Monday, November 14, 2016

Disney's Dapper Day, Fall 2016!

Twice a year here in Orlando there's an unofficial Disney event called Dapper Day, and it. is. awesome. Simply put, you dress nice, show up, and gawk at all the pretty outfits. Most have a vintage flair, and there's Disneybounding galore, but really, almost anything goes.

All the feelz for this Inside Out group. :)

Last Saturday was the first Dapper Day held at Epcot, since it usually alternates between Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. I was excited about the change of scenery, until I realized it was also the last weekend of the Food & Wine Festival, which draws massive, massive crowds.

Given the shoulder-to-shoulder walls of people, the vastly larger park to spread out in, and the fact that public Dapper Day meetups are no longer allowed (boo), it was a real challenge photographing people this round. That said, I still found plenty, so prepare for eye candy, peeps!

Starting with my friends Christie and Chris as R2D2 & C3PO (check out his socks!!). Christie made her dress from original 1920's instructions - no pattern - then made a Mouse Droid sequin purse to go with it, which is seriously the coolest.

Then Christie's sister Robyn was BB-8!


Seriously, this group raises the bar every Dapper Day. Love 'em to pieces.

Now let's talk about this EPIC Space Mountain purse:
And she's dressed as a vintage flight attendant with Tomorrowland pins!

An oh-so-pretty Suffragette:
Gotta say,  I do love having Spaceship Earth in the background. It's like Past meets Future.


Dapper 1940s Wonder Woman:

And the most delightful Nightmare Before Christmas trio:



Two colorful groups - let's see how many Disneybounds you recognize:


I spy Donald & Goofy in the middle left, of course, then I believe that's Kida and Esmerelda on the far right. [Update: Aha, and the gentleman is Pooh! Good call, commenters!]

The first of several Figment 'bounds, and a lovely Cinderella skirt:

Figment has tiny orange horns for hair clips, and check out her pretty belt bow!

The ladies on the left are 'bounding as the Citrus Swirl (with Orange Bird) and Dole Whip. And that's a sweet Tiana and Naveen on the right. (Her purse is a frog!)

More fabulousness spotted at lunch:


That's Peter Pan, Hook, and Smee on the left, and epic dresses for Nightmare Before Christmas and Spaceship Earth on the right.

Here's a closer look at the Pan group:

Hook's lantern had a pictures of Tinkerbell inside, and I like how she painted a hook on her glove!


Back outside, I was impressed to find this festive holiday group:

Impressed because it was HOT out there. Definitely not sweater-and-scarf weather here yet!

My friend and Epbot reader Traci as a chic Figment:
She made everything herself! 

And another Figment, this time with a dapper Dreamfinder - so I was thrilled to catch them with the Journey to Imagination building in the background:

Swooning over her fabulous Figment horns fascinator. Lookie:

 The Spaceship Earth fabric! Ah! And she just let me know it's from Hat and Mouse, which has many pretties. Drooling.

Lemme pause my own pics here for a sec to show you some of the best stuff I missed, all found on Instagram. (Click any pic to go to the poster's account.)

https://www.instagram.com/avidchick/

These Maleficent horns are everything. And the Master Gracey in the middle! And I think that's Mary Poppins? Anyway, incredible group.

I was mildly crushed to miss Cindy in her Tomorrow's Child dress:

https://www.instagram.com/incindysshoes/

That's rainbow tulle underneath, peeps, and metallic silver heels. YES. Plus her bag looks like Spaceship Earth!

https://www.instagram.com/peppermeg/
Fantastic Jack and Sally.

I only spotted one of these fairies in the crowd, so I'm glad avidchick posted a group shot:
https://www.instagram.com/avidchick/

I'm naturally drawn to Disneybounders, but I gotta say, there's something equally magical about the purely vintage dappers. So many of these folks look like they stepped out of an old fashion magazine:
https://www.instagram.com/samantha_vanwie/
Perfection.

Ok, last Instagram find: this shot of Anna & Liz is one of the sweetest character interactions I've ever seen:
https://www.instagram.com/lizologycosplay/
Is it dusty in here? Gah. MY HEART.

