Fashion’s Night Out

After much deliberating and not so meticulous planning I headed to Bond Street for one of my favourite nights of the year, Fashion’s Night Out.

I visited (deep breath) Browns, Whistles, Mulberry, Smythson, Miu Miu, Matthew Williamson, DVF, Nicole Farhi, Tory Birch, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, DKNY, Burberry, Salvatore Ferragamo and Moschino. The stores had gone all out with free drinks, canapés, DJs and a total party atmosphere. It was like being at a festival- the shops were the stages and the clothes were the stars. Everyone was treated like a VIP and there was so much going on that I wished I could split myself in two.

Highlights included Drinking gin punch from a teacup at Moschino, seeing Nicole Farhi chatting to Bill Nighy outside Nicole Farhi, the canapés at Tory Birch (best of the evening), nearly getting in the way of the band’s grand entrance at Burberry and seeing Matthew Williamson in Matthew Williamson happily chatting and posing for photos with customers. It was great to see the designers out supporting the event made it feel really special.

However, this year I was disappointed to see that some of the stores- Coach, Stella McCartney, Juicy Couture and Dior to name a few were operating a guest list only policy with clipboards and velvet ropes. These brands can have exclusive ‘fashion people’ parties for the next month in New York, London, Milan and Paris. Fashions Night Out is supposed to be for everyone, for regular people who love fashion and don’t get invited to those parties all the time. There were so many great parties at all the other shops along Bond Street that it didn’t matter to me, in fact, they made it easier for me to plan my route! It’s the principal really, I don’t want to see my favourite night turn into another industry only party.

Cupcakes at Smythson

                           

Boots of my dreams at Miu Miu

Me admiring a Matthew Williamson Gown

The man himself

Gin in a teacup

The belt I have wanted since I saw it in The Face magazine aged 17

Dior taxi

Window at Alexander McQueen

Over before it started?

Tesco and Asda's Flying Jackets

Topshop's Flying Jacket

Burberry's Flying Jacket

Flying jackets are everywhere- from full page pictures in Stylist magazine to the front cover of Vogue’s October supplement. On every single trend report/ must have and high street store’s home page. When Topshop’s first flying jacket drop hit two weeks ago, they sold out in a matter of hours and were trading hands for double the price on EBay the same day. From the moment Burberry sent them down the catwalk in February the seemingly unanimous decision was taken that they were to be A/W 10’s MUST HAVE.

Unfortunately, the temperature has not dipped below 15 degrees and I am already bored, yes that’s right, bored of them. I have reached shearling lined aviator jacket saturation point, and its not even mid September. If I wanted one in February, I don’t now, and you know why? Florence and Fred at Tesco and George at Asda have theirs in store, the vintage stores have rails of the things, and every high street store worth mentioning has a version, and guess what? They are all the same, one for every budget, every women, no matter their income, all-walking round, looking the same. I feel for Burberry, I do- their key piece for A/W has been diluted, what should look new and exciting now looks tired, old and predictable.

The problem is, and I hate to say it, the democratisation of fashion. Before the days of live streamed shows, catwalk pics on Style.com, front row bloggers and endless real time tweets one had to wait until September to know what the trends were for Autumn- this year, by the time the magazines reported them, I knew them. And so did everyone else. Reaction had been monitored, focus groups taken and every buyer came to the same conclusion: Flying Jacket = Commercial Success.

I love that I have the opportunity to watch all the shows and see all the pictures from fashion week, I do- its just, where before I thought the British High Street maintained a safe distance from designer rip offs and trends, now I just see it as watered down, cheaper versions of the same thing, and it makes me sad.

P.S I am buying a grey or navy cape as this years winter coat. Hopefully with gold hardware.

Knickers in a twist

The M and S full brief

The illusive bikini breifs

I recently looked into my underwear drawer and saw, as I always see, a riot of multi coloured/ patterned pants- some of them have a matching bra, but most of them do not. I sigh, knowing that when that bus does mow me down the ambulance people will cut off my clothes and see ill fitting, fairly old and definitely not matching underwear.

