London Fashion Weekend

London Fashion Weekend: 25 Feb '10

When I first heard about London Fashion Weekend back in September, I was immediately tempted to pay it a visit, despite the well-known fact that it would cause more damage to my bank account than the insight I hoped to gain about the official London Fashion WEEK in general.

(NB: London Fashion Weekend is a special event held over a 4-day period - over the weekend - where the official venue of London Fashion Week is opened up to the general public to shop the various creations of a host of participating designers)

Fortunately enough (for my bank account), the planned trip in September didn't materialise, but when Hanna suggested visiting LFW this year, I jumped at the opportunity. Hey, I'd never been before, and I probably will never go again (Yes, scoff all you want, but I AM serious!).

We opted for the Gold Ticket Entry which included a chance to watch the Fashion Show / Catwalk / Runway Extravaganza taking place that night. It was all pretty exciting at first, being seated at the foot of the runway, when all the lights dimmed and the blasting music came through the speakers, and the rail-thin, 6-feet tall models started tottering out in heels one by one. Towards the end, I got a little tired of constantly having to arch my neck in various angles because the guy in front of me was busy blocking my plane of view with his tripod and his gigantic DSLR. Which explains the only decent picture I managed to snap with my BB. Pfft.

I had to admit, though, that all the names of the designers mentioned by the host that night drew blanks in my mind, but the different trends introduced this season proved to be interesting enough. Most were too 'Over The Top' for any sane human to wear on the High Streets, but I noted a couple of dresses that caught my eye, only to lament to Hanna afterwards that I never ever saw them anywhere. Blame the lack of time and the hoards of people crowding Somerset House, as well as the fact that the entire place wasn't exactly the easiest to navigate when the clock is ticking profusely.

I later related the experience to my friends as 'Kiasu Shopping'. And there was nothing I could have done wrong more than my attire of a pencil skirt and heeled ankle boots. Anything but comfortable and allowing a good range of movement. Nevertheless, we managed to visit the few outlets that we had eyed on the list of designers: Luella, Juicy Couture, Sass & Bide and Michael Kors being a few of them. I never saw Herve Leger anywhere, though, and I ended up buying two long-sleeved, formal tops from a label I had never heard of when the rest failed to deliver. This just proves my theory again and again that it is not ALWAYS about the label but the garment itself. They were, however, bought as impulse purchases rather than proper contemplating, because we were determined not to leave the place (having paid so much to enter) with empty hands. Most of the smaller sizes of 6/8 or Size Zero were gone by the time we browsed through the racks, which again, reinstated my description of 'Kiasu Shopping', and this was on the very first night itself that the event opened!

A good experience of impulsive buys, nonetheless, but definitely not my kind of thing. I had been afraid that a couple of my purchases would turn out being too dowdy for a 20 something to wear, but they have fared well so far, with much racking of my brains to jazz them up with accessories and pair them with funkier add-ons. Squeezed up all that was left of the creative fashion juices, thank you very much. Not that I had much left, to begin with.

No more 'Kiasu Shopping' OR Shopping for a while now.