Dapper Day: Fall 2017 — Glamdom Fandom

The Dapper Day Expo was held on November 4 and 5 at the Disneyland Hotel. The unofficial event also included a Parks stroll (Dapper Day) on Sunday but it seems like more and more this is becoming a weekend-long event. There were so many fabulous outfits and inspiring Dapperbounds.

Posing in front of the exceptional Dapper Day Expo photo wall

We will soon record a Podcast going into all of our thoughts and experiences over the past weekend, because we have A LOT to say! Make sure to subscribe and tune in for that. This was our third Dapper Day and our second Fall Dapper Day (they are held twice a year). A fellow Disney blogger told us about Dapper Day last year and encouraged us to attend the Fall event. She is also a Mom who gets really jazzed about her love for Disney. Just hearing her excitement about it was enough for us... we needed to check it out. It would not be too far fetched to say that Dapper Day has been life altering for us. Hello! We now have a blog and podcast called Glamdom Fandom because we were so moved by what we have seen. The Disney community is like none other. They are such a warm, accepting and inspirational group and we feel fortunate to be a part of it all.

Ella and I are crafty. We love a good project to sink our teeth into. We came up with our outfit ideas nearly 6 months ago, a couple of days after the Spring Dapper Day. I am mildly obsessed with the classic Disneyland Posters. The artwork makes me feel all fuzzy inside and they each bring a flood rush of nostalgic memories from my times in the park as a child. We wanted to honor two rides that are no longer at Disneyland... The Peoplemover and Skyway. Ella has been able to ride the Peoplemover at Magic Kingdom, fortunately. (Please never, ever close that ride, Walt Disney World!) And they recently announced that there will be a new Skyway at WDW that will transport guests between parks, much like the Monorail does. That will be fun to check out when it opens.

The classic Skyway Poster, circa the late '60s

Ironically, the new Disneyland commercial that just rolled out for the Holidays shows a Mom blowing snowflakes from her hands as she sits in a Skyway gondola, they drift down slowly and land on a contemporary family, enjoying the park as it is today. They are trying to express Disney magic and memories. Clearly, it is meant to appeal to folks my age and older who clocked lots of time on those gondolas. (It works!)

Before we get into all that we did to compose our outfits, we should mention that this was a two day event and we needed to come up with something to wear on Saturday. We ended up dressing for practicality, as we knew our primary goal was to shop and take in some seminars. So we selected some items that we already had in our closets.

Ella wore a favorite little black dress with a Jack Skellington Coat and stripped tights. I wore a shift dress that I got at Target and black slacks. Our parasols were both purchased at previous Dapper Days. We called this our dapper with a little "d" look.

The one item that I made to add to my black look were a pair of sparkly gold ears. They were awesome and several people asked me where I bought them, which was kind. I had to shake the glitter out of my hair at the end of the day. Appologies to the Housekeeping staff at the Paradise Pier Hotel.

Ella's ensemble for the Dapper Day park stroll (Sunday) exceeded my expectations. Ella worked with my Mom to make this fabulous dress. It was very important to us that the dress be the perfect butter color of the poster. It was nearly impossible to find a dress that suited all of our needs, so my talented Mom offered to make one for her. We hit the garment district downtown and found everything she needed. After it was finished, I made the applique and sewed it onto the dress by hand. I also decoupaged a lacquer purse with the inspirational poster. Ella's hat was one of our greatest purchases of all time. We found it at Playclothes Vintage in Burbank. It was almost the exact shape of a gondola and OMG! it was the exact same color as the teal on the poster. The finishing touch was a parasol with the word "Skyway" that Ella painted onto it. A little extra polish came in the form of the tassels that I made out of yarn, to allude to the Skyway gondolas.

My outfit inspired by the Peoplemover Poster

The classic poster has a lot of flowing movement that I wanted to capture. In truth, the tracks on the poster are actually a navy blue. But I wanted to do a more graphic interpretation. My outfit started, ironically when I found the fascinator at Pinup Girl Boutique. From that point forward, black and white stripes would represent the tracks. My dress came from Amazon. It is the different color of a dress that I wore for Spring Dapper Day. It is inexpensive (less than $40) and extremely comfortable. The sweater came from Sidecca. I already had most if the accessories but I did purchase the bracelet from Playclothes Vintage because it looked like a bunch of Peoplemover cars lined up. My favorite part of the outfit was the parasol that I adorned. I just want to take a moment to thank all of the brides out there who have made paper parasols in every shade, a thing. Because I was able to score this parasol in the perfect teal shade for $6 online. All it needed was some paint and tassels. I opted for red tassels because they looked so much like little cars rounding the tracks. I do not often squeal, but I SQUEALED when I was done with the parasol.

Standing in the shadow of the former Peoplemover tracks

As you may have noticed, we are both wearing black converse. If you listened to our Disneybound podcast, you know that we are all about comfort when we visit the parks and Converse are very much our "thing".

We had a lot of people come up to us, telling us how much they liked our outfits and asking for us to pose with them for photos. It really meant a lot to me, personally, that people expressed their appreciation. It seemed that our dresses were noticed mostly by older folks (my generation and above) who share my nostalgia for these RIP attractions.

We had an amazing time this weekend. It was so much fun seeing everyone all gussied up for the Expo and Dapper Day Parks' stroll.

WARNING, Heidi is climbing onto her soap box... I feel the need to comment on something that I picked up on this year that upset me. DAPPER DAY IS NOT A COMPETITION. I read a lot of things via Social Media leading up to the event. Overall, the Disney community is very supportive and kind. But I did see some snarky and judgemental comments that really got to me. Not everyone can afford to shop at more expensive stores and sometimes they can only get things from their local chain stores. Ella and I do feel a little weird when we see people in obvious costumes, rather than Dapper/Disneybounds, mostly because this is a violation of Park policies and should be done only at the Halloween parties. However, people are so happy when they have obviously spent a lot of time getting ready and are proudly strutting their stuff around the resort. They are feeling the Disney magic and they look incredible. Everyone that wants to participate can and should. Don't let the haters stop you from expressing yourself.

Another thing that was upsetting was the amount of pressure people put on themselves to have the perfect outfit, leading up to the weekend. That stress definitely takes away from the ability to have a great time on Dapper Day. In our current culture, there is a lot of stress on looking perfect or to up the ante on Social Media. I completely understand this impulse and I think it is a hallmark of a creative person to strive for perfection. But as a Mom, it kills me to see people harsh themselves and their abilities. Your Instagram followers are going to love whatever you do and if they don't let them unfollow you. It is just a number.

Ella and I only feel competition with ourselves, as we want to keep expressing our creativity in new forms. We will keep pushing to do more and to dream. Walt's magic lives in all of us!

Be sure to check out Ella's travel journal all about our Dapper Day adventures, in the tab above. And subscribe to our podcast so you can hear the latest from us!