Bloggers Love Fashion Week - March 2014

Back in January, I heard through the wonders of Twitter about an event called Bloggers Fashion Week.

Run by Bloggers Love…, every month they organise fabulous invitation only events in Central London for exclusively for their online community of bloggers, to showcase an amazing range of fashion and beauty brands that #BloggersLove!

Set on the 7^th Floor of The Penthouse London, 1 Leicester Square, the venue was perfect and had a gorgeous backdrop overlooking a bustling Leicester Square and the most perfect landscape of London.

I was doubly lucky as not only was I one of the lucky few chosen to be a VIB (Very Important Blogger), but I was also given the opportunity to showcase one of the brands I look after for the Bloggers Boutique on the Monday, and the VIB Tea Party on the Wednesday. You can see how that went on the blog post I wrote for Guirado Design here.

The Monday was brilliant - so many bloggers showed up, and though I was technically working, it was a great opportunity to network, meet other fabulous bloggers and get to see some of the other gorgeous brands that were showcasing. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to see either the multi-brand fashion show, or the highlight fashion show (because the stand for Guirado Design was busy, literally the entire night - not the worst problem to have!). I did pick out some of my favourite brands showing at the Bloggers Boutique though - Nadia Minkoff, Rachel Black Millinery, Taro Collection and Maro.

On the Tuesday I was invited to the VIB Tea Party, hosted by the lovely folks at Debenhams. As I walked into the 8^th Floor suite of The Penthouse London, I was completely blown away. Debenhams and Bloggers Love had gone to phenomenal lengths to really make the Mad Hatters Tea party theme shine.

Marshmallow Oreo Bloggertini’s where on display everywhere with very tempting ‘Eat Me’ signs on show. I then discovered the cutest cupcake tower ever - it had the most delicious looking vanilla cupcakes ever, made by the very talented Miss Cupcakes.

It was the Edition Collection from Debenhams that took my breath away - a beautiful diffused SS14 collection from top designers such as Johnathan Saunders, Preen and Marios Schwab.

There was also jewellery, shoes, accessories, bags, and even more sweet treats - we really were spoiled. There was even a ‘Haul Booth’ - where Debenhams had kindly given a selection of ‘H! By Henry Holland’ accessories which were quite literally up for grabs! I had arrived only about 15mins late, and most of the bits had gone, I did however manage to get my mitts on a super cute fuchsia phone case and little smiley purse. SO CUTE!

I have to say, I was blown away by the Edition collections that Debenhams had on offer - each piece was made by both the fashion house, and the Debenhams team of designers to make it right for their customer. It had the signature look of the designer, but with a more accessible and wearable aspect to it.

I absolutely loved this Jonathan Saunders for Edition grey wool blend coat. It was originally £159, (it’s now in the sale for a bargain £79.50! Shhh, get it now!). The quality of this coat is perfect - it’s still heavy enough for you to be able to wear it now in the transition from Winter to Spring, but not so heavy that you’ll be dripping with sweat on the tube! The detail is great too - the contrast black panels on the collar and pockets turns it into a statement piece.
Another piece that caught my eye was this gorgeous ombre dress, again by the Jonathan Saunders for Edition collection. Priced at a very reasonable £65, the soft matte satin, and ombre design is perfect for spring - pair this with a summery blazer and beautiful hat and it’s perfect for the races! Find it here.

There was plenty of activities, talks and workshops to take part in over the course of the rest of the evening, including the grand finale of the Debenhams and Specsavers catwalk show. Wonderful.

The third day saw more fun and frolics at the Multi Brand Tea Party that Guirado Design took part in, as well as a great section on the 8^th floor, called the Bloggers Beauty Bar which included freebies from Sleep In Rollers, Umberto Giannini (post coming about Umberto Giannini's FRIZZI Serum soon!) and loads more. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for very long on this evening and missed the Highlight Fashion Show (Girl Meets Dress), as I had to pack up our Guirado Design stand and make sure it got back to HQ safe and sound!

All in all, it was a great event - for the first Bloggers Love Fashion Week, they have really set the bar and may have set themselves a rather difficult task of topping it for next season.

I think the talks, discussions and workshops were great, and it really gave new bloggers an insight into the world of blogging along with invaluable advice.

Looking forward to next year already!