[London] Fashion Week Diary Day 2

Sinéad, me, Sara and Mel at Scoop. Photo: Jodanna Andrews

After the drama of Friday night, I woke up at Mui's still extremely tired from the night before; worse, Mui had no recollection of the night before, so I had to fill her in. I cleaned myself up and she walked me through what she called "the village" of Camden where I got the tube back to Bethnal Green. Sara, on the other hand, had had a long night of peaceful sleep and was ready to roll for the day.

We headed to Fashion Scout first, for the Dans La Vie show; read my review here. It was a punky mix of pop art and Japanese references. Along with Jordanna and Mel of Pandora's Thoughts, we then headed to Scoop in Covent Garden. Corrie Nielsen, with whom Sara interned, had designed a special London Fashion Week flavour and Sara had a few spare vouchers. There, I met my sister Sinéad, who had kindly brought along a few of my things my mum had brought down to London from home for me, including our dad's film SLR with its gigantic lens - the pictures are currently awaiting development so *watch this space*!

My oh my was the ice-cream good! Dark chocolate with French orange blossom, it was as rich and delicious as cake without the usual sickly sweetness of ice-cream and all of the silky texture. The girls headed off to various rendez-vouses, allowing Sinéad and I a little sisterly catch up time. She then walked me back to the Fashion Scout Venue for the dark and sexy Alice Lee show; read my report here.

After, I checked out the exhibition, where I saw the architectural paper dresses of Morana Kranjec, the Valentino-esque work of CSM MA graduate Charlotte Simpson and punky couture of Ann Sofie Madsen. I was just getting my head around my dad's SLR when I noticed the guy standing next to me also had a Canon, so I figured he might know how to help. He didn't, but turned out to be really cool and we got talking about my blog. He liked the sound of it, and introduced me to his fellow editor at Shiloh Magazine, Helen. His name was Jan - we swapped cards, and promised to keep in touch. In fact, we came across each other later in the week..... but more on that later!

I headed down then for the Spijkers en Spijkers show, but wasn't too impressed with the collection, although the prints and bird motifs on their own were kind of sweet. Sara had been checking out the British Fashion Council exhibition at Somerset House where designers show their wares at stands and meet directly with the industry. However, he had come bck for the Spijkers en Spkijers show, along with Team Pandora's Thoughts. The photography duo wanted to have an upload-and-edit session, so we made a move for the George, a great little pub near Freemason's Hall which seems so far undetected by the rest of the fash pack.

Moments after we came in, the heavens opened, and if ever there was doubt about our use of time it washed quickly away! I was, ahem, feeling the effects of the night before by this point and was glad for the chance for a sit down and what some people might say constitutes the "hair of the dog" approach. The next show on the schedule was the Shao Yen presentation, so Sara and I relaxed and had a giggle while Mel and Jordanna furiously beavered away.

When the time came, we dutifully packed up and headed over the road, where we met my lovely friend from Glasgow James Rennie, stylist and VM at Karen Millen, and Danielle Neeson, budding fashion journo and blogger. Danielle had come along as James's plus one, but it turned out we knew a whole bunch of people from the Belfast/Glasgow scene - in fact, by complete coincidence, she moved into James's flat in London little knowing they both knew our self-styled Fashion Hot Mess, Dearbhla McKeating. Small world!

Shao Yen was a cool interplay between sportwear, eveningwear and heritage fabrics; read my report here.
It was a bit of a squeeze for space, but the pink cider lubricated things somewhat. Next, it was down for the dark and lyrical Carlotta Actis Barone show; read my review of the collection here. Sara and I got FRow, while James and Dnaielle sat opposite second row - great for taking pictures of each other! The goodie bag included my total favourite: hair glue, by Label M. Last time I bought it I was 13; I thought it was the most indulgent thing ever at £14, but seeing as its so strong and you need so little, it only recently ran out, lasting almost ten years! It has a great texture, and if you're the kind who likes hairspray, its a must. We also got some super cool tattoo sleeves that I werked with Monday's outfit. Sara got new ones, but I got the highly coveted first collection edition!

I was absolutely shattered after, and headed back to the flat with Sara while the other two made a move for Soho. We went home and had a wholesome but filling dinner (Innocent veg pot and naan bread!) and I was able to catch up a little blogwise. I also spoke with Alex Fiddes, fashion editor at the Skinny, who has agreed to feature some of my work! As you quickly learn with Fashion Week, energy is the most precious thing of all. If they could bottle sleep and put it in a goodie bag, the fash pack would undoubtedly be clawig each other's eyes out to sit FRow.....

On the canal bank at Camden en route "home"

Sara and Corrie. Sara is wearing a reproduction of a seventies Vivienne Westwood "boob print" tee!

Nom nom nom

Ann Sophie Madsen at the VFS Exhibition

Ann Sophie Madsen at the VFS Exhibition

Carlotta Actis Barone