In case you have no idea, London Fashion Week takes place twice annually - February and September, following the likes of other major cities - New York, Milan and Paris. It's organised by the British Fashion Council who are also responsible for the London's Collection Men's (next taking place 9th - 12th June) which is essentially men's fashion week.
I departed Southampton (where I'm based for University, if you didn't know!) very early and made my way to the Strand venue for my 10am start. After some obligatory snaps of the 'London Fashion Week' sign, myself and Ellie (who also got picked to write) collected our show invites (how surreal!) and headed to our first venue which was Freemason's Hall.
3 out of 4 of my shows were located in Freemason's Hall which hosts a number of rooms and spaces to showcase the looks in all their glory. Fashion Scout, the sponsors / organisers, so a great job at helping you locate the space and keeping everything in working order. I attended the Mimi Tran, SABINNA and Malan Breton shows in this space, which you can find more detail on here or drool over the pictures of the garments (like I've totally done).
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| Second Row for Mimi Tran |
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| One of the press invites I was given to get access into the show! |
Then my last show was located in Devonshire Square, a short taxi or tube ride away, in Western Courtyard - an outside space complete with trees (and the sun was even setting make it look even more fabulous!). Oxford Fashion Studio debuted new designers who all had something different to offer - including vibrant prints, traditional Welsh fabrics and jute bags.
There was a nice variant between all the shows that I got to see - Mimi Tran showed really nice "going out" style dresses in black with gold, orange, blue, green or red detailing like embroidered flowers, and also featured Grecian style white dress with floral stitching and beading (so pretty!). SABINNA's collection was more fun with motifs of school uniform, first love, heart prints and crochet - I could definitely envisage myself wearing some of the pieces and felt it was the most "my style" out of all.
As part of my role as a writer I was basically responsible for attending the shows, making notes and then sending a sentiment after the show had finished, followed by a write-up of key pieces, themes / elements showcased in the designer's collection which had to be sent in the hour following the show's finish - how daunting. As you'd expect it was a very fast paced weekend - not only with the travelling, queueing - but also with the writing.
Myself and Ellie found a base camp in a Pret located a 2 minute walk away, which was a saviour for the free wi-fi, food and drink options and convenient location. The busy coffee shop was also a great hub to work from and gave you a chance to view other Fashion Week goers (and the eclectic outfits people were wearing!) and gave some respite from the business and hectic nature of the whole thing.
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| Writing in between shows at Pret, featuring the beautiful invite and press releases from the SABINNA show. |
I had a really good time and think it was a worthwhile (and surreal) experience and I hope it's not the last time I attend London Fashion Week. I wish I could've featured more content relating to LFW on my blog but for now this will have to suffice!
If, like me, you're interested in Fashion Week - London Fashion Week Festival is usually ongoing the first few days after Fashion Week Press shows end. Its essentially where members of the public can purchase tickets to view collections, attend talks with industry experts and shop. More details of this can be found on the London Fashion Week Website here.
I know this is a little delayed going up so apologies, university life has been kicking my butt - however I managed to do some LFW writing for Sonar Magazine here. I've also given my blog a bit of a spruce up with a new template as my last one was a little lagging in the times.
As always you can follow me on bloglovin here to keep up to date with all my posts and there's also a google follow button in my blog side bar! I made a facebook page which you can find here if you want to give it a like, that would be fab!
Kisses,
Chlo
If you're Southampton based, then
like me you've been anticipating the opening of the new Westquay South
"Watermark" building which is home to lots of new restaurants including
Bill's, Five Guys, The Diner and also home to Hollywood Bowl and soon to
be Showcase Cinemas.
On Thursday 26th, I was lucky enough to attend the opening of the VIP area of Hollywood Bowl alongside the Southampton Bloggers!
The whole vibe of the Hollywood Bowl,
as you'd expect, is Hollywood Glamour complete with neon lights and
murals of Hollywood faces like Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Elvis
Presley. The VIP area makes bowling a touch more luxe than you're used
to - with neon bowling pins and monogrammed bowling balls.
