Oh BABY! Baby The Stars Shine Bright/Alice and the Pirates Fashion Show Pt. 1

I was so excited to be able to attend Otakon this year. Not only because I'm a big fan of anime and Japanese culture, but because BABY announced that they would be sending Kano from BABY and Mitsuba from AATP. If you've been following my blog, then you'll know that BABY is my favorite brand of all time. So naturally, I was ecstatic to see the show. My friend was even modeling in it!

Because I had a friend modeling in the show, she was able to get me backstage before the event. But to do this, I had to get up at 5:30 AM to get there by 6. Considering we were working on our panel until 3:30, this was nearly impossible. But I managed and we made the five block trek down to the Hyatt. It helped that I was excited to be able to see how Brand fashion shows are run. Once everyone had gathered at the Hyatt, we went over to the convention center.

They took us through the back way, through the loading docks and the other operations areas. Eventually we ended up in a green room backstage. The designers wasted no time handing out outfits and bags of accessories. Each outfit consisted of hung clothing pieces in plastic protectors, shoes in a box, and a bag full of accessories! Everything they brought was designed by either Kano or Mitsuba themselves, and every item was from either this season or last season.

Once the models were all dressed (minus petticoats, bloomers, and socks/shoes), the hair and make-up people started coming in. These were all professionals as far as I understood, and it showed. I watched as girls got their hair straightened, teased, curled, and pinned into the most beautiful styles. A few were told to wear wigs, provided of course, by BABY. The designers were very hands-on in all of this. My friend got her hair curled by Kano herself. That was what

surprised me the most about the show, how the designers were doing make-up, fixing hair, helping girls into outfits, and generally making sure everyone looked fabulous right up until the start of the show. On the right of this page you can see Mitsuba, the designer from AATP, tying a bow onto one of the models. Left, there are hair action shots, as two models get their hair done. Mind you, this is still two hours before the show.

The models and designers were kind enough to allow me to take pictures of the process of getting ready for the show. So if any of them are reading, I'd like to thank them for their kindness to me. Everyone was so polite and it really made my weekend being

able to see everything happening.

At this point, I started to get concerned about getting a good seat. So I left the backstage area

and got in line for the show. The convention center opened to the public at 8, and at 8:15 there were still about 20 people ahead of me. I waited two hours in that line. I didn't really talk to anyone, but there were some fabulous lolitas in front and behind me. I especially liked the guy in front of me with the A/P Treasure Chest Bag.

Finally, they were ready to let us in.

I'll be publishing my story of the second half of this event along with pictures, video, and outfit rundowns in the next few days. Please look forward to it!!