Dreamy Masquerade Carnival Planner

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I think the last time I was this excited about something was last year when I got the tickets for Wicked and Whimsy. This year’s 10th anniversary of Tea Party Club under the theme of Dreamy Masquerade Carnival, in aide of the special guest, Angelic Pretty, will be even better. Hell, let’s be real – it’ll blow the roof of whatever building we’ll be in!



A special event requires special preparations and special coords. It’s now past the general release and, Holy Mother of Mana-Sama, I managed to get a Gold ticket in that bloodbath (they sold out in like 7 seconds)! This allows me to indulge in proper coord planning – because I’ve been planning bits and bobs since they announced last year that AP were going to be the guest of honour, so this is proper let’s get down to business planning. I shan’t reveal too much at this point, but in order to get myself organised nice and early I would like to break down the things that I still need/want to do. Some of these will involve crafting and trying out new things and some are simply a matter of buying things, but by planning everything out I hope to keep myself motivated and my bank account happier. At this point I’m still unsure as to which coord to wear on which day, so the numbers don’t correspond to days of the event, they’re there simply to distinguish things between each other.

What I Still Need for Coord 1

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  • Headpiece – to be custom made
  • A staff – craft myself: start at home and finish assembling in London for ease of transport (and make a practice piece first)
  • Necklace – make if I can find a nice mould; otherwise purchase
  • Shoes* – buy: offbrand or cheap brand
  • Hairstyle – figure out (I might need to wait until I have the headpiece to see how it sits on my head and work around that. Also, potentially create a backup hairstyle as this coord is the one most likely to be worn on day 1 and if I end up modelling, like I’d love to, I’ll have to decide which one would be more practical: wig or natural hair.)
  • Makeup – practice
  • Bag – check if someone would be willing to lend me one before buying one; otherwise buy: offbrand or cheap brand 

What I Still Need for Coord 2

  • Wig – figure out a style
  • Sash – craft; if it proves too difficult for me then commission
  • Rosette brooch – craft
  • Makeup – practice
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  What I Still Need for Both Coords

  • Circle lenses – buy
  • Hoop skirt – buy from F+F
  • Nails – figure out a design that’s fancy, but would suit 2 very different colour schemes and styles (will likely get that done at a salon so that they last longer)
  • Gel insoles – I have one pair left, but may need one more, depending on how the shoe shopping goes
  • Suitcase – check and clean those at home (last year I started packing into one that was too small, then having finished packing the bigger one realised that the wheels on it were broken – made the journey a misery)
* Normally I wouldn’t buy new shoes just for an event, but while usually TPC’s no replica rule doesn’t extend to shoes, this year they said to refrain from using Bodyline or Taobao tea parties out of respect for AP. This makes choosing shoes to buy all the more difficult, as I have no space or actual need for any new ones, so will have to take into account versatility as well as price and look.

Initially there were quite a few more things on these lists, but I managed to get a lot of them done in the meantime, so there was no point in keeping these. By starting my planning now, I should have enough time to allow for delayed shipments, mistakes and starting over any crafts projects and changes of mind. I thought about creating a Plan B, a reserve third coordinate for either of the two days, but in the end I don’t think I’ll need it. If I end up wearing something different, that’d be because I bought something at DMC that I wanted to wear straight away, but I can’t really plan for that until I know what AP might bring (if they even announce what stock they’ll have with them). Or I might end up buying something at the summer sales, but there’s no guarantee that this stuff would arrive in time for DMC, so no point planning for that yet either. Besides, with me having already done one try-on and hoping to do another one soon (with hair and makeup at the very least) there shouldn’t be any real need for a plan B.

It wouldn’t be much of a plan without a timeline – that’d be just a list and we need substantially more than that! This one was made on April 2nd and includes some of the other DMC-related important dates, such as buying train tickets etc.

Click to enlarge

Rewarding myself for completing these in or before the deadlines outlined is a dangerous territory as it could easily escalate into little shopping sprees. Instead the aim is to reward myself with something non-material, like a cinema trip or a nice meal out (also within reason). Where I’ve put a specific date it’s either because I know it or it’s the latest I would like that thing done by – that should  still give me enough time to still buy things cheaply from China and have them arrive here. All other things I’ve put as estimates, but these will be adjusted as we get closer to these dates or as I receive items I need for crafting projects.

So, this is me getting all the DMC excitement out of my system and putting it into (hopefully productive) use. I genuinely can’t wait, this is extremely exciting to have a chance to meet Angelic Pretty designers, which is an extra motivator to have the whole outfit be on point.

