well. I can't believe another event is over! I am going to have to start creating some meets myself to get over my post-Revelry comedown!