Beforehand I will apologize for my sucky camera. I edited the pictures but they still manage to be grainy!
So I will quickly explain what went down all week prior to Friday: Basically, a week in advance, I went to auditions and met the man in charge of this event. This man happened to be a man I worked with before (when I was doing translations for a Japanese girl group, AKB48). He remembered me, and after a long conversation, I kind of was designated translator for Aoki Misako.
After a few days of late night calling (not shady at all) and planning, on Thursday, I was surprised with a quickie interview between Misako and the head of the school, Valerie Steele. This was confusing because I thought it was done while I was in class, but this was not so, so after much trepidation, I did my job. Much of the interview was about the word "kawaii" (cute) and it's connection to lolita, and overall it was a great interview. Then I was even more surprised when previously mentioned man told me I would be spending the whole day with Misako. Sadly, I had classes and photoshop was a class I could not miss a class of! So I declined. However, I did accompany her around my break of 12-2, where I took her to Macys and around Herald Sq.
Highlights:
1. Conversations with Misako about cold NY weather, trying to recommend cool places in NY and failing (she knew like all of them), and bonding over Johnny Depp after seeing a billboard for Alice in Wonderland
2. Misako's cute scared reaction to the old escalators in Macys (the weird wooden ones that clank)
3. Going into shady sock/underwear shops
4. Her shoes!!!!!!
It all ended with me bringing her back to school and me having to shlep my way back to class.
FRIDAY
Worst cold of my life (okay, so it was just the sniffles actually but it seemed worse since it was supposed to be an awesome day)
I was supposed to pick Misako up from the Roosevelt Hotel but had to report in sick. Another person went instead (I know, I fail, but I didn't want to spread my viral germs!) So I went backstage to hang out with my friends who were modeling for the show.
Sound check in progress.
According to Tara, she had about 50 pins in her hair (extensions). The hair looked fabulous though. Everyone also had these great falsies.
There was a lot of time in between rehearsals and show, so there was food to be had and the models did test walks. I sat and asked if there was anything to do. Misako came in much later, donning on pink loli!
Then people started to get ready for the show! Dresses and head pieces and shoes flew everywhere~
What emerged:
There was also a speech that Misako and a woman named Arielle had to give, that was rehearsed for a little while. After that, the real one was given, and the show began! Girls went out, girls came back. And round two began . . .
I really hate that the nails shot turned out to be such a blur because they were GORGEOUS. Really, there were probably 2 dozen nail sets (maybe more) for various outfits. The nail people even moisturized every girls' hands and gently took them off when they were back. I loved them.
Also in the first pic of this batch with Tara, there is a man wearing red and black in the background. He was SUPER nice and I had fun working with him. He didn't work/call me to death like aforementioned man (sorry, aforementioned man).
After the girls left another time, I had to head to the other dressing room where MOA and Misako had their stuff. I was helping the dresser assigned to Misako in case there were some things that needed to be translated. There was a bit of a struggle with the assembling of the outfit because I realized later the picture they gave us actually was not the outfit in question.
This was the outfit however:
The skirt was AMAZING! I really loved it. It was basically 4 blouses sewn on a skirt, and the sleeves were tied together to create bows. I LOVED IT, and Misako rocked it.
And me being the camera happy person I am, after Misako left to go out with the kids, I took a picture of my outfit (well, had a picture taken)
My nose started to match the red accessories I had on.
While I was inside, I also took pictures of some of the cute stuff!
In order, Misako's own clothes, bags and make-up, shoes!
I really love her shoes. I love sparkly pink things, and well, the fact that they're also Emily Temple Cute just made it a hundred times better. I actually asked about them the day before and she said she was kind of tired of the clunky loli shoes, and wanted something that would make her legs appear more lady-like (hence the tiny heel on them).
After that, the show pretty much ended with the Hide collaboration yukatas (of which I loved the big hair). Here is a snapshot of Linda and Misako.
The show was great and everyone worked their butts off! The big reason my shots are mostly blurs are because everyone was running around (shush, not an excuse!) But everyone did such a fantastic job, and the turn up was insane! Lolitas everywhere! And everyone was dressed so snazzy that I wish I was also on the audience end. The modellas and stylists were great, and I made more friends! Hope there's another gathering like this soon . . .
The day ended like this: Tara, our friend Kate, Linda, Tara's friend Laura, and I went to Woorijip for food. Conversation and company: topnotch. Creepers and guys hitting on Linda: not so much. But all was fun.
Gasp! We all got the same drink! It's actually that good . . .
And so ended our exhausting day. And no, I did not go back to school to work that night (however, the whole weekend, I did come into school to drape). But lets leave on a happy note. I hope you guys all enjoyed this post!
