We are in July, so you guessed what it means: it's time for the annual Angelic Pretty tea party in Paris!!! I am always happy to attend, but I don't exactly know why, I was especially excited this year. It is funny, because I thought it would be less and less spectacular with the years, but nope! Every year the staff is working hard to blow our minds and amaze us with gorgeous venues!
It was my 9th Angelic Pretty tea party and my second one at the famous Ritz hotel! Can you believe that? I feel a bit old... I think next year, I'll have to attend in a wheelchair with lots of wrinkles and white hair! Hahaha
I had a bit of trouble to organize everything this year. First, most of my colleagues decided to take vacations at the same time without consulting me first (I am the one doing the schedule) and I was left with nobody to work on the first weeks of July. Yay. So no day off for me. I had to go to Paris on Saturday afternoon after work and come back right away on Sunday to be back at work on Monday morning. That was SO stressfull... but WORST: the SNCF (the national French train company) decided it was a brilliant idea to extand their strike to the 7th and 8th of July! What a great idea, because that meant I had no train to go to Paris anymore... After some anxious tears, a stop at the counter to change my train ticket and some negocitations with a coworker to take some of my hours, I finally was in the train for Paris! YES!
In the end, the strike brought me some good as I had to take an earlier train and arrived sooner in Paris, which meant I had time to have a lovely dinner with dear Rosalynn and her sweet mom! We went to Aki Boulangerie where I ate a delicious katsu curry and a straberry shortcake! Yum! After that, we had a bubble tea (of course). It was a simple, but nice evening! It helped me relieve the stress from the days before! Rosalynn even gifted me a super cute Swimmer (rip ;__;) comb! It was the most perfect way to spend that Saturday evening!
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| So happy I could spend some extra time with Rosalynn! |
Soooooo, on Sunday morning I woke up very (too) earlier at 6:00. I just couldn't sleep anymore... I had a small breakfast, talked a bit with Rosalynn who also has trouble sleeping late and tried to go back to sleep to not look like a zombie for the party.
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| This is my favourite picture of us ♥ |
But let's talk a bit more about our outfits! Rosalynn went for a very elegant coordination with her beautiful Cameo Window JSK in wine. I am so used to see her in pastel colours, but she definitely looks amazing in darker colours too! She was a real princess!
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| Pretty Rosalynn in her very elegant outfit ♥ |
I went for a very simple and cute maid outfit myself, with my beloved French Café JSK. Many attendees wanted to make outfits matching the name of the tea party "Le banquet des anges", so I felt a bit out of place! Haha! (no, actually, I really enjoyed wearing this outfit!)
♥ Angelic Pretty French Café ♥
Barrette: Angelic Pretty
Daisies: Claire's
Cutsew: Angelic Pretty
JSK: Angelic Pretty Daisies: Claire's
Cutsew: Angelic Pretty
Apron: Bought on Etsy and customized with an AP ribbon
Socks: Angelic Pretty
Shoes: Bodyline
Wristcuffs: Angelic Pretty
Bracelet: Angelic Pretty & Claire's
Rings: Claire's & Zygomatics
I soon started to spot more and more Lolitas around Place Vendôme, so we decided to head to the hotel! Many girls were already waiting outside. We were still a bit early, but we entered the Ritz anyway so I could leave my suitcase to the wardrobe. The staff was really nice and curious and I chatted a bit with them! An employee then told us to go to the salon, where we could wait for the party to start.
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| The Ritz isn't *that* impressive from the outside, but let's peak inside... |
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| I am dying! So luxurious!!! |
That was a bit awkward as only Rosalynn and I were given these directions and we ended up all by ourselves waiting near the salon. We then were asked to go back to the entrance, before being told to go back to the salon again... That was sketchy! Haha!
Eventually, all the guests started to arrive and we weren't by ourselves anymore. The party was late and we waited quite a lot of time before being able to enter the actual room. It wasn't a problem for me though, as I enjoyed talking to friends, taking pictures and all.
Eventually, all the guests started to arrive and we weren't by ourselves anymore. The party was late and we waited quite a lot of time before being able to enter the actual room. It wasn't a problem for me though, as I enjoyed talking to friends, taking pictures and all.
After a while, we were finally invited to enter the main room! Rosalynn and I went ahead and I was officially the first one to enter, oh yeah! This is when I was blown away by the room! It was so amazing! I am always really grateful to Angelic Pretty staff to invite us in such gorgeous places, because let's face it: I would never ever go there by myself! Thanks to all their hard work, I can feel like a true princess for a day! ♥
Pink gifts bags were waiting for us on the chairs! We have been spoiled: there was a badge, a tote bag, a cute British Crown plate and a RinRin Doll postcard inside! I especially like the plate, as I love British Crown print... even if, honestly, I will never use it! Haha
People were slowly coming in and we had a lot of free time before the party actually officially started! I went around to take pictures of friends and talk with them. We were then asked to go back to our seats, were welcomed by Angelic Pretty Paris manager and told about the program: there would be a fashion show, a special cake made by the Ritz chef, a raffle and the election of the Best Dressers!
I don't remember now if we had the cake before or after the fashion show (my memory is so bad, dear... another fact that shows I'm an old grandma! Hahahaha), but let me tell you that cake was amazing! Raspberries & cream = it was delicious!
I don't have any pictures as they were not allowed, but let's talk a bit about the fashion show. First, we had Risa Nakamura and RinRin Doll modelling, which was nice (I was especially super happy to see RinRin again, because she is a total sweetheart)! About the upcoming series: nothing really caught my eyes, but OMG the last two dresses modelled by Risa and RinRin were totally CRAZY!!! They weren't the usual Lolita dresses: they were princess dresses! They were floor lentgh, with lots of sparkles, lace and bows and were totally over-the-top!!! I think everybody gasped in amazement when they appeared! That was really something! I can't wait for the official pictures!