Are you going to Tea Party Club anniversary this year? If so, it would be lovely to meet you there, but if not – are you planning on attending another big Lolita event somewhere else? Or maybe you went to one already? What is your usual process for planning outfits for big events like this? Let’s share some tips and good practice to keep ourselves inspired and motivated to do our best!

10 comments:

  1. It's so nice to see you actually planning things already, I'm going to on both days but don't have a plan what so ever! Most of the time I pick my dress that I want to wear and work around that with the items I have. I love handmade items a lot but I tend to end up with not doing anything. I'm also not sure if I want to incorporate the theme or not, since I wear glasses I can't wear a mask. Maybe something with a mask on a staff but that would mean only one hand for shopping...

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    1. Most of the times I start with a dress too, it's easier that way. Unless it's a very specific theme it's hard to just start with the theme and work that way. Any favourite AP pieces you're thinking of showing your love for?
      I'll be in theme only on one day, and even then I'll mostly incorporate masks in accessories. I thought about wearing an actual one, but practically I'll be having so many tiring things around the eyes (makeup, lashes, lenses) that I don't need another one.
      I look forward to what you'll come up with! :D

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  2. 7 seconds? I am glad I wasn't planning on attending(even a stay in London would be cheap for me because the current currency between GBP and DKK). But Angellic Pretty is not really up my alley anyway. No teaparty shoes, not owning a pair, but some people are great fans of them? Not all of those shoes are replicas, Lief's is geniune example of this.

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    1. They were all gone by the time I checked out, gold and silver ones. A true AP bloodbath :P Oh yeah, there definitely are non-replica tea parties (BtSSB and Meta make some too), but it's a matter of compromising cost with the look. For this one I have an ideal pair, but they're Bodyline (so no there) and don't have the need for another pair like this, especially not an expensive one, which makes this very tricky. But I'll work something out.

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    2. Or you can go something different than teapartyshoes.

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    3. You can. But while it's easy to find a replacement for Classic and Gothic Lolita, it's a lot more difficult with Sweet. You have to have good knowledge of the fashion to sieve replicas from original designs because the style does favour quite similar things. And totally offbrand Sweet Lolita-appropriate shoes are like unicorns almost.

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  3. Haha I love your plan! I'm a planner too (sometimes) so this is very cool to see. Also, well done on scoring a gold ticket! I have to say I really hope we have a big lolita event like this in Australia sometime, I'd love to go.

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    1. Thank you, I'm glad you found it interesting. :D I do love seeing and reading how other people plan for things, we can sometimes have such different processes, but there's something to be learnt everywhere. :)
      Is there a place that would/could unite all the Aussie comms? I know that in America they sort of resolved to having a couple of big Lolita events because it's a big country, but I'm not really sure which model would work better for Australia. But if there is a group of people who sort of already are active and organise bigger scale events, it would be easier for them to pave the way and try doing something like this for the rest of the country.

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  4. [The first time I tried commenting there was some sort of Google error but hopefully it will work this time!]

    Whoa, I love how organised you are! Your timeline for getting yourself ready is such a great idea, and helps to visually break down your to-do list in an easy to digest fashion. I think it's good you also pay attention to the small, "boring" details like using the right suitcase and making sure your shoes will be comfortable. Really efficient way of going about this!

    I'm going on both days, too; it will be so lovely to finally meet you! <3

    I have my dresses picked out. Both are food prints, so I'm dropping the "masquerade" part of the theme and trying to find a way to incorporate "dream" and "carnival". The first thing that springs to mind for me is a funfair, so I will probably try to create whimsical outfits based on this! I'm really looking forward to going all out, and though I tend to be a last minute person when it comes to coordinate planning, I want to get everything prepared in advance. The 10th anniversary is a special one so I'm giving it the attention it deserves! I'm going to come up with a moodboard and go from there ^_^

    I think giving yourself little treats for achieving certain goals sounds like the perfect way to keep yourself motivated and moving forward!

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    1. [Damn you, Google, y u error?]

      All of the practical bits are a result of past experiences. I'll never forget that suitcase nightmare from last year, it was the only flaw on an otherwise perfect trip. If I'm not organised to that extent then I worry that in the excitement of packing fun things I'll forget the boring ones, so better write it all down than risk not packing something vital.

      Yay, it'll be awesome! I hope we'll recognise each other under all this OTT attire <3

      Your ideas sound brilliant. Nobody does a food print quite like AP so this will be perfect. My Coord 1 is food themed as well, I'm only sticking to the 'masquerade' part for the tea party. Are you anticipating crafting a lot of your pieces? :D

      It definitely is. If it's worked for revising for final exams then it must work for more fun things like this, surely!

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