Located just outside the VIP area is a
Diner area where you can purchase hot dogs, veggie burgers and popcorn
chicken as well as other drinks and snacks! There is also an arcade area
with games - including classics like air hockey but also social media /
app favourites like Cross
Road and Mario Kart, all of which are played with a swipeable card
which you can top up with tokens to play every time you visit!
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| Even the table settings fit with the Hollywood theme! |
There was also an official ribbon cutting ceremony for the VIP area with Hollywood Bowl's very own Marilyn Monroe. There was also the opportunity to have pictures taken with Marilyn at the monogrammed "Hollywood Bowl" wall and balloon archway.
We then of course, bowled! I
scored a not too shabby 91! The highest scorer from the bunch then had
the opportunity to write their scores on a large leaderboard that
highlighted "kids" and "big kids".
Hollywood Bowl boasts a number of
special offers - all of which can be found on their website, where you
can even book a place to avoid disappointment upon your arrival! There are centres located across the UK, not just in Southampton!
I had a really good night with my
fellow bloggers, and believe that Hollywood Bowl is a great activity to
do with your friends, work colleagues or even dates (and it's friendly
on the student budget!)
I will most certainly be heading to try and beat my score of 91 or to play on the arcade games again!
As always you can follow me on bloglovin here to keep up to date with all my posts and there's also a google follow button in my blog side bar! I made a facebook page which you can find here if you want to give it a like, that would be fab!
Kisses,
Chlo
On a Thursday evening back in October I was lucky enough to attend a special bloggers
preview event for Re:So’s SHED Vintage clothing collection. The Soton Bloggers
and I could view and shop the collection ahead of its official release –
October 21st – and witness a fashion show featuring items of the new
vintage range.
Hello everyone!
Long time no blog, but I'm back
(finally) with a new (maybe) monthly series I want to do
and it's something I've seen circulating before as "5 THINGS" or '5 GOOD THINGS'. I basically want to summarise
5 (hopefully good) things in a non lengthy post that have been going on in life or my
thoughts, which I'm hoping will make my blog a more personal space and
be a welcome change from my usual content.
So without further ado;
1) BLOG
Over the summer I felt unmotivated and discouraged
about posting here because I wasn't sure what way I wanted to steer my posts
whether I wanted to stick to just beauty type bits. Well, as it's the
start of the new university term and officially the start of second year
(yikes, where has the time gone?) I want to sort of "rebrand" my blog into
posting whatever I want, when I want. I want to try to keep some sort
of schedule to if - perhaps once a week - but not feel ~ pressured ~ if I
don't manage that. I also want to experiment with different image uses for my posts whether that be backgrounds, the amount of images or just the general style and layout.
Although I do a writing based degree, I still want
uploading on my blog to be fun so I'm going to hopefully try and
diversify my content - whether that be chats about a new show I'm
watching, a book I've read, or a beauty haul, or maybe even some fashion
type bits if I'm feeling confident enough to get a bit posy in front of
the camera.
2) SMALL VICTORIES
As someone who gets anxious fairly easily it can often
be hard to put myself out there but so far (after being back in
Southampton for only a week) I've managed to do something quite scary
(for me anyways!). I
tackled freshers fayre - usually busy spaces are a bit claustrophobic
and overwhelming for me - and signed up for a society!
I've also put my
name down to attend my first blogger event with the lovely Southampton Bloggers in an attempt to be more social and meet lots of lovely new
faces and of course experience things that I can write about for my
blog!
3) THE IMPORTANCE OF ME TIME
This summer I've really taken
advantage of having no commitments and realised how important "me time"
is. My fave ways to relax and take some time for myself have been a nice
hot bath (complete with a lush bath bomb) or reading a book. Over the
summer I took the time to re-read some of my all time fave books too -
including the Harry Potter series.
I've also been enjoying a fair few tv shows- Sex
and the City (Sarah Jessica Parker and her enviable shoe collection,
what's not to love?), Stranger Things (if you haven't seen it, where
have you been? Seriously..?) and The Great British Bake Off are among my
top recommendations of the mo.
