Friday, 20th June
Getting ready in OTT decora can be frustrating. Especially if you’re lacking space to spread out accessories. Getting ready to travel for a single day decora meet is significantly more frustrating. And, I forgot to pack almost all my makeup :(
As we weren’t going to be using our bed at home until Sunday night, I left all my extra accessories strewn across our bed. I don’t really look forward to cleaning it all up later. 😅
But, my mood wasn’t too effected as we (me and my boyfriend) bussed to Glasgow. I wore the base outfit without any accessories which unfortunately is mostly polyester, so it’s going to be an uncomfortable travel in this UK summer. I had all my accessories packed into two bags.
Once I had learned the weather was going to be around 30° , I started regretting my choice to go. Despite being an Australian, I handle the heat incredibly badly. I also have a tendency to dress warm and over the top, instead of simple and cool. I also want to look cool in pictures 😎
But, I know I’d feel quite sad if I missed it. The sun won’t kill me instantly, and I always wear sunscreen.
My boyfriend also doesn’t tolerate the heat very well. Significantly worse than me in fact, which checks out, because he’s Scottish.
The first night on the overnight bus was really quite horrible. The AC was on blast all night and I lacked the foresight to bring a jumper, blanket or pillow. I thought why not take the chance, it could be stuffy, and I didn’t want my poor boyfriend carrying a blanket and pillow in 30° weather.
That was very much a mistake because I barely slept due to the freezing cold. I think I got 4 hours total, which wouldn’t be too bad if I hadn’t been waking up every hour.
Before trying to sleep, we played Mario Party and I totally lost.
Saturday, 21st June
After virtually no sleep, we made it to Victoria station at 6am. We visited a mall that was totally barren as it was so early. The only thing open was a Maccas so we stopped there for breakfast, and I decided to try film my first ever YouTube vlog.
Breakfast cost £9 for two McDonalds breakfast menu items. I tried brown sauce for the first time ever, which was actually pretty decent but too vinegary. I’d prefer BBQ tbh.
Afterwards, navigating London was a bit confusing, but we decided to take a bus towards a flying tiger so I could replace the nails I left at home, as well as buy some makeup. It was insanely early so all the shops were closed except primark, so we got a blanket and pillow the the bus ride back as well as a makeup brush.
It was at this point where I began to get extremely tired and a little out of it.
We went to a public park in Soho where I crashed and napped for an hour. It was probably the best nap of my entire life. As someone who gets sleep inertia really bad from naps, I broke out of my sickly post-nap haze with ease and was ready to start the day with a newfound positive attitude!
This photo is from before the nap, hence my expression.
We went to flying tiger and got the nails as well as some other fun stuff. I spent way too much of my boyfriends money! Sorry… 😖
We checked out Miniso and got makeup. I was really tempted by the hairclips but our funds would not allow it.
I think we stopped at a different maccas to pee, and then because it was warming up, we headed to the same park I napped out just to chill.
After a bit of time I decided to finally start putting all my accessories and makeup on. It took me around 2 hours to Decora-fy myself. I actually found it easier to do in the public park than at home in my boyfriends bathroom. It’s the type of bathroom with no where to put makeup or anything. Usually I get very upset in that bathroom when all my stuff falls on the floor constantly.
The community vibe the park gave off was actually really lovely, and whist it was getting hotter at around 27° I felt very comfortable.
We inadvertently timed it really well, because when I was finished and ready, it was time to leave. We walked all the way to the meeting point. Because I sat down in the park for a couple hours my feet weren’t hurting so bad anymore.
As we approached the general location of the meeting’s destination, we saw that the West End Live was being held in the same place. There was also a Free Palestine protest in the area as well.
It was incredibly hectic, and we became lost. Some Lolita joined our search for the meet, and they must of had contact with others in the right location, because they steered us on the right path.
Everyone sat on the stairs at Trafalgar Square and we got some group photos and videos. Hopefully I can post the photos to my instagram and TikTok. I’m not entirely well versed in professional photography etiquette yet and if I can post these types of photos 🤷
The walk itself was super easy, we walked along the path that leads you to the palace, except we went to Greens Park instead. The line wasn’t so organised as it could have been. I hope some good footage came of it.
This was my first official j-fashion walk, and second J-fashion meet. The first was the Harajuku catwalk at Azuritecon. I really hope to go back there!
After the walk, we settled down on the grass at the park. No one brought any picnic blankets, but it wasn’t muddy at all so it didn’t really matter. It was BYO snacks and drinks, I didn’t see too much food being shared. I brought some candy but I was a little shy to offer it around.
Everybody congregated into their respective substyles, which made it a little hard to meet new people as the decora group was 4 or 5 of us, but it also made it easy to socialise without being overwhelming.
I exchanged money with Milo @thatoneswagslug for his @decoraslugz merch. We talked a bit about the 6doki fashion show, and how we hope to be chosen, and how waiting for confirmation is torture!! LOL
We split off from the meet before anyone else and joined two other Decora kids to head to the Camdon Markets to go to the Bandai gacha machines.
It was my first time taking the London underground. It was surprisingly not air conditioned but there was a lot of wind. The wind made it somewhat tolerable, but inside the actual train carriages , it was misery. I felt my body temperature rise dramatically and began to feel ill.
As an Australian, I felt like the outside weather was quite tolerable for 30 degree heat, the pavement wasn't scorching, the sun wasn't blazing, and there would be cool breezes, but indoor buildings and PT were disgustingly hot and bafflingly un-survivable. Get it together London.
In the Bandai Namco store, they didn't have the biggest selection of gatcha but it was decent. They had many anime capsules I don't know much about but they did have the Tamagotchi rings I have been looking out for! Here are the ones I got.
I want Mamechi and the pink one too, but they were £4 each so we couldn’t afford anymore.
This was when I decided I couldn't take it anymore and took all my accessories off, as well as my skirt. I was feeling a little naked, but I wasn't coping with the heat.
I didn't stay with the group for long, we were only there to get gatcha anyway, but because I was overheating (actually we found out soon after that I had heatstroke) we left quickly.
My boyfriend and I went into Cyberdog because I've been following the shop on Instagram for a while. Despite having no money I thought I could have a peep at the stuff they have in person, but as soon as we entered I became really overstimulated from the obscenely loud rave music which was such a bummer because I liked the rest of the vibes in the shop, but my head hurt real bad. I think we stayed in the store for about a minute and quickly left.
My boyfriend took care of me and gave me cold water while I sat on the floor of a footpath with heatstroke.
We stayed in Camdon for a little while longer in the shade. I regret not taking many pictures. By the time I left the J-fashion meet, I had gotten too sore and hot and lost focus. It's too bad because Camdon Markets is really cool! The Market street reminded me of a street I had been to in Tokyo with my peers. I hope to go there again and actually do some shopping and take pictures. Hopefully on a day with better weather.
All in all, it was a fantastic day in which I learnt a lot about how to vlog better and met some cool people. Next time I'd like to socialise with people outside the decora bubble and exchange socials with some gals as well.
If I manage to make a youtube vlog, It will likely be a companion piece to this blog post.
Go check out my Insta @Onlysnailz for more event pics!
This is Onlysnailz, signing off.
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