LFW: A Technical Haven

One of the many observations I made at London Fashion Week was the abundance of technology on the Frow (Front-Row) at the catwalks. iPads, iPhones, Digital SLR cameras are the choice of many, hoping to snap pictures at the scene of the action then update them to blogs and twitter as soon as possible. There is an overwhelming need for speed when posting/blogging/tweeting updates live from the catwalk shows. There are even multiple media outlets dotted around Somerset house so updates can be sent as soon as they occur!


Twitter. I'm pretty sure everyone was aware of the floods of tweets and retweets about shows/designers/celebrity sightings. My Twitter feed was filled for LFW-related tweets all weekend! The mass of Instagram photos and tweets from catwalks made it possible for those left off the guest list, to have a front row seat. I wasn't at the Mulberry show (sadly), but through Twitter I had learned that Michelle Williams, Lana Del Ray and Anna Wintour were in the building! The outsider becomes the insider with the help of Twitter, and the fashion industry has become more accessible with it.


However, with all this technology, I discovered that there are a few specific rules one must abide by in order to avoid crossing over into the world of a spam. Here are a few pointers I picked up over the weekend:


Technology Etiquette: 

• Always be aware of those behind you when taking photos - If you're in the back row then feel free to stand to get a better view, but if you're in the middle tiers then try to be courteous to your neighbour and the ones behind you when trying to get that perfect shot.
• Don't send more than 3 tweets per show - I think I may have broken this one at the Prophetik show (I was overly excited by the clothing that I flooded Jeff Garner's feed... Sorry!!) 
• Don't record all of the show on your iPad, etc. - iPads are rather large devices and yes they have a great image quality, but the person next to you doesn't really want to watch the entire show through your camera! Be aware of who's vision you may be blocking and keep recording to a minimum... maybe just the finale!

So, there you go. A few tips I picked up at LFW. Hope they can help you! 

XOXO 

Alex 

2011: The Best Bits

It's finally coming to the end of 2011. Still asking myself where has this year gone! As I get older, the years just seem to fly by without me noticing. 2011 has been a big year for me. It got off to a rocky start with the ending of a relationship and the dissolution of a few friendships, but out of that I've become a lot stronger with each passing month and made better friendships than I could have thought and I couldn't be happier right now. I'll give you a quick low down on a few high points of this year along with a few photos!


Enjoy :)


1) Meeting my new housemates. 
These guys are seriously amazing and never fail to make me smile. They're all so unique and different (how we all get on is one of life's great little mysteries), but as the newbie to the house, they just made it so comfortable for me and soon became a member of their little family.

2) Glastonbury: Best weekend of my life. 

3) Jacob. My baby brother who just completes my big, crazy family. His little face just lights up my day and never fails to make me smile. If I'm ever having a bad day, I only have to look at his cheeky little grin and I forget all my troubles. I can't wait to watching him grow up with Joseph next year and witness all the mischief they get in to. 

4) Jacques Townhouse and my time in London. 

Back in July, I was offered the most amazing opportunity to work with the lovely Frankie Murray of Swell Vintage, assisting her as a stylist at the Jacques Townhouse in London for 2 weeks. It was so much fun and I had a blast getting to know new people, finding lifelong friends and making great industry contacts. Wish I could relive those 2 weeks with Frankie, Akeela, Hannah, Terrence, Caroline and all the others at Chandos House!... If only to have another lumberjack breakfast at 10pm at the Diner in Soho, or to steal more of Caroline's amazing cupcakes!! 

5) Nights out with the home crew.
This year I tried to come home as often as I could to spend time with the besties. Spending many nights out just having a laugh like we used to in school and getting up to mischief. I think catching up with everyone from home is important and maintaining those friendships has really helped me get through this year.

6) Sex & London City Party at London Fashion Week

In September I went up to London with Mia and Hann for the LFW party by invite from the lovely ladies Nixalina and Karena from Fashion Forward PR. I had an amazing night talking to  people from the fashion industry and getting a little tipsy from the cocktails at Amika! The party was a great night and I finally got to meet people that I had only conversed with over Twitter. But I think spending the morning after bonding with the girls in Covent Garden, drinking tea and getting an incredible sugar rush from the biggest cupcakes ever that really was the cherry on the cake... ha!

