What I'm Wearing! Spotlight on: West Coast Cooler Belfast FASHIONWEEK!!
Thursday, December 06, 2012Every now and again I like to look back at some of the looks i've been sporting at the various fashionshows & events i'm lucky enough to attend!
As many of you will know FASHIONWEEK is one of my favourite events on the NI fashion callendar and while we’re there to chcek out the latest trends on the catwalk, it's also a good opportunity to people watch as N.I's Fashionista’s turn out in force for this most stylish of events!!
So now that the dust has settled I thought i'd take this opportunity to talk through my own choices when it came to chosing my outfits for sitting FROW at Belfast FASHIONWEEK!!
Firstly as I was attending each of the days I wanted each look to be very different, concentrating on different trends each day! Funnily enough though with each of the looks I wore, I once again found myself wearing my favourite label, Karen Millen!!!!
However probably the biggest shock on the night wasn't what I was wearing but rather was down to my hair colour!!
I've been going to Michele International to have my hair done since the late 90's, and just like Elle Woods, i've been blonde (with the odd highlight thrown in for good measure) all my life!! Owner Denise McCluskey has been my stylist since 2002 and these days there's no one else i'd trust to cut my hair!! Anyway I went down as per usual to have my normal cut and highlights, only to have Denise tell me I had to go brunette!!! If i'm honest i'd never considered going brunette, but Denise convinced me it would work better with my skin tone and when better to premiere a new look than at FASHIONWEEK!!! I must confess as much as I loved being a blonde I can confirm that brunette's certainly have as much fun! Well they do in MY world!!
My last outing as a blonde was the night before FASHIONWEEK kicked off with it’s main catwalk shows at one of their fringe events! Re:Found is a store which takes vintage furniture & home furnishings giving them a new lease of life & FASHIONWEEK had asked some of the N.I. designers showing at FASHIONWEEK to customise a piece of furniture for sale in Re:Found! At the launch event I went for a striking Karen Millen paint splash biker style cardigan, black tweed shorts with a sliver metallic thread running through them, black opaque tights, strappy sandals and my Jasper Conran Ostrich leather bag!!
Pictured with my good friend designer Nor Lisa (AKA Lisa McCabe) at FASHIONWEEK'S Re:Found Event, wearing Karen Millen Paint splash knit jacket (KN165); Picture taken by George Pennock.
Day One of the major shows was the turn of the Independent Boutiques. As this was the first of the major shows of the week I wanted to make a splash, choosing to go with optical prints! A trend carried over from this season's Spring/Summer, the likes of Prada, Jonathan Saunders and Miu Miu showed us how well the trend could work for A/W, and so it was with this in mind that I wore the Karen Millen Buttetfly wing print dress (DN259) accessoried with a clear & lilac Swarovski crystal bracelet, vintage leather bag (well I did buy it in the 90's!!) and my favourite nude sandals from Kurt Geiger!!
On the night I was Style Spotted by those ever fabulous FashionCREEPS! & also the very stylish Sugahgals for sugahfix.com! Click on the links below to check out the pics!!
Karen Millen Butterfly print dress (DN259) Photograph by Brendan Gallagher.
Vintage lilac leather handbag from the 90's.
Day Two for the High Street Heaven Shows I left the girly Elle Woods at home & instead my inner vixen came forth in the form of skin tight vintage leather trousers & a stunning high ruffle top, giving the look a decadent, opulent feel! This top came from Karen Millen's Limited Edition Collection, (only 574 of this design were produced worldwide) and is one of my all time favourite pieces, plus I was also lucky enough to pick up the matching bag in the sale!! Beautiful aubergine silk ruffles reminiscent of medievel dress, gave the look a regal feel, whilst the leather trousers & skyscraper heeled boots provided a sexy edge to the ensemble!!! Again I was extremely pleased to be style spotted by both FashionCREEP! and Sugahfix.com!
Karen Millen Limited Edition (433 of 574) Hard Frilled Top (TM092), Karen Millen Mega Ruffle Clutch (GM237); Photograph taken by Brendan Gallagher.
Karen Millen Mega Ruffle Clutch (GM237)
Day Three and it was the turn of the N.I. Designer’s Show, most of my designer friends were showing on the night, so I wanted a funky, but super chic look for sitting FROW!! After much deliberation I opted for my Karen Millen Snow Leopard dress!! Both monochrome & animal print are never too far away from the catwalk, but the snow leopard print is, in my opinion, a more sophisticated way of doing this with winter whites, greys & blacks creating a "Snow Queen" feel!! What I especially love about this dress is the high, one shouldered neckline, with it's oregami folds creating a dramatic statement! This time I paired the dress with a monochrome print bag, again from Karen Millen & a pair of skyscraper metallic bottle green snakeskin sandals! Funