“What Does Dapper Day Mean to
You?” – Reflecting on the Dapper Day Experience
By now my love of
Dapper Day at Disneyland is widely known and has been thoroughly
documented in pictures. With each passing season the outfits become
more intricate and creative. This past weekend was Spring Dapper Day
2017 at the Disneyland Resort. As has become tradition, Sasaki Time
was in attendance with our generous and talented photographer Kevin, Disneybounding as Carl and Ellie from
Pixar’s Up! We had an amazing weekend, as usual, and in addition
to our usual photo coverage I wanted to turn my focus outward to the
other Dapper Day attendees who make this bi-annual tradition so
incredible. As we strolled around the parks I posed a simple
question to other Dapper folks, “What does Dapper Day mean to you?”
I had the pleasure of speaking with many different people throughout
the day to gain a 360 degree view of Dapper Day, from 1st
time attendees to an employee of the Dapper Day organization.
The Dapper Day Story
The first Dapper
Day was held at Disneyland in 2011 and in the following years
branched out to Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland Paris.
Both Spring and Fall Dapper Days have been held every year.
According to David McCarthy of the Dapper Day organization
(
@davidfordisney), “Dapper Day loves to celebrate vintage and
current fashion and let people express themselves with any kind of
fashion they would like to.” In addition to their Disney Parks
events, Dapper Day hosts events around the LA area at places like
Clifton’s and the LACMA. Dapper Day is its own brand and remains a
separate entity from Disney Parks. Despite the fact that Dapper Days
remain unofficial and are not affiliated with Disney Parks, that
doesn’t stop them from joining in on the fun. This season various
photo spots were set up around the parks where cast members took
guest’s photos holding retro-inspired photo frames. Character
costumes also appear to be themed for Dapper Day, such as Mickey
wearing his Dapper Dan attire. David McCarthy revealed the parks in
Orlando also have planned themed food offerings for the Spring 2017
season (April 29
th and 30
th) such as picnic
lunches, themed cupcakes, and even fresh boutonnieres. There are
also additional events such as the Dapper Day Expo at Disneyland and
Justin, the creator of Dapper Day, will be making a rare appearance
for a meet and greet Saturday April 29
th in the Emporium
at the Magic Kingdom. The Dapper Day brand has done a fantastic job
of creating events, both inside and outside the parks, helping to
create a strong sense of camaraderie and community for Disney and
fashion fans alike.
Dressed to the Nines
Dapper Day is
intended as a call back to a time when going to the parks was a
special occasion and people dressed accordingly. David McCarthy
compared Dapper Day to looking at the original concept drawings and
early photos of Disneyland “with everyone dressed to the nines even
though it’s hot.” While there’s nothing wrong with the shorts,
t-shirts, and tennis shoes that have become the uniform of a Disney
Parks day, one of the things people consistently love about Dapper
Day is having the ability to dress up! Darcy Prevost
(
@darcyeprevost) called Dapper Day “a slice of history” recalling
a time when “everybody cared about what they put on.” Victoria
Matautia (
@toriam16) was attending her first Dapper Day and said her
favorite so far has been that on Dapper Day dressing up is the norm
when on any other day it would be weird to see someone dressed up in
the parks.
Community, Camaraderie, and
Creativity
One of the things I
have, personally, always adored about Dapper Day is the strong sense
of support and community that surrounds these events. Creativity,
camaraderie, and coming together were common themes among those I
interviewed. No one is a stranger on Dapper Day. Complimenting the
outfit of a perfect stranger is not only acceptable but encouraged.
Jeanine Ringer (
@mrsringer) shared that one of her favorite things is
“appreciating the effort and creativity that [other attendees] put
into it.” James of
@jameschatstv said Dapper Day is a “wonderful
day to express yourself, get into the Disney spirit, and get
creative”. Alex Ryser (
@lex_ryser) at the park for her 4
th
Dapper Day outing said, “My favorite part is coming together for a
whole group Disneybound. It’s a day to be together, bond, and have
fun.”
Here are some of the other sentiments that fellow park goers
shared with me:
Shawn Rios (
@cravaliershawn
@riosoriginals): “Dapper Day is an opportunity to express
creativity but also to connect. In my group there are a wide array
of instagramers, cosplayers, designers, people who appreciate vintage
[fashion] and it represents an opportunity to bring those many many
different backgrounds together in a way that show a similar interest
and appreciate each other.”
Taylor Simonds (
@taylor_on_tour):
“It’s my favorite day of the year! I love having an excuse to
dress up.” “It’s amazing to feel beautiful but more
importantly I love all the people I’ve met through this. It’s
such a wonderful community of people. It’s so easy to instantly
spot someone [on Dapper Day] and know that you’re like minded, that
you also care about fashion and aesthetic and Disney and looking and
feeling your best. It’s such an easy way to make friends with
people that have the same interests as you.”
Final Thoughts
David McCarthy on
behalf of Dapper Day added, “Dapper Day loves to see everyone’s
marvelous styles and see everyone make it their own. We look forward
to seeing you out in the parks in the future and at our outside
events in your most stylish attire whether it be current or vintage.”
Our ensembles for Fall Dapper Day 2017 are already in the works and
we can’t wait to share them with you. Fall Dapper Day at
Disneyland is scheduled for November 4th and 5th
of this year. Go to dapperday.com for more information.
Check out
our Instagram accounts (@sasakitime and @krisnick16) for a close-up
look of our Spring experience with Dapper Day in the parks. We hope
to see you all Stepping Out in Style next season!
