Under the Sea

Not really fussed. I went to the last one and it was pretty dull.Yes, the venue was beautiful and it had shopping and a fashion show but I would expect more from an event, especially considering all the fun things you get at other events. They'll ahve to up their game a lot imo.

>>8695151
Uh what kind of fun things? It's my first big event so I'm not sure about how others are

Ugh I meant >>8695156

>>8695156
I've only been to SFE events so far, what do other events usually have?

>>8695151
I got tickets for 2 days. It's funny to see how some people are stupid enough not to refresh the page (on time) when it came up or one person that only just now looked at it and complained it wasn't online anymore. And then other people who thought it was just way too expensive and/or don't know what the fuss is about. It's all very interesting. I'm honestly looking forward to it!

Got 2 tickets for Saturday (for me and a friend). I'm mostly interested in the fashion show and the shopping and meeting the designers, I don't expect much of the raffle.

Also didn't buy the bundle even though I had the chance to. Me and my friend are both really socially awkward and the price for just drinking tea and no other activities seems pretty steep to me. We both plan to go eating out in a nice restaurant in Amsterdam on the Sunday instead (also if anyone can recommend something good that has open on Sunday, I'd be pleased to know).

Got GA&VIP I like their events so I'm looking forward to it

I see many lolitas from the USA will attend this event, I hope to get to meet some of them.

I work on Sundays so I always miss tickets for these big events. Boo!

I didn't really know anything about this one in advance though. Just hearing now as everyone suddenly has tickets!

I got the tickets I wanted but I'm still salty it was easier to get a ticket if you're non-european. American events wouldn't cater to Europeans like that

>inb4 over 9,000 jellyfish coords

>>8695156
For me, the most interesting part is getting to meet lots of people in the same event. Many big names and best dressers are going and the coords are always top notch.

Don't worry about too much jellyfish coords. It's not America.

>>8703322
Same here! It's my second big event and I am super excited to get to meet so many people and see so many beautiful coords. I'm just a bit bummed for missing the bundles though, I only have the VIP ticket for Saturday.

>>8703377
There will be an unofficial tp. Just for meeting each other. They are gathering interest right now but they seem serious about making it happen.

Managed to get a GA for saturday, really wanted VIP+TP but they sold out in seconds. I'm already planning my coord :) Will probably be attending the unofficial tea party, but do street fashion europe events do after parties like the Tea Party Club does?

>>8708928

I would like to know this too! In the lolita event calender on the dutch lolita fb page there was an after party planned but I haven't heard the details yet.

>>8708928
>>8709170
Normally they announce the after party a few months before the event. There is always an after party, I guess there will be one during Under the Sea.

What can an American, planning to go to this as their first Euro event, expect? I figure I should be shopping for outfits now...

>>8709250
A lot of beautiful babes well dressed. Everyone is really nice too. I have no idea about the area of Amsterdam itself though. But I would definitely recommend planning outfits in advanced and not doing it last minute.

>>8709250
>>8709769
Don't walk around the RLD in lolita. This might be difficult since Chinatown is nearby.

>>8709770
I have no plans for the RLD (is there anything worth seeing if I'm not into gawking at sex workers?) but is Chinatown worth visiting?

>>8709837
There are way better Chinatowns to go to, but this is one of the biggest and oldest Chinatowns in Europe. Chinatown is rather small so saying big might be exaggerating it.

>>8709770
>>8709852
Is there any restaurants or historical places you would recommend visiting? Especially interesting museums or certain events like plays and such that might need a reservation in advanced? I don't really do much touristy things, but I do like to eat good local food and just admire the architecture and history of the area.

>>8710498
I guess I should trip now...

Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum are the two most important museums to go to in Amsterdam. There is the Anne Frank House, but I would not wear lolita for that. Best place I went to eat in Amsterdam is Broodje Bert is open for breakfast and lunch. As I said earlier, Chinatown might be underwhelming, but it is considered one of the oldest in Europe.

Keep you frills away from the coffeeshops. I do not want my frills to smell like weed.