7) Fashion Society. 

I definitely underestimated the amount of hard work that goes into help run a University society! With so much planning to do before we even came back to Uni, the girls and I had our work cut out for us before we'd even started. But it was definitely worth it! The 6 of us have worked together to plan events, with many meetings in Milgi, and getting a little too tipsy on our first social. I think our high point was pulling off our fashion charity show. We raised over £200 for charity, which really was a credit to how hard everyone had worked. Next year we have even more amazing things lined up and an even bigger fashion show! So keep an eye out for tweets and invites to our events!

(Photo courtesy of James Cohen)

2011 has been the best year yet, and I just look forward to what 2012 brings.


XOXO


Alex

Fash Soc goes to LFW

I realise that I'm a little delayed with this blog post, and I do apologise!

On Friday, the Fash Soc girls and I were invited to the Sex and London City party hosted by the gorgeous Nixalina and FashionForwardPR. It was a fabulous night of cocktails and meeting new people. Oh and I also met up with my lovely friend Frankie Murray, who I worked with for the Jacques Townhouse event back in July. It was great to see her, catch up and drool over the Diner dinners we love so much! Hopefully we'll get invited to more FashionForward events in the future!

Here's a few pictures from the night.

(You may notice that I'm not wearing the dress I was planning on wearing... had a slight wardrobe malfunction and went with option 2)

XOXO

Alex

The night before LFW

So, its the night before Fashion Society head to the big city for the Sex and London City LFW cocktail party and I am so nervous! My dresses are hanging up ready to go, over night bag is packed ready. You would swear I was going on a long holiday abroad. But I always feel that its good to be prepared! (if 3 years of Brownies taught me anything). 

This is my first ever London Fashion Week event and to be honest, I am totally freaking out. Its going to be quite intimidating to be in a room with celebrities and industry veterans, when I'm just a student from Cardiff. But I'm lucky enough to have 2 lovely girls come with me, and hopefully I can meet up with some of my London friends who are also attending the party.

Mission: The Dress 

I knew that I just had to have the perfect dress for the occasion and I had tried asking around PR companies via Twitter to see if any designers would loan me a dress for the occassion, but since I'm only a student, chances of that happening were pretty slim. However, AJ from Prodo.com was lovely enough to get in touch with me to say that Jane Shilton would loan shoes to me and the girls! The shoes were gorgeous and I'm every so greatful to Jane Shilton for offering me the chance to wear them, but like most girls, I need the dress before I get the shoes and unfortunately I missed my chance. However, there were a pair of killer leopard print heels that I might just have to borrow sometime! (Fingers crossed)

After weeks of searching and worrying about having the perfect cockatil dress, I think I finally found it! It's from Topshop and I love it. The picture doesn't do the dress justice but it is so pretty on. The chiffon falls perfectly (and for being curvy like I am, that doesn't happen often). 

What you guys think?

I'm pairing it with black suede peep toe heels and vintage inspired black leather chain bag, with soft retro waves and red lippy. I was advised to keep my outfit fun, elegant but still comfortable, so this classic inspired dress is perfect for me!

I'm just excited to wear it on the red carpet. I'm praying not to have a bad hair day tomorrow!

Wish me luck.

XOXO

Alex

Decisions, decisions

Today I factually recieved an invite to the Jasper Garvida show! I'll admit that I actually did a Molly-Ringwald-Breakfast-Club-style dance in my kitchen when I opened the letter. I've seen on Twitter for days that everyone was recieving their London Fashion Week invites, and I had still to hear back from the ones I had applied to... so to recieve an invite is a pretty big deal for me! However, I also booked places for Look magazine's Look Lounge, which is on the same day! (arrrrgh!) So now I'm faced with a rather difficult decision: do I go to the catwalk show or to the blog talks?

A part of me is slightly leaning towards to the blog talks. Just because, as I'm new to blogging, I think it would be more beneficial to me in the long run. But at the same time the little voice in my head is screaming "Its London Fashion Week you clumsbucket" Go for it!"... Hmmm what do I do...

Decisions, decisions.

XOXO

Alex