4) ORGANISATION
I've always been the kind of person
to use post it notes to note down important dates or assignments but I'm
determined to step it up this year and keep on top of work whilst still
maintaining a healthy work / life balance. My first attempt at this is
using a weekly planner - I actually found this one on Pinterest (on a blog) and printed it off and I keep it tacked up on my notice board. I
like that the spaces by each of the days is pretty large so I can write
directly on the page or use post it notes to overlay important info or
events on that day!
Relating to this I've also got my eye on the most
beaut instagrammable daily planner from the Oh Deer x Urban Outfitters range. I spied this on Char's snapchat and saw that it included handy sections for a timetable, note space for
assignments and a custom box for the date (meaning no pages get wasted
as you can use it when you need to!) and I feel like it is a new
essential purchase of mine (and one I intend to pick up on student night
where I can take advantage of the student discount)
5) FRIENDSHIP
I'm lucky enough to have a wonderful
group of friends back in Wales (and also know a wonderful bunch of
people here in Southampton) but I'd like to take a moment to show some
love and appreciation for "internet" pals! I'm so thankful that social
media has introduced me to a bunch of lovely folks who I would
never have the pleasure of knowing otherwise! In particular I am super
thankful for 'The Bonking Coffee Club' on Twitter which consists of a
lovely bunch of beautiful humans (Abbi, Rosie, Cat , Amy, Hayley, Hayley, Ash, Becky, Elle, Char, Ellicia, Selene and Rowena) who are a constant support system and
never fail to make me smile! I couldn't ask for a nicer group of ladies
to chat to. We are also in the process of setting up Adventurine, which is a Zine due out later this year - you can keep up to date on the twitter and instagram for details.
So that's it! I hope you enjoyed this little "5 things" segment - I
know it's different from my usual content style but I want to diversify
things here on Orchid-kisses to keep things a bit more interesting for
both you - reading it - and me - writing it!
As always you can follow me on bloglovin here to keep up to date with all my posts and there's also a google follow button in my blog side bar! I made a facebook page which you can find here if you want to give it a like, that would be fab!
Hope you've all had a wonderful monday!
Kisses,
Chlo
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I feel as though February flew by
in an instant - especially with impending university deadlines and the
search for summer internships. This month I haven't used all that many
new products, and the ones I have tried I was left a little disappointed
with so some of the things in my favourites this month are ones I've
had a while and now rediscovered my love for!
First up are these Face Masks I
picked up in Superdrug (they're only 99p and are usually in a 3 for 2
offer). Now I'm not usually a face mask person, especially considering
I've got sensitive skin and that the Simple
products I featured in my last post have been working wonders but this
month I wanted something I could put on as a little pick me up at the
end of a long day at University.
The ones I have here are the "Dead Sea Purifying Clay Mask" (which deeply cleanses & clarifies skin - especially ideal for blemish prone skin), the "Superfruits Exfoliating Mask" (which deeply purifies pores and smoothes skin) and the "Apricot Self-Heating Mask" (which polishes and purifies skin).
What
I really like about the Superdrug face masks is that they come in
different scents and types such as peel off - but also that they cater
for different skin types - and for the price they're a bargain! All the packages feature recommendations such
as "ideal for oily skin" which makes it so simple to pick up one
suitable for you. My favourite of the three shown is the "Superfruits
Exfoliating Mask" as it's berry scented
and I find that if I leave the mask on for 10-15 minutes and remove it, I
can really tell the difference in my skin and it feels so much smoother
and my pores are less visible.
Following on from the face masks another set of products I've been using on my face as a whole are the The Body Shop "All-in-One" Instablur and BB Cream. I
picked these up after seeing them in Gabby (Velvetgh0st)'s YouTube
channel a while back and thought I would try them out.
Initially I
wasn't fond of the consistency of the Instablur - it's like a paste -
but I find that it makes all the difference under my makeup and helps
keep it on longer.