>>8710498
I'm from Amsterdam so if there is anything you would like to know please ask!
The Anna Frank House is nice but very crowded. If you want to go there go really early or be prepared to stand in line for a long long time. There isn't much worthy seeing in the theaters unless you speak Dutch. Go see the Tuschinski movie theater if you enjoy the Jugenstil style. You can even book a tour or see a movie. The scheepsvaartmuseum ( national maritime museum ) fits the under the sea theme nicely. You can visit a ship replica which is really impressive. I I know a lot more go see places so just let me know if any of you would like to know something.

>>8710509
>>8710532
Thanks for both of your help! I'll be sure to write down all these suggestions! I have only been to parts of Europe like France for last year's event, but I don't know much of the Amsterdam area. I know in Paris there is a really bad case of pickpockets and scammers there seemed to be a bit more aggressive than some American ones, so is there anything I should be careful for or on the look out when I'm out and about? Is there any bad areas to stay away from as well? Hopefully no one in this thread minds all these questions, if not if someone wouldn't mind dropping an e-mail or such if they want to talk more off thread haha.

>>8710498
I also recommend Anne Frankhuis and you should reserve a ticket for that a few months in advance. If you're not spending much time in the Netherlands I would just walk around to see the canals and old houses.
I also like museum van Loon and museum Geelvinck (you can see how rich people lived in the 18th century and there's a cute garden, perfect for lolita)

I hate Dutch foods so idk but I recommend poffertjes and vlokken

>>8710593
I'll definitely be sure to grab tickets for the Anne Rice museum in advance. Also if there is any just nice areas that are really scenic or hole in the wall kind of places would be cool too! Also recommended restaurants don't necessarily have to be Dutch if you have some favorite local places you would recommend!

>>8710679

I wish we had an Anne Rice museum dear anon, that's a wonderfull typo.

Near the American Book center you can visit the Begijnhof with the Begijnhof chapel. It's a wonderfull little place in the middle of the chaotic city.

Try to avoid the red light in the evening. It's really crowded.

If you like to shop visit the nine streets and look up Laura Dolls who sells vintage party dresses. If you like vintage you can also go to Zipper and Episode. The nine streets are located near the main shopping streets. It's a nice walk along the canals.

If you stay long enough to explore some other cities get a buscard and travel to Monnickendam or Marken both small cities with a lot of historic buildings and not to the touristic Volendam.

If you want nice food avoid the touristic restaurants at the city center. If you want to eat Dutch go the pancake boat, or make a reservation for dinner at Moeders ( Mothers ).

I hope that someone is actually finding this usefull

Are there usually outfit competitions at events this large?

>>8710730
Not competition. Just showing off best coords. You'll understand when you see it.

>>8710498
These are some of my personal favorites, some of them are already mentioned by other anons: Ons lieve heer op solder (historic house with a church as attic), Rijksmuseum, Hermitage, Paleis op de Dam (Royal Palace), Hortus Botanicus (botanical garden) and Museum Willet Holthuysen.

>>8710532
It's possible to reserve tickets for the Anne Frank House these days. Then you don't have to stand in a line for a long time.

>>8710679
I have a few places I recommend you to go to. The first one is a typical Dutch restaurant, it's called ''De Blauwe Hollander''. There are all kinds of typical Dutch food on the menu. ''Gartine'' is my favorite lunchroom/high tea restaurant in Amsterdam. The food is absolutely amazing and their high tea is one of the best I've ever had. You have to reserve for Gartine, it's a small restaurant. Amsterdam also has a cat cafe, which opened this year. It's small and you have to place a reservation. It's a fun place to visit and I really like their red velvet cake.

>>8710722
Oh my gosh, sorry for the typo! I think I had Anne Rice on the brain for some reason. I definitely will see if I have enough time to visit other cities. I think my friends can only stay for a shorter time, but if I feel brave enough I might stay a few days longer to really explore the area.

>>8710809
Thanks so much for all the restaurant recommendations! I will definitely check out the cat cafe and high tea restaurant as well! Also the Royal Palace! It was so lovely to visit Versailles when I was in France, so I love palaces and castles and such! I know there will be an unofficial tea meet up for those who were not able to get a ticker for the official one, but it would be cool to meet up with some others on other days as well just to meet and sight see and such!

>>8699757
There are no comparable American events that routinely sell out anyway, so your point is kind of moot.

>>8710873
rufflecon sold out of VIP passes, but they didn't have any special passes for non-americans that I'm aware of.

I'm also traveling from overseas to attend this event. I'm planning to take a few days and travel to nearby countries. Do any Europeans have recommendations for towns/cities in nearby countries that are worth visiting and easy to access by public transportation? I don't mind suggestions for less-touristy activities.

This might be a dumb question. But would it be wierd if I showed up in a other J-fashion, that isn't lolita? (Saterday, I'm not going to the TP or anything)
I used to wear lolita and still like the look. But I do not want to wear it anymore. A friend told me it is for J-fashions, not just lolita. And I just wanted to have a good time with my friends.
But I wonder about this!

>>8710952
Fly into Frankfurt and take the ICE up to Amsterdam. Frankfurt, Cologne, and Dusseldorf which are all on the same ICE Route to Amsterdam are three great cities. The area has a number of grand castles, cathedrals, and architecture.

>>8710873
america doesn't have big lolita events?

>>8711006
We don't/didn't have these pop-up events like what Europe has been having. It's actually quite expensive to travel around the US, and the places where transportation is more accessible (large cities that have large airports/transportation hubs) the prices to rent a nice venue large enough are beyond even ambitious people's price range. In Europe you all are essentially tripping over large, picturesque churches, community halls, castles, etc. In the US, buildings like that don't really exist.

We had Frill for 2 years. It took place in Atlanta, GA. I know for me it would have cost around $500USD to fly, then I'd have to pay a taxi ~$50-$100 to get to the area where it was because there is no decent public transportation in the US.

There are sometimes tea parties at the SF stores, but the NYC Baby store only had one tea party that was for the opening last year.

Lolita gatherings at conventions are dying out with a few exceptions, and generally the exceptions have some kind of drama baggage (AM, for example).

We have a few events trying to get off the ground; Dream Fantasy Theatre and the Orlando Lolita meetups at Disney, Palace of Princes (Nightfall) and Rufflecon are the main ones I know of.

>>8710988
The last events always also allowed J-Fashion people. Lolita will be the overwhelming majority, but there were a few shironuris, a bit of pastel kawaii stuff and some gyarus as well. So no worries!

>>8711031
Sorry, but just that we have a lot of nice buildings in Europe does not mean it's cheap to rent them or that they will be for rent at all. It's pretty much impossible to rent a church or castles for events, that's out of everyone's price range.
I guess the organizers just use more than half of their budget for the venue and the other half to fly in star guests. That's why the tickets are so expensive.

>>8711066
This, the tickets are pricey for a reason. Especially tea party and VIP tickets.

>>8711049
Thank you anon! I won't feel to much out of place then

All my friends are going but I'm less and less interested by lolita events. I'm just gonna tag along so I can visit the area while they're at the event, and certainly have a dinner out with my overseas friends I never get to see. I hope the after-party will be in a nice place. Maybe I'll go to the counter tea party though.

Also, just wondering if there is any hostels or such people would recommend staying at? Sorry for all the questions. Right now trying to find a two bedroom preferably.

>>8712357
There is a Facebook group concerning accommodation for the event. I suggest you go there.

>>8711149
>>8711066
Not that anon, but they didn't say that the nice Euro venues would be cheap to rent, or that every historical building can be rented. We just don't have anything comparable at all. Our lolita events like Rufflecon and Frill are at hotels which aren't nearly as pretty as the venues that SFE and TPC events have rented. All we have are hotels or very utilitarian-looking community spaces, and from experience if you are trying to rent them for an event that is not a business conference or a wedding, it's very hard even to rent those.

As an American planning to attend UtS, it's in part because we don't have anything like this in the states, and the event ticket cost does not seem out of line to me.