Ok, back to MY photos.

I wish I could have taken all my shots in the UK gardens. 

These sisters were a delight:

First, Judy Hopps!

And then her sister as Lady, wearing some of my favorite colors:



Love this emerald green:


If you spot this gentleman in the hat next Dapper Day, say hello:

He was one of the nicer encounters of the day for me. Really lovely man.

Did I squeal when I saw this Maleficent and Cheshire cat? Yes, yes I did:

Her tail is pinned around the side of her skirt!

Now that I'm winding down I suppose I should mention John and I did dress up this year. We threw our outfits together the night before, so we didn't match, but I was a gender-swapped Gaston and John was mildly steampunky:

Of course, I forgot to have anyone take our picture 'til it was too dark, and you can't see my fun boots here. Oops. (Those are yellow gloves tucked in at my waist, and I'm wearing this gold stag necklace.) Even though my 'bound was subtle, easily half the groups I stopped to photograph called out, "Gaston!!" so, you know, THAT was just the coolest.

Next time we'll be more prepared, and oh yes, John WILL be a gender-swapped, dapper Belle. He was crushed he couldn't do it this time, and actually spent Saturday morning searching every store in the area for a yellow dress shirt. Ha! So yeah, next time.

Speaking of yellow, this couple dressed in dapper Fallout Vault Boy colors! That's a first!

I bet they confused so many people, and I love it.
And my final shots of the evening:

After I took these the guy said, "Wait, one more!" Then they did this:

D'aww. 

Of course, right that second my camera decided it wasn't going to focus, so I kept calling, "Hang on, hold it, hold it, hooooold itttttt..." .. but you know, I really don't think they minded too much. :D

Hope you enjoyed your virtual visit to Dapper Day with me! As always, these are just my top favorite photos, so head over to my Flickr album to see the rest.

Most of the Disney parks have their own Dapper Days now, so check the official website for dates and more info.

37 comments:

  1. Why aren't meetups allowed? How can they stop a group from showing up at the same time in the same place? Confused...

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    1. I'm pretty sure it's a fire code issue. Basically, you've got 10,000 well dressed people who all want to meet under Spaceship Earth or something and Disney can't allow that due to safety concerns. I wish it wasn't the case but you can understand their reasoning.

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    2. I was wondering that too. I thought "If three or more oddly well-dressed people stand too close together, what are they going to do? Throw them out?"

      perhaps this can be solved by designating several areas of the park as meet up areas, so no one spot gets too crowded at once.

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    3. It's more that Disney has contacted the official (and some of the larger unofficial) Dapper Day groups, and specifically asked them not to do meetups anymore. If you saw my group photos from past years, you can see why; DD gets bigger every year, and we just can't all fit in one area anymore.

      There *was* an official DD Lounge this year in the Living Seas, so Dappers could meet there, but it was an extra ticketed event, and pricey, so most didn't bother.

      Of course smaller groups can still try to do their own meets, but if they get too large Disney will take notice, and we all want to stay on good terms with the Mouse!

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  2. I always love your Dapper Day posts! You make a great Gaston, Jen. I can't wait to see john (thoJ) as Belle in May!
    -Zippy

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  3. Thank you so much for sharing your Dapper Days experience with us! Looks like you both had a lot of fun! Loved your photography and write-up! Thanks for making us smile!

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  4. I was there on Saturday, too! It was quite hot - I really felt for all of the gentlemen in suits.

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  5. I always enjoy seeing the Dapper Day pics, even though I'm not really one to dress up (give me my t-shirts and yoga pants any day!)

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  6. Dapper Day always looks so dang fun!

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  7. i love when you share photos of costumed and dapper folks! huge thanks. xo

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  8. So many great outfits! Especially love the Fallout pair and Soldier and his lady at the end.

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  9. Spaceship Earth dress! Spaceship Earth dress! Spaceship Earth dress! Spaceship Earth dress!

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  11. In that pic with Goofy and Donald, I'm pretty sure you have a Pooh! And possibly, could that be the younger sister from Hocus Pocus?