I thought “I will bin all these childish coloured non matching underwear and replace it with endless matching underwear.” Now, I believe it a total glossy magazine myth that some, or indeed most, women wear silky matching lingerie sets at all times- its just not practical and it would be very expensive, not to mention time consuming. To combat this I had a genius idea- Only to buy black underwear and black bras- that way I would always match. Nothing fancy- just plain, cotton and sporty, a cross between 90s Calvin Klein and American Apparel- how effortlessly stylish my underwear will look!

Or at least this is what I thought…I set out to buy a basic multi-pack of black cotton briefs in a standard pant shape- I went where any person looking for basic, comfy pants would- the M&S website- I chose my shape (bikni brief) and colour (black) and, “oh the pack is mixed black and white- never mind I’ll go to the store-yes, there they are!” Very pleased I looked for my size (10) “Hmmmm only size 14 or 16, I will order them- ah, I am not able to, its ok the assistant is stock checking other stores-and…they only have them in Scotland” I have been thwarted in my quest.

I will be purchasing the black cotton full breifs- Vogue says full briefs are having a fashion moment and the comments say they don’t leave VPL, this is good enough for me. All I need to do now is buy some basic black bras. Easy…

MA finished, back to blogging

After starting this blog with the best of intentions, by the end of September I realised that having a full time job, doing my MA Final Project and running a shiny new blog was a bit much.

I studied Fashion Curation pathway so my project took the form of a exhibition proposal and accompanying academic essay. Below is an introduction to my project:

"Homemade Couture: 111 Years of Vogue Patterns will be one of the very few exhibitions to privilege the paper dress making pattern as an object worthy of study and display. In order to do this I have chosen to use one of the most recognizable names in fashion, Vogue. The exhibition will take the form of a company history in order to explore the changing nature and relevance of the Vogue Pattern Company. Vogue Patterns was established in 1899 and this exhibition will be held in 2010, making Vogue Patterns 111, it doesn’t have to be a landmark birthday to celebrate a companies achievements. I chose to focus on paper patterns because of the creativity they allowed the women who use them with regard to fabric choice, skirt length etc, the fact that paper patterns, especially Vogue Patterns, show how designer styles and trends were presented to the mass population and because patterns have their own particular style of illustration which can provide a record of how women are illustrated and presented throughout the 20th Century."

The MA is not quite over yet, there is still the London College of Fashion MA exhibition which will be held at the Mall Galleries, London from 2nd-5th of Feb. So please come down to see the work.

Vogue's Fashion Night Out

Fashion's Night Out, organised by Vogue was touted as "A global celebration of fashion" with similar events happening in 12 other cities across the world.

Curious about this, and unsure of what would actually be happening I got off the tube at Oxford Circus after work to investigate. Topshop was the first stop, and apart from a board saying it was Fashion's Night Out and a small section of 'Vogue Edits' there was not much else to suggest the glamour and celebration promised. In fact, the highlight was spotting Noel Fielding browsing the leather trench coats.

Disappointed, I made my way to New Bond St, which at first sight looked sad and deserted and going into an abandoned Fenwicks did nothing for my mood.

Then, with a champagne reception at Bally and one of the Vogue staffers milling about and yet more champers and Vogue cupcakes at Follie Follie things were looking up. Anya Hindmarsh had cocktails and the opportunity to be photographed your favorite bag and the chance of winning it. Unfortunately, my photo was terrible so I stand no chance of a free bag.

Once I got down into Bond Street it was a whirlwind of fabulous drinks receptions and a real party atmosphere. Mulberry had amazing berry cocktails and prize draw (which I did not win), Jimmy Choo had Kanye West blaring out the speakers and scrummy Margaritas, Longchamp had a singer in the window, good old Vivienne Westwood served delicious canapes and gin and the Burberry party was the busiest, filled with the most stylish people and celebs with a queue for the early parts of the evening.

I had a truly fabulous time and thought that all the designer stores really made the effort to make it a great night. Bond Street retained its air of exclusivity, even though the event was open to all. It was a rare opportunity for fashion wannabes to glimpse the glitz close up, I truly hope there will be one next year as it is the perfect way to ring in the new fashion season in style.