London Fashion Week Antics February 2012

I wasn't going to go to London Fashion Week this season, honest I wasn't.  When Pearl text me to ask what days I was doing, I text back a big fat "None"!  I had a couple of show tickets which included Antoni and Alison and Corrie Neilson which I was going to give to my daughter anyway as even if you don't stay at a hotel in London, it still costs a fortune in train fares, food and Starbucks which is an absolute necessity (when you have been up since 5am to get ready, get to London, then tube it across to Somerset House to make a 9 am show) so it all hardly seemed worth it to be honest, I was thinking of buying a new pair of shoes with the money, then my plans began to change and my "fashion adrenaline" kicked in!

A brand called Age of Reason, who make the Punk Pug silk scarves which are stocked at Matches Fashion had tweeted looking for a blogger to do something for them at Fashion Week and my daughter who is doing the Fashion Journalism course at University decided to apply and got accepted.  All Hail the power of Twitter especially as both Claudia and I love the brand and its designs after I got a grey pug one back in December!

Having taken in a few shows since the Blog launched early in 2009, I felt I really should guide her through proceedings, obviously, as her mission was to take Street Style pictures of people wearing one of the brands scarves, I knew it would be quite a daunting task and that she risked dealing with rejection but what we didn't anticipate was that as we arrived just in time for me to attend the Antoni and Alison show at 9am, by the time I got out, she had been "street style papped" herself, 13 times, and it continued all day long, so in addition to her trying to take her own pictures, as she approached somebody to ask to take theirs, photographers were butting in and taking hers, so it wasn't easy but she coped with it all really well and it must have been a really exciting experience for her, especially with reports coming in of which websites/blogs she has appeared on including Fashion 156 and the Misguided website, as that is where she got her leggings from and they spotted them!

For me fashion week is as much about "people watching" as it is attending shows!  I am always on "designer bag alert" and day one saw Pearl carrying a gorgeous fabric Chanel and I spotted another wish list favourite, the Celine Luggage Tote .......

I still can't be parted from the Wang which has changed colour in the year I have had it, from its original mustard colour to a far more appealing shade of tan.  I also wore the "Marantesque" Oasis Boots which were really comfortable, thankfully!

and what could make anyone happier than when you are sitting minding your own business and a lovely lady from the brand "eyeko" (who also had  the Alexander Wang, Rocco) comes along and says "can I offer you some free eye products" and produces two mascara's and a liquid eyeliner!  Day One was a good day for sure and I can't wait to try these products out, I have the Long and Tall and the Curl and Hold Mascara's and the liquid eyeliner is in black, so pretty much all the make-up I would need if I were ever stranded on a Desert Island.  Thank you Eyeko! 

The Day finished off perfectly with my daughter fighting her way towards Pixie Lott who happily obliged for a picture whilst the Paps just thought it was acceptable to send me flying down the Stand!  They really don't give a shit, when trying to get a celeb shot!

Day Two 

There didn't seem to be as many people around at the start of Day Two.  Claudia ........

went off with Florrie to a couple of Vauxhall Fashion Scout shows whilst Pearl, Lawrence (he is only 15 bless him and he recognised Pearl at Fashion Week back in September and we haven't let him go since!) and I, did a bit of celeb spotting which didn't please Claudia much when she got back ......

as she loves Millie from Made in Chelsea (above) and is of course obsessed with the Pugs owned by both Millie and Brix Smith Start who arrived for Jasper Conran carrying Gladys........

since we got our own Pug, Albert back in November.

I also spotted Laura Bailey looking gorgeous (below).....

and John Rocha but I couldn't get the password off the iphone quick enough for a picture of him, I really need to buy a proper camera!

It was really cold, so a lunchtime coffee, chicken ceasar wrap and a lemon and poppy seed muffin helped to warm us up and refuel .....

but it wasn't long before a light drizzle turned into a heavy downpour which didn't seem to stop T4's Jameela Jamil arriving for John Rocha in a summer dress and Jelly Shoes (Melissa for Vivienne Westwood) and then go on to tweet that she wouldn't be smiling tomorrow when she had pneumonia!  Bless her!  Well if you can't have fun with fashion when you are young, when can you?

My Kind of Street Style: vintage burberry mac, vintage bag and mirror gold LK Bennett heels as worn by Pearl.

By about 4pm we had had enough of being wet and freezing cold, so said goodbye to the cobbles of Somerset House for another 7 months and will watch the rest of the proceedings via Live Stream from the comfort of my sofa, there is only so much excitement a woman of my age can take you know!