Bristol Fashion Week - Live Blogging Catwalk Show - VERY Picture Heavy

Yesterday I attended the Bristol Fashion Week Live Blogging Catwalk Show at the Mall at Cribbs Causeway.  Bristol Fashion Week had provided 200 free tickets for bloggers and fashion students to attend and I was lucky enough to get one of them!  We were encouraged to tweet during the show and were allowed to take photographs - this was great, as at the last fashion show I went to at Bristol Fashion Week, it was strictly prohibited. 

Having arrived slightly late, I picked up my blogger pack, picked up a glass of fizz and was ushered straight into the show.  I noticed that the girl next to me had a blogger pass as well, so I introduced myself and it turned out to be lovely Laura from A Daisy Chain Dream - we'd tweeted about the event earlier, so I was really surprised we ended up next to each other! 

Below I've put together my favourite picks from the fashion show.

Pastels and Pinks from John Lewis

The show started off with dresses from John Lewis in a variety of pastel pink colours.  The models were trussed up in sweetie wrappers with pastel coloured blue and green lipstick.  The dresses shown were mainly knee-length or shorter and were a mixture of work and event-appropriate dresses. 

I know it's a terrible photo, but the dress above is probably my favourite from John Lewis.  Here's a link to it - it's £129 at the moment.  I think seeing it modelled on the catwalk really brought it to life for me, as I don't think I'd give it a second glance from the website model!

Sports Lux from Next

The standout piece from the clothes from Next was definitely these coral coloured jeans.  I desperately want some coloured jeans to liven up my spring wardrobe and I think these might be the ones!  They're very similar to the ones that Kate Middleton has been photographed wearing in the past week, but a lot cheaper.  Kate's jeans are from J Brand and are £200 from Net-a-Porter.  I think I've found the ones on the catwalk from Next here - they are a lot cheaper, at £40, so I'm definitely considering blowing the dust from my wallet for these.

Workwear from Hobbs

Continuing the trend for pinks and pastels, the Hobbs show was one of my favourites.  The clothes are summary and work-appropriate with a nod to the 1950s and are totally my style.  I've never bought anything from Hobbs, but I'm really tempted to go and have a look now.

The outfit above is devine!  I think I need to have this skirt in my life - it's totally my style and I love the colours.  I also like the fact that it's striped and slightly colour-blocky, but the stripes are slightly more abstract than just straight across.  The skirt is the Hobbs Invitation Galindo Skirt and it costs £110.  I think I might be tempted.  The top is the Invitation Jewel Jacket and it costs £199.



I also love this dress from Hobbs, the Invitation Jewel Dress.  It costs £149 and would be perfect for a wedding, but you could definitely wear it to work in the summer.

I didn't manage to take a good photograph of it, but on the very left of the photograph above (purple) is the Invitation Gem Dress, which is also absolutely stunning but a bit of a splurge at £179.  I think the colour and styling is fantastic - I'm seriously impressed by Hobbs and will definitely popping in there.

Occasionwear from BHS

I almost never think of shopping in BHS.  However, whenever I do, I buy something - infact my favourite ever sundress was bought from BHS when I was just passing throught.  Actually, my Egyption cotton bedsheets were bought in there for under £20 for the set, so it's worth going in there more often.  There were some lovely monochrome 1950s inspired prom-dresses at the fashion show from BHS with bold floral prints.

Coming in at £49 each, these beautiful dresses are a total bargain!  I particularly love the purple and pink dress above, also £49.  Having spent some time browsing the BHS website, they have some amazing dresses - how cool are thier going out dresses and look at the prices - bargainous!

Italian Tropical Fashions from Oasis

I love Oasis when it comes to summer dresses - I own many of their floral bright prints myself and I think the photographs below show that they've done it again for 2012.  I love the very Italian look of the dresses - they make me want to pack my bags and go to Rome immediately.

Here's the link to the Tropical Fantasy Collection.  I particularly like the Tropical Jewel Dress (seen on the left above, £70). There are loads of gorgeous pieces and most of the prices aren't too sky-high either, so I might put a few on my wish-list.

Miss Selfridge Nude Tones and Floaty Fabrics

The Miss Selfridge scene showed off an array of beautiful nude-coloured dresses in soft, sheer and floaty fabrics.  It was a very romantic and soft collection.

Miss Selfridge are on to a winner with their Maxi/Mini dresses.  Basically, a mini dress with a sheer maxi-length dress over the top, they give you extra coverage, whilst still showing off your figure.  The nude dress above is a very reasonable £45.

This floral print mini/maxi dress is £50 from Miss Selfrdige.

Channelling Chanel at Jigsaw

One of the standout collections was from Jigsaw.  It was, according to presenter Mark Heyes, the best rip-off of Chanel he'd ever seen - I'll have some of that!  Thinking lady-like fashion, and taking inspiration from First Ladies Michelle and Jackie O, the collection includes work-appropriate tailoring in the pastel spring palette.

The tweed suit (above right) is not cheap with the jacket costing £235 and the skirt £140 ... but it's still A LOT cheaper than Chanel.  The Lemon Merino Cashmir Cardigan on the left costs £135 - pricey, but imagine how it feels!

I love this daffodil trench, and at £185, you can justify it as an investment, not a splurge. I also love this beautiful Easter Print Skirt at £98.

 The beautiful Deco Fan Dress on the left costs £169.

Celebrating the Great Gatsby at Marks and Spencer

One of my favourite stories was the Great Gatsby-inspired, 1920s feel of the Marks and Spencer Collection.  Apparently, this is going to be a strong trend through the summer, and with the release of the Great Gatsby film in autumn, it's likely to continue through the winter as well.

