Disneybounding: D23 2017 — Glamdom Fandom

Our rack of Disneybounds for the weekend.

All four of us Millers were lucky enough to get to attend D23 2017. We decided that we wanted to Disneybound as a group for Friday and Saturday. Planning Disneybounds for four people for an entire weekend away meant that we had to be especially organized. We also had to bring along more casual clothes for our journeys into the parks. We wanted to keep everything as inexpensive as possible so we pulled as much as we could from our own wardrobes. And considering that D23 is a big convention, we also needed outfits that were comfortable to walk the Anaheim Convention Center for hours.

DAY 1: CROSSBOUNDING AS GRAVITY FALLS CHARACTERS

There was a Gravity Falls panel on Friday that we were really jazzed about. Both of the kids are HUGE fans of Gravity Falls so we knew just what we would do. We thought it would be fun to add a twist to our outfits and do the unexpected by dressing as characters from the opposite sex, a.k.a. "Crossbounding".

Ella was Dipper Pines, Heidi (Mom) was Grunkle Stan and Milo was Mabel Pines. Ella already had a Dipper outfit from another event so that part was really easy. Heidi had clothes in her wardrobe that worked well, she just needed something to allude to Grunkle's necktie and hat. Milo's outfit was the most challenging because it was not easy finding purple shorts for boys and there were lots of pink polo shirts, but they weren't the exact hue of Mabel's sweater. The idea was to be able to reuse the shirt, after D23. (One of Milo's favorite colors is pink). We ended up deciding that the "perfect pink" wasn't as necessary as the rainbow that adorns her sweater.

Sewing on a patch, rather than ironing it on to cover the Polo logo.

We found a nice pair of turquoise shorts that could easily be dyed to become purple. We bought a pink polo shirt and then sewed on a rainbow patch for easy removal after D23. We found a perfect pink baseball hat at Forever 21 that could represent Mabel's headband.

Heidi used some burgundy colored leather cord to tie around her neck. She found a burgundy backpack (perfect for hauling snacks and water bottles) and a fabulous hat that was on the clearance rack at a local hat shop.

This is how our outfits turned out...

DAY 2: DISNEYBOUNDING AS CHARACTERS FROM LION KING

We are really big fans of the Lion King. It seemed like a perfect theme for our second day at D23. Gabe was Disneybounding as Mufasa, Milo was Simba, Ella was Scar and Heidi was Zazu. We pulled together all four of these outfits, mostly using items we already had in our closets.

If you can't find the right color you want, dye it!

It seemed fitting that Mufasa and Simba have similar outfits. We had a hard time finding beige t-shirts so we decided to get a couple of $3 white t-shirts from Michael's and dye them. If this were to be done again, we could have probably just soaked them in a tea solution.

Creating a block print to stamp Mufasa's shirt.

In the past year, we have really been flexing our crafting muscles. Heidi and Ella have gotten really into printmaking. The girls decided that a simple beige shirt, with two printed images on each shirt, one for Mufasa and one for Simba would be an easy approach to Milo and Gabe's outfits. They used a block printing ink intended for fabric. The boys also wore khaki shorts that they already had. Milo's outfit was finished off with a brown baseball cap and a paw button that was purchased at a local hobby store.

Ella had everything she needed to be Scar. But she felt like she wanted something to represent the green of his eyes. So she made a necklace that had a beautiful green stone as the centerpiece. The other beads that she chose were sharp and edgy to pay homage to the villain.

Thankfully, Heidi had nearly everything she needed for Zazu. All that was left was an orange belt and scarf. Thanks to a few summer sales, she was able to score both for less than $10 at the mall. The feather necklace was $2 on sale at Zara. But she ended up not using the Zara find in favor of another necklace that she already had.

The first time all four of us have Disneybounded together

Our outfits were fairly subtle, especially considering the sensational cosplayers that were at D23. In fact, it is safe to say that one of our favorite parts of the convention was seeing how creative Disney fans can be.

There were a lot of big things that happened at D23 on Saturday. All we cared about was attending a panel on the Oh My Disney Stage with a discussion about Disney Style and Disneybounding with Leslie Kay, the woman who created Disneybounding. She is such a doll and we were thrilled to finally get a chance to be in her orbit. We are so thankful for her imaginative spirit because her brainchild has enhanced our trips to Disneyland more than we ever thought possible. We love Disney enthusiasts and their sense of fashion!

FUN FACT: Walt Disney's wife, Lillian's maiden name was Bounds. Without realizing it, Leslie Kay paid tribute to her when she came up with the term "Disneybound".