A WEEKEND AT THE BRITISH STYLE COLLECTIVE

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that last weekend was the first ever British Style Collective weekend here in Liverpool. The weekend was all about designer catwalk shows, insider industry talks and shopping ’til you drop. Without a shadow of a doubt, the weekend was one of the most spectacular weekends ever. I’ve never been to the Clothes Show Live before, so the fact they’ve packed up and come to a new city, with a new name, means that I had the weekend at my doorstep, and my goodness did I make the most of it. 

Here’s what I got up to over The British Style Collective weekend, from what I wore, to where I went. It’s time to spill the beans about the biggest fashion event to EVER hit Liverpool. 

WHAT WAS BSC ALL ABOUT?

I’m sure if you’re from the UK, you either heard of or been to The Clothes Show live. A massive fashion event that has taken place in Birmingham for over a decade! This year they’ve moved the event to Liverpool. New city, new name and a whole load of new memories to be made. 

The weekend consisted of a series of designer catwalk shows from world class designers such as Edeline Lee and Paul Armstrong. Both very different designers, however, equally as amazing. It was such a privilege to have such high profile names in the heart of the city in beautiful and historic St Georges Hall. 

The weekend also allowed the fashion and beauty curious to get an inside look into the industry. With expert talks with names such as Henrey Holland and Jo Elvin, all hosted by the beautiful Antonia O’Brien. I was even given the opportunity to talk on a panel about blogging and summer style (yeah me, can you believe it?) 

So, now you know what I’m on about, let’s get into what I got up to! 

DESIGNER CATWALK SHOW HIGHLIGHTS

Although I’m a Fashion Blogger, I’ve never been to a Fashion show before. Living up north in the UK, most of the main fashion shows are located in London, for London fashion week. Therefore, the designer catwalk shows at the BSC were quite special to me. I particularly loved the Edeline Lee show. I’d never even heard of Edeline Lee before, however after seeing her collection and learning a little bit more about her during the designer chats after the show, I think the collection and the motto of the brand being tailored for the ‘Future Female’ really inspiring. 

The collection consisted of a lot of gingham, flatform sandals and a whole load of Swarovski crystals designed in the shape of robot-like emojis. The collection was so refreshing, truly original and I thought it really captured what working women need in their wardrobe. The collection incorporated beautiful, flowy and elegant dresses, with more masculine pieces such as trousers and shirts, however, the gingham patterned added an on trend touch to these traditional items. 

INSIDER INDUSTRY TALKS

I spent most of my weekend at the Insider Industry Talks hosted by the beautiful Antonia O’Brien. I honestly felt so inspired after leaving. So, going back to work on Monday was really hard, as I left feeling so motivated to blog! Obviously, if you know me, you know that I love Henry Holland and his talk was so interesting and of course utterly hilarious. However, my industry talk highlight has to go to Gary James McQueen, the nephew of the late Lee McQueen (creator of Alexander McQueen). 

The talk was so interesting. I went in there, not really knowing much about Gary James McQueen, or his relation to Lee and Alexander McQueen as a brand, so learning about it all from Gary was incredible. Gary has released a series of scarfs, inspired by the life, death, and re-birth of Lee McQueen. The scarves are beautiful and incorporated images of birds (Lee loved birds) that had been digitally edited into beautiful scarf designs. 

TAKING TO THE STAGE, YEAH…ME!

The weekend was filled with a  whole bunch of ‘pinch me’ moments.  One of them being asked to take part in an Insider Industry talk with a selection of other North West bloggers, about blogging and Summer style. I honestly cannot put into words how nervous I was to get up on stage in front of people and talk, however, I was surrounded by some amazing fellow bloggers,  so it wasn’t as nerve wrecking as I anticipated. I just want to talk a little time to say thank you for everything. It’s thanks to you, yes you reading this, who make it possible for these amazing opportunities to happen. Never in a million years did I think blogging would become such a big part of my life, I can’t thank you all enough. 

Photo Credit: Allie Davies – tiedyeeyes.com

WHAT I WORE

LOOK 1: A POP OF RED 

For my first look, I wanted to keep it quite simple, just so I could let the bag do the talking. I went for monochromatic colours with the details and the fun coming from the bag and a pop of colour with the red ankle boots.

As you may know, I’m a massive lover of 1960’s style and I feel like this look really captures that vibe. However, it mixes with modern textures such as leather to make the outfit more wearable for day-to-day! Usually, I’m a woman of colour and feel most confident when I’m wearing a pop of colour, so these suede boots bring me back to my comfort zone.

Animal print is another huge love of mine, I think Zebra print especially, adds such a simple detail to an outfit, it’s not too in your face, and with the pony hair texture of the bag, it adds another point of interest to the look, it’s all about the details after all.

SHOP THE LOOK

LOOK 2: THE PINK POWER SUIT 

For day 2, I wanted to pull out ALL the stops. Like I said, I’m a lover of colour so when I saw this pink suit (yes, in Primark of all places, can you believe it?) It was like love at first sight. The heavens shone through and I knew I had to make it mine. This suit genuinely makes me feel like I’m a sassy magazine editor, I’m definitely not, but a girl can dream about that Ugly Betty life, can’t she? 

Even though this look is probably a little over the top, I think because the Aspinal of London bag is monochrome, it’s a statement without looking too much. Once again, it just adds an interesting point to the look and adds a touch of texture, which takes the look to another level and makes it look that little bit more stylish.

SHOP THE LOOK

ALCATEL NEON FUN

British Style Collective was in association with Alcatel, an innovative and simply fun phone company. The Alcatel A5 is genuinely one of the most amazing phones I’ve ever owned. It’s the most ‘party’ phone I’ve ever seen. I mean, it lights up when you play music for God’s sake – It’s amazing! Alcatel gave me and the lovely Emma from TheEmmasphere the opportunity to get creative with some neon makeup and have a mini dance party with the phones – Yep it was just as fun as it sounds. 

The Alcatel stand in the shopping area was the one place you could truly let your hair down during the weekend. It’s as though you’re getting ready to dance the night away at a festival, with the addition of neon makeup, you could step into the neon light booth and take truly electric selfies! 

So, there you have it. I summary of the most amazing weekend ever. See you in 2018, BSC! 

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