Cosples'18 Fashion Show 1/4

So, what was the deal with that FASHION show at a COSPLAY event, you may ask. Now, my dear honeybee, please, let me explain.

Photo: Michal Svojanovsky

In the first installment of my 'explanatory post, because I want everyone to know about the amazing fashion we have here in CZ and SK so that everyone can be in awe, bow before the amazing seamstresses here', I'm gonna talk about the first inspiration, why this fashion show was even born, who helped and what went absolutely wrong (let's be real and let's learn from our mistakes, I bring your some pro-tips).

It all began last year in June witch a chance meeting between me, Temi and Anet. Temi, as you know, is the second (and better) half of Bara no Usagi. She is really into alta moda and haute couture, just like I am, so we had been dreaming for quite a long time of a fashion show that could be shown in the otaku community and wouldn't be too out of a place but still awesome and luxurious. Cue Anet, one of the organizers of Cosples, who is also a very good friend of ours, is a part of RG (just like Temi), and is an awesome person! Everybody needs an Anet in their life. really.

Our visions all began with these (All hail our  gods - Sweet Banana AKA Dolce&Gabbana♥):

So, back on track, after subtly (not so subtly tho, we need to be somehow an elephant in a porcelain cup because without it, no great thing would have been accomplished!) introducing our idea of a grande fashion show, Anet told us that hey, why don't we actually do a fashion show for Cosples?

This gif actually represents people during organizing a fashion show, mainly those around me that don't want to have anything to do with my workaholic slave-driver self

Now, please, let me stop here for a moment. The problem with organizing fashion shows is that one person can't do it all on their own, and the communication between the event's organizing team and the head of the fashion show must, at all times, be clear and perfect. In other words, if these two sides don't communicate clearly and on time, the stress levels are rising and the show itself is slowly packing its bags and reserving a ticket to launch itself into the sun. 

The problem with planning a fashion show for an event, for the first time? The communication is going to suck big time. Everybody knows what they want but nobody will tell you exactly what it is that they want. 

Mistakes were made, words were exchanged later that was ideal, at one moment I thought that the whole show was over even before it started, people were panicking, nobody knew what to do, but somehow, SOMEHOW, everything was resolved and we were finally officially part of Cosples!

That sentence really made me happy - you know, people knew there was gonna be a fashion show, it was official! ♥

To give advice to everyone planning such an elaborate show as a part of an already gradieuse event - talk to each other and make sure that both sides know exactly what the side wants, and communicate on time, ask and talk! Right now, I am in the middle of planning a lolita fashion show for AnimeFest  2018, and I think that the head of programme affairs is already sick of my questions. But if it means that everything will go smoothly in the upcoming months, I am willing to play the role of a stomach bug evolving into an ulcer! 

Trust me, there is nothing worse that answering 'I actually don't know...' to any of your models' or staff's questions.

This reminds me of the FS preparations - everything burns, nobody actually knows what's going on, but hey, it's okay, that's normal!

The big question was, should I actually make the entire dress collection for the show or should I play the role of an activist and invite some other brands? The second options is true at all times and nobody is surprised, righ. 

I knew that if I wanted the lolita community to be widely known and talked about in happy and awed terms, I had to invite the best of the best. And this is the reason why the fashion show was not 'haute couture' or 'lolita' only, but was 'couture & lolita'. 

Because I am a crazy person and usual fashion shows bore me to tears, I knew that show with a story is a must! Slowly and through trial and error I ended up with a basic outline - there is going to be a story teller, a girl that would be the audiences' persona, and three fractions, in each there would be a different style.

Then one day while sleepily dragging myself to faculty to teach new generations of scientists, I got the perfect idea - the theme would be 'Metamorphosis'! The girl would be partly a Dantian character, going through different parts of something, and she would be required to choose something, only for the audience to choose her ultimate fate! 

Even later, when looking at some dress' ideas, I knew that the difference in the styles means that I would have something light, something more gothic and dark in style, and then there are lolita brands. 

Then later, while listening to some Malice Mizer in combination with ALI Project and Rokugen Alice, I got the idea of a Hell, Heaven and Earth/Life fractions, and the girl is someone who died and her soul is traveling through dimensions so she can choose where she's gonna stay for all eternity. And also, I should add a guide. Just because stories usually have someone that knows what's going on, I told myself.

So, the main characters and fractions were decided, and then I hoped that nothing major would require changes.


Also, some more advice for planners of fashion shows - do yourself a favour, be the baddest witch around and hunt your models into attending a rehearsal some days before the fashion show, and then be even worse and threaten them into attending another rehearsal just hours before the show itself.
For everyone who doesn't know what it means to model in one of my fashion shows - a week before the event, there is a rehearsal that lasts for about four or so hours, where I try to help with the model's psychology and mental preparations, then there is an exercise part because nobody has ever walked right with their muscle mass being in a state of liquid poo, also the models have to know how to walk so we have a walking session (no, walking is not easy, trust me), and then in the last few hours we try to go through the story and where should everybody be at, what is the right time, how to get there, and what to do once they are at that spot.
It's more like a boot camp, my dear poor models. I think that that night, everybody slept like a baby!
Then, once the day of the event arrives, we go through the story and the show two times, with music and story telling and everything, and then we hope for the best.
So as you can see, being a model is not easy! This is why I choose my models very carefully, if I see that someone just uses this opportunity to 'wear a nice dress', they are out of the game. Either you are doing this for others, for the j-fashion community, to create something beautiful, be selfless and be able to be 'just a model', or you are not in the game. Strict, I know, but these shows are my babies and I want them to be for others, not just for us.

Photo: Michal Svojanovsky

In the next installment, I am gonna talk more about the main character and story teller designs and the first dimension the girl encountered - Hell.