I'm not really all that big on base makeup - I often
forego foundation especially since I was having some skin problems - but
I find that the BB Cream (which I have in shade 02) gives a nice
minimal coverage. It hides some of my imperfections without looking
cakey on my skin and it's easy to blend in, particularly with the use of
the Instablur underneath. I
also like that these two products can be purchased separately (both in
store and on line) but also that, exclusive to stores, you can buy them
in a duo pack for around £20- meaning you save £6, and as a student I'm always up for saving my pennies.
Another beauty favourite I have this month is Benefit's Roller Lash. As many of you may have seen if you follow Benefit on Twitter (or an
avid visitor to their website like me) that the Roller Lash is
celebrating its one year after release, and that Benefit is doing a
special offer where if you purchase a full size tube you get one of the
travel size ones free (cue me going to my local Benefit counter to stock
up on replacements).
I didn't initially try the mascara upon its
release, as at the time I favoured Benefit's They're Real mascara and
with a similar price tag I couldn't justify splurging on another mascara
so soon. However, for Christmas, I found this tube popped in my
stocking and was thrilled. After loving both Benefit's They're Real and Maybelline's Lash Sensational mascara for
so long, I was excited to try out a new product. I find that Roller
Lash really curls all of my lashes and makes them appear longer and
fluttery. Unlike normal mascaras (and something which takes a bit of
getting used to) is that it doesn't dry fully on your lashes and can be
considered "tacky". I like this feature as I think it stops me from
picking at my mascara at the end of the day and as a result losing a few
eyelashes (gross habit, I know!). I also get lots of compliments when
wearing this mascara and considering they have a special offer for the
One Year anniversary; I will be repurchasing ASAP.
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My last beauty favourite of the month is this Nails Inc. Nail polish in "Porchester Square" . This
month I've been favouring more neutral shades than transitional Spring
colours on my fingers and this one is by far my favourite. I find that
the nude beige colour is a welcome difference from a typical "French
manicure" style nude but is just as subtle and suitable for this time of
year. Nails Inc. polishes often last longer on my nails
than typical drug store polishes, as you would expect from the price and
this one lasts even longer if I add the KIKO Perfect Star Gel Top Coat over it. This
not only makes the polish last that much longer but also makes it look
like you've had a professional gel manicure done (unless you're a bit
shaky at doing your nails which I sometimes am, oops) .
My next favourite, a non beauty one, is this pair of silver coin earrings which I picked up from River Island
for around £2, a perfect treat considering my student budget. When I bought them, I didn't initially expect to get as much wear out of
them as I have but I just find that they go with so many of my other
silver jewellery pieces. With small details such as engraved writing and
a man's head - they're a little different to atypical silver earrings
but I like that they're a little quirky and different.
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My final favourite this month is this art print from Natasha's store Everything is Fine.
I had followed Natasha for a little while on Twitter before seeing that
she had some lovely pieces for sale in her online shop and I bought a print set which included this cacti one featuring the slogan "Don't be a Prick"
and another floral design saying "you are lovely".
I love collecting
mini art prints, especially to put on my pin board at university or like
this one - to feature in a frame on the shelf in my room. The frame I
picked up from Tiger, a small IKEA like store, for around £1 and was
delighted to see that the print fit inside and was encased by the
border. I really like the way this looks within the frame, and the pun
used as a slogan, and I find that the frame sits nicely on my shelf of
books and IKEA plants. I find that pictures and prints can often break
up the space and make shelves appear less cluttered and more "homey" -
something which I definitely wanted in my uni room. At just £3.75 for
two prints, (or £1.99 for one) I was over the moon with my purchase and
even more so by the speedy delivery and quality of the prints.
That's all for my Favourites this
month, let me know in the comments below what you've been loving this
month or if you have any suggestions for me. If you've tried any of
these products then let me know what you think!
As always you can follow me on bloglovin here to keep up to date with all my posts - I post every Thursday at 6pm, and there's also a google follow button in my blog side bar!
Hope you're all having a wonderful week!
- Chlo