    Gorgeous shots!

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  12. That's my twin sister as Judy Hopps & me as lady! Oh my stars you are such a sweetheart, we had no idea you'd feature us on your blog! Thank you so much for stopping to chat and take our picture we appreciate it immensely ❤️❤️
    XxPaola one half of thehepburnmovement.blogspot.com

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    1. I just came here to share that you were DBing Lady but you beat me to it. :D
      -Dana K from Unicorn Hunters

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  13. Thanks for the great photos! I didn't get to attend as I had a show that day. I was bummed they moved it so far into November this year. Last year's October was easier for me to schedule around. I lose every Saturday for two months at the holidays doing shows. ;)

    I even had a Figment Disneybound all ready to go. Oh well. I hear Spring is going to be 2 days - one of which will be back at Epcot so hopefully, I can wear it then.

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  14. The guy with Goofy and Donald was Pooh!!

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  15. What awesome photos, as always! I think that if John 'bounds to match you, he needs to wear a blue and white ensemble. (Snazzy blue suit, white shirt?) Yellow dress Belle never interacted with Gaston! :)

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    1. I agree - and John suggested the same thing - but then you risk folks thinking he's Alice or Wendy or even Cinderella! Yellow with a red rose, though, and there's no question. (Plus the colors will match my Gaston.)

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    2. Awesome Gaston! He's such a fun character.
      Andrea makes a good point, and it's fun to virtual Disney bound, so here's my two cents...
      I wonder if you found the "Belle" shade of blue pants & vest, a white shirt and maybe a tie with books or something? Or maybe something to hold that suggests village Belle. So much easier for girls because of purses and fascintors. A red rose would be a good identifier too.
      Thank you for sharing these amazing photos. You have enriched my Disney visits by introducing the concept of Disney bounding. I haven't dressed up yet, but I love figuring it out the disney bounders I see at the park and the next time we go we are going to try it!

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  16. "all the feelz"? What does that even mean? Where did it come from? How do we make it stop?

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    1. LOL - you must be the one who didn't like my using the word "con" last week, right? I keep it pretty casual here, and sometimes I use text speak or write like I talk to make it more fun for me. Sorry it bugs you.

      Anyhoo, "all the feelz" is a phrase thrown around on social media, meaning "this inspires emotion." I thought it appropriate since the Inside Out bounders are dressed as the different emotions. :)

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    2. Language is a living thing. It evolves and reflects the times. I like the phrase and it's pretty obvious what it means.

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    3. I have all the feelz about how nice you are to not so nice people.

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  17. This is the most bizarre thing. I don't get it. I mean..The.Most.Bizarre.Thing.

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  18. Dapper figment here, my fascinator is from hatandmouse.com �� it was nice to meet you again, and thanks for featuring us!!

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    1. Oops, thank you for the correction - I'll go fix that now! And thanks for letting me take your pic twice! :D

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  19. Tomorrowland/space mountain girl here! Thanks so much for posting this picture!! My first dapper day was SO fun! Everyone was amazing and I can't wait to come back to be dapper with you all again! ❤️

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  20. When I first saw you and John's dapper day picture I thought John was LeFou!

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  21. These are just wonderful.
    Everyone looks great!
    Thank you for sharing. :)

    --Piper P from Washington State

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  22. Dapper 40s Wonder Woman - Oh my stars! This is just the best.

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  23. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH! Everybody looks awesome! Thank you thank you thank you for taking these beautiful photos for us, Jen, and doing such a lovely write-up!

    KW

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  24. I saw more pics in the Fans of EPBOT Facebook group. Awesome! I dream of getting to Disney one day, and I'd love for it to be during Dapper Day. :D

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  25. Wow! Dapper gender swapped Hook! What an amazing costume, but she is totally in character too. I think I may have to copy for Halloween next year.

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  26. My husband and I were at Universal for our honeymoon that weekend and went over to Disney Springs that evening. I saw some folks in Dapper and wondered if it was a Dapper Day. Now I know. So cool.

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