After the fashion show, we had quite a lot of free time again! I appreciated it, as last years that was really what was missing the most. I had plenty of time to say hello to friends, to take pictures and to eat! Only down side: Maki and Asüka weren't around at all... I wish we could have seen them a bit more!
I was glad to see my friend Lea, who also came all the way from Switzerland! Our outfits were perfectly matching and we didn't even talk about it before! That was a nice coincidence! Her outfit was inspired by 1920s fashion and was super gorgeous!
The tea party was actually way longer than what was planned! It was supposed to end around 15:45 but at that time, we still haven't had the raffle or the Best Dresser prizes! I was of course delighted to have more time, but I also started to get a bit worried about my train!
Fortunately, the raffle started soon after. There were many many many prizes, but I didn't win anything. Rosalynn, who is always super lucky, got a lovely cutsew though! I was so happy for her! Lea also got one, lucky girls! As a consolation prize, we got a cute pink tote bag with a ribbon and poodle print on it!
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| So many lucky winners! |
This is where I started to get quite anxious about my train as it was almost 16:30 and my train was just after 18:00. Lea already had to leave in the middle of the raffle for the same reason, but I would have been so disappointed if I had to leave early!
The Best Dressers still had to be announced and we also still had to take a group picture!
There were 2 prizes for the 2nd place best coordinations! Beautiful Noke, from Finland, won a prize with a super lovely ice cream outfit! I think her idea was quite clever as she chose a very wintery print but managed to make a super summery outfit with it by turning it into an ice cream princess outfit! She made some amazing props herself too! The other 2nd place prize went to a cute Chinese (I think?) Lolita who was wearing Astro Regimen. I didn't really understand what she said about her outfit, but I think she at least said she chose this dress because she loved that shade of blue!
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| 2nd place best dressers! |
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| Too much emotion! |
I think everyone deserved the best dresser prize, because you can really tell all the guests made their best to wear their most beautiful or favourite outfit! I am always so happy to see everyone's different styles, it is so inspiring! But I actually felt a bit lazy as I didn't craft anything myself and went for something comfortable! Maybe next year I'll try to be a bit more creative!
Here, I just want to give some extra credits to my friend Roxane's outfit. It is quite rare I fall so much in love with a coordination, but hers was truely amazing! She was the real angel of the day ♥
The infamous time to take the group picture arrived. You know, that lovely time where you have to stand squatting during very long minutes while the photographer tries to fit everyone in the frame.... well, that time Rosalynn and I were smart and went to sit on the stage. But I send all my best wishes to the girls standing behind us who probably ruined their knees. Haha! RinRin and Risa joined us for the picture and I went all emotional when RinRin hugged me after recognizing me ;____; I just love her so much!
It was now time to leave... I wish I had more time to properly say goodbye to all my friends, but I was quite in a hurry! Rosalynn still wanted to give her gifts to Maki and Asüka and bravely went knocking on the backstage room's door. Maki and Asüka came outside and were kind enough to take a picture with us! So happy!!! An Angelic Pretty tea party isn't a real Angelic Pretty tea party without a picture with them!
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| Kudos to Rosalynn for making a perfect heart! Haha |
After that I had to quickly go back to the entrance to grab my suitcase at the wardrobe, then come back to the tea party room to find the toilets and get changed into casual clothes (I didn't want to made a +3h30 train ride in full Lolita). I changed and packed all my stuff in less than 5 minutes. Go me! When we came back to the entrance we spotted RinRin again... oh I wish I've had time to take a picture with her, but I was running late. She hugged me again though, so that's OK ♥ Two hugs from RinRin are worth any picture! I hope I will be able to see her again in the future!
Outside, we met with Rosalynn's mom and after some more hugs and goodbyes I went on my way to the train station.
Thank you so much to all the Angelic Pretty Paris and Japan's staff for all their hard work to make this tea party real! I had a blast! It was amazing! Thank you to my friends and especially Rosalynn for making this moment even more magical and thanks to you for reading ♥
Maybe you could make the 'I went to Angelic Pretty tea parties before it was cool' grandma-kei your theme and look for next year's tea party? A pretty vintage walking stick (maybe with a flashy diamond on top), grey hair, an elegant AP dress from one of their waaaaaay older series that only hardcore fans would recognise, all that jazz? That is a look that I would die to see - and maybe a great way to celebrate your 10th AP tea party? :D
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame about your work and trains giving you a stressful time, but it really does seem like you had a lot more fun this year. I remember reading your last year's post and you were a little disenchanted with how fast everything was going and how there was no time for pretty much anything, just boom-boom-boom through the programme of events and then being rushed out of the venue. So even though this year there still interacting with the models was not really allowed and Maki and Asuka were too busy, it seems like everything else fell into place and you had a much more enjoyable time. Definitely can't wait for the official photos of the fashion show (need to see those sparkly princess dresses!) and from seeing everyone's outfits on social media and CoF it really looked stunning. I already know that next year I won't be able to attend because first week of July is my partner's birthday and he'll be turning 30 next year, but the year after that I am determined to finally make it to the AP Paris tea party! Gives me lots of time to plan and craft my outfit then, I guess haha!
Other than the travel-related stress this sounds like such a wonderful weekend! Your outfits is also really, really cute!
ReplyDeleteI already wondered that you are such a dedicated worker that you only come to the Tea Party and don't skip a day of work haha. I hope next year you have more time, it sounds really stressful!
ReplyDeleteYou look sooo cute in your Tea Party outfit \(*o*)/
The Tea Party looks so lovely and it brings back my memories from my first AP TP which was the one in the Ritz ^-^