London Fashion Week SS15 - Outfit No.1

Photo credit- Carl Osbourn

Photo credit- Fran Zisk

 I can't believe its been a whole year since I first strutted the cobbles of Somerset House. In the space of 365 days a lot has changed, including my style. Since enrolling at Central Saint Martins, I have developed a surge of ignorance towards what I wear. I wear what I want, whenever I want. I don't dress according to society, or 'rules'. I like mixing different styles, shapes and genres of fashion to create my own individual style. I may have had members of the public tell me I look like an extra from 'StarTrek', a 'boy' and even a 'druggie', however, I would feel a lot less confident confining to society by wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. 

Photo credit- Fran Zisk

There is no greater place on Earth to broadcast your style than London Fashion Week. In the space of  5 days, 120 hours and 432000 seconds, the capital entails a star-studded manifesto of high fashion where every stich of a gown, each step of a runway model and every flash of a camera is carefully monitored by the elite of the fashion industry. 

London Fashion Week takes place twice a year, which is quite a relief considering the amount of wardrobe prepping it requires. Fortunately, my outfit choice for Day 1 of SS15 was quite a stress-free decision. Prior to the event, I knew that I wanted to unveil my recently purchased, and much loved, Beth Postle t-shirt. For those who don't know Beth Postle, she is a recent Central Saint Martins BA fashion graduate. Despite having just graduated, Postle has become distinguished for her Cubistic technique which echoes the silhouette and portraiture of Picasso. Being the art enthusiast and Picasso devotee that I am, its no surprise that I instantly fell in love with Postle's aesthetic. I also admire the way in which each t-shirt is hand printed and painted; its like wearing a painting! 

Photo credit- Ellie Connor Phillips 

The toughest decision was deciding what to pair with the t-shirt. I decided to style it with quite a simple, monochrome attire as it complimented the bold outlines of the t-shirt's print. I added a few hints of block colour, including a yellow clutch and coral red lipstick, which highlighted the paint strokes of the illustration. The overall look is very feminine; the classic A-line skirt and Chanel-esque, tweed blazer ooze elegance. However, I incorporated my individual style by obscuring the  textures and shapes. The combination of the black Latex skirt with the furry clutch, and the white, chunky heels with the gym socks, draw a rather Surrealist misé-en-scene. My look is far from conventional, but who wants to blend in with the crowd at London Fashion Week? 

...M...

'Fashion observing' 

Photo Credit Eugene Shishkin

Outfit details: Top - Beth Postle // Blazer - TopShop // Skirt - TopShop // Clutch - Zara // Sock - American Apparel // Shoes -- River Island // Sunglasses - Céline

OOTD - Metallic Palm Trees ft Typical Freaks

 

 

Jumper- Typical Freaks // Silver skirt- TopShop // Tights- TopShop // Creepers- Underground *special edition* // Clutch- Monki

London Fashion Week!

Photo courtesy of BuyMyWardrobe.com 

Three words: London Fashion Week. Where do I even begin to start explaining this surreal experience? 

Well for starters this was my first ever LFW, and in all honesty I didn't have any expectations apart from the prospect of cold wet weather on my silver heels. Little did I know that Saturday the 14^th of September would be one of the most eventful and unforgettable days ever; I guess you could say every grey cloud has a silver lining…

Photo courtesy of StyleFannet

Photo courtesy of Press Association 

In all honesty my LFW outfit was scattered together at the very last minute. The centre piece of my outfit was a rather daring, acid yellow coat from TopShop which would give a warning cone a run for its

money. The brightness of this jacket certainly made up for the lack of sunshine! I teamed this blinding wool coat with a more neutral palette which consisted of this season’s staple white pencil skirt and a black origami style jumper- both of which were from Zara. I then paired my favourite matching metallic Zara pumps and Monki oversized clutch to add some contrast to the outfit. Lastly, as I was rushing out of the door I felt a bit spontaneous and wrapped some netting around my face (as you do) which created a sort of abstract masquerade.

Despite the rain smacking on my very impractical silver pumps I stumbled my way to Somerset House and within minutes of walking in I was bombarded with photographers, bloggers and journalists asking me about my attire. I actually felt like I was on the red carpet of the Oscars minus the 40 degree heat *sigh*.  The next eight hours rushed by. Every minute consisted of interviews or the continuous flash of cameras- even when eating my lunch which was already difficult considering my face was caged with a net! However the bitter cold and blisters were worth it. I was fortunate enough to be photographed and interviewed for Glamour Magazine, Company, the Press Association, Yahoo, New Look TV amongst many other international and independent magazines, YouTube channels and TV stations.

Getting photograhed and interviewed for Company Magazine

There was a great buzzing atmosphere in Somerset House despite the gloomy weather which certainly didn't crush the mood or people’s wardrobe choices. It was an enthralling experience to see so many various styles of fashion in one compact place. It was touching to see so many people of different ages, nationalities and careers come together as one by the power of fashion. Tartan was a very popular choice of material as were bright neon’s however I didn't stumble across the same outfit once; I definitely picked up some fashion tips and inspirations which I can’t wait to try!

The Central Saint Martin's lot

It was rather surreal to see such a variety of style in one place, especially when I stumbled across some of my favourite fashion bloggers who inspire me so much. Throughout the day I met so many interesting bloggers, journalists, photographers and class mates from my university, Central Saint Martin’s; I’d like the thank each one of you for making the day such an enjoyable experience!
The day certainly became a lot more surreal when my favourite Radio 1 DJ and fellow fashionista Jameela Jamil personally came up to me and asked to take a photo of my outfit! Funnily enough I was running around Somerset House trying to catch a glimpse of her at the time she came up to me!  Jameela was lovely and very easy to get on with, we got chatting and I even got to model her amazing Lulu Guinness clutch which she later Instagrammed a photo of! Funnily enough we were both wearing TopShop coats and white nail varnish!

Me and Jameela 

The day got even better when I attended my first ever catwalk shows which were Holly Fulton,  Ashish and David Koma. I genuinely had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming when sitting third row at the iconic LFW runway (not a bad seat for my first show!). Considering I started reading Vogue from as young as I can remember, this was a dream come true. Its weird to think that I was sitting metres away from some of the biggest fashion names, designers and bloggers. Even Ellie Golding and Paloma Faith made an appearance at Ashish, it was impossible to not notice Paloma's fiery red hair! Both shows were phenomenal in their own ways (I will do a separate post on them very soon), and in all honestly the shows were just as I imagined- loud, snappy, fierce and totally over the top- but it’s an experience I will definitely cherish even if it lasted just a mere few minutes.

On the official LFW catwalk!

The amazing looks from Ashish

The day flew past and before I knew it the darkness and lack of sufficient lighting of the catwalk shows had spread outside. I finally departed Somerset House when they stopped distributing the free popcorn and energy drinks at the catwalk entrances. None the less Saturday the 14^th was by far the most unforgettable and best (fashion) days of my life. I loved every second of it and I can’t wait for the next season!
 Love,              

Maddy X

p.s if I met you at LFW don’t be afraid to follow my blog or email me, check out the links on the sidebar!