NYAF: Baby the Stars Shine Bright Fashion Show

Sunday was the Baby the Stars Shine Bright fashion show at NYAF (New York Anime Festival) - and I was one of the models! It was quite a trip, and I thought you, my dear readers, would be interested in the behind-the-scenes world of (admittedly amateur) Lolita modeling!

I woke up at 5:00 AM, and drove into NYC for 8:30. We had some initial problems with security - and then finally made it downstairs (even at 8:30, we were considered late!) to the room. It was a mass of clothes, makeup, Lolitas, wigs, and bagels! BABY had sent three representatives. They were the picture of perfect Lolitas! Their headdresses defied gravity, they sparkled when the light hit, their hair was perfectly shaped. In short, they looked like magazine photos. They are absolutely my inspiration to be the best Lolita I can be! They should be what we all aspire to - what Lolita really is. They were practically not of this earth, in my opinion. Only one of them spoke English. A portion of the models, however, did speak Japanese. What little Japanese I had studied lay dead in the water, gasping out air bubbles of pointless pleasantries and cognates.

Hair had to be finished by 9, and then clothes were passed out. At this point, I was informed that I had had my first outfit dropped from the schedule - and for a moment it looked like I wouldn't be modeling at all. I was offered tickets to the BABY tea party as compensation, which due to time constraints I couldn't attend. I walked back to the room, unsure of what to do, when...

They ran back into the room, saying they wanted me after all! I ended up modeled for Alice and the Pirates, a brand I had never worn before. It was a coordinate I never would have picked out myself, but I loved it - a chiffon blouse, chiffon dress, and veiled feather-and-rose round headdress. The blouse especially captured my heart - when your wrists turn, it spirals into unicorn-horn shaped soft twirls. It's absolutely beautiful!

We then had to run from the staging room to the runway, which was down the hall. Unfortunately, by that time, patrons had begun lining up. BABY, not wanting to reveal the clothes, swathed us all in black sheets and had us sprint to the runway. As I scuttled down the hallway, being stared at by cosplayers and con-goers, with a feathered round on my head, I was suddenly struck by how ridiculous it was! My thoughts were: 'I cannot believe this!'

Once in the runway room we were not allowed to leave or let anyone in, not even to use the bathroom. (After four hours this got to be a problem - plenty of the models were worried about wetting themselves on the runway!) Other technical difficulties had to be worked out, too - one model's shoes were too large, so they were stuffed with tissue paper. Another's were too small, so she kept them off as long as possible. Girls swapped outfits, pinned in headdresses, and stood as still as deer while their bows and collars were fixed.

After a crash course in posing and using the runway, we clambered backstage. The audience started rolling in. After a question and answer session from the panelists, the models began lining up. With a surge of music (the first and best song in my opinion, being the French version of the Little Mermaid's 'Part of Your World'), the models went on into the spotlight. The audience loved the designs for this year - each new model brought collective gasps.

Just before the Pirates line went on, we were told to organize. We had been lined up previously, and I remember being so glad that I wasn't first. I was slightly horrified when the sweet Baby representative points at me and says, 'Ichiban!' As I scrambled to the front, one of the assistants says quickly, 'Wait a minute for the music, let it got for a second, and then go on!'

I stood in the wings, the light filtering through the blackout curtains, and heard the music start - something in English I didn't recognize. After a pause, I stepped out in the spotlight.

It had all come down to this. For all the hours and the struggle and the trying on and the nerve-racking, it was suddenly just me, in the light, with the cameras flashing. The glare blocked out the audience, but I could hear the music and feel the chiffon on my skin. Confidently forward, spread out the skirt, pose once in the center, turn for the back. The lyrics said something about being a 'headstrong woman'.

For that magical moment, it was all worth it.

Labels: event

posted by Victoria Suzanne @ 11:36 PM