I love the wide-leg trousers on the left.  I think these Seam Waistband Wide Leg Trousers are the ones - at £22.50, they're very wallet friendly and have been added to my wish-list.  I couldn't find the dress on the right online, but it's rather lovely as well.

I love the cut of the dress on the left and I really like the outfit in the middle for workwear as well.  Unfortunately, I can't find either online.

In Conclusion

So, the top trends for spring summer 2012 are:

• Pastel colours and soft tailoring
• Coral coloured jeans
• Purples and pinks with deconstructed stripes
• Lady-like fashion, chanelling Jackio O and Michelle O
• Tropical, Italian prints
• Nude floaty fabrics

So, that's my round-up from Bristol Fashion Week Spring 2012.  I thought bringing in the blogging community was a great idea and it generated a lot of excitement about the show.  Unfortunately, I arrived slightly late, so I didn't have a chance to mingle with the other people before the show and I had to dash off afterwards, so I didn't meet anyone other than Laura.  If the organisers are reading this, thanks so much for inviting the bloggers - it was a great idea.  I've got loads of fashion inspiration from the show, so I'll definitely be having a little shopping trip to pick up some of the clothes shown soon.

I do think that there should be a programme for the show with the outfits and prices set out in it, as it would make it so much easier for shopping afterwards.  When I've been to other fashion shows, such as the one at Harvey Nics, the clothes and pricing was all written out on a programme, so you could make notes or ticks as the models went down the runway.  I think that this would help to generate more sales and interest if the Mall did this as well.

By the way, the saga of my laptop keyeboard continues - I've had to bring  my work computer home to type this... I couldn't face doing it with half a broken keyboard!  I might do this more often so I can actually do some blogging for once!

What are your picks for spring summer?  Thanks for reading! xx

Bristol Fashion Week

With all the excitement over London Fashion Week, I've been trying to join in, by attending a fashion show at Bristol Fashion Week.  Christopher Kane, Matthew Williamson, Mulberry, Vivienne Westwood at London Fashion Week in exciting venues, verses a tent in the car park of The Mall, Cribbs Causeway in Bristol and a fashion show sponsored by M&S and John Lewis.  It doesn't really compare in terms of glamour and excitement does it?  But I found it a really good night out and got loads of ideas and fashion lusts for Autumn Winter 2010/2011, and most of the clothes were affordable and available now and I've already ordered a few bits having seen them on the catwalk.

The fashion show contained outfits predominantly from M & S and John Lewis, as well as clothes from Dorothy Perkins, Animal, Jane Norman, River Island, La Senza, East, J D Sports, Karen Millen and Jigsaw.  It was a long show, more than an hour long, and hosted by Andrew Barton and Mark Heyes who made it entertaining and imparted some of their top fashion and hair tips for the new season.

The problem was, photography was prohibited, so I wasn't able to take any snaps of the clothes.  There was a running order of the different collections, but no catalogue showcasing the clothes and looks and prices etc.  I think that this would have been a great feature, as there were loads of things I wanted, but I've had to rely on my memory, especially as my pen ran out, so I couldn't even make any notes!

The highlight for me was the gothic/vampire inspired collection from Dorothy Perkins.  I've ordered a skirt and a dress that were showcased already!

I loved this leaf-print skirt from Dorothy Perkins

There was a lovely purple evening dress from M & S with a black band under the bust, with drapes of material cascading down from it, and hiding any tummy bulge.  This was worn by a larger model and it looked gorgeous on her.  Unfortunately, it's not yet released, so I can't show you a picture of it from the website, but it's definitely a winner for the Christmas party season.

There was a great dress and jacket from the brand Damsel in a Dress from John Lewis.  It is a tweed material with a golden silk sheen to it.  I'm not sure if it would suit me, being a larger busted girl, but it looked stunning on the model.

This is £169 from John Lewis

I loved the Karen Millen collection which included camel dresses and polo necks, with very interesting cuts and a slightly preppy/70s vibe.  I love the camel trend, it really makes a change from black, especially as I have a little white cat, so I spend my life cleaning my black clothes of white cat hairs!  They definitely won't show up against camel!

One of the collections showcased the new range of bags and shoes from Radley.  I wasn't taken with the shows which were multi-coloured and quite clumpy - not really my style.  However, I did love the bags which included 70s style patterns, a move away from those cutesy dog motifs. 

I was surpised that I loved the J D Sports collection.  It was all greys, hot pinks and vivid purples, and I've come away lusting a purple Adidas Hoodie, which I didn't expect to!

The major trends to emerge were:

• Camel, camel, camel, from leggings to coats, and including dresses.  I've definitely bought into this trend big style!
• Other colours were purples, greys and blacks.
• Lace T-shirts, dresses and tops, especially in black.
• A slight 1970s vibe.
• Aviator jackets.
• Military style jackets.
• Capes.
• Fur boots/gilets/fur-trims.
• Animal print.
• Cut-out shoes.
• Biker boots.

For hair, Andrew Barton said that the up-coming season would be about very short, sleek bobs, or long and big hair, rather than straight hair, enhanced with clip-on extensions.   He said that colour trends are moving to dark browns, verging on the black, possibly with purple highlights, or a purple tone to dark hair.  That's good news to me, as I've always maintained my brunette locks!

The tickets cost £8, and I though that was a fair price as the seats gave a really good view.  There was also a goodie bag for everyone which was stuffied with booty - definitely worth more than £8 alone. 

All in all, it was a good night out, and I liked the fact it was accessible and affordable fashion, most of which could be ordered straight away.  However, it was a shame that there wasn't  a catalogue of the prices.

I've ordered a lot of clothes for the new season after going to the fashion show (as I couldn't face hitting the shops this weekend), so I'm looking forward to showing you all when they arrive!

Thanks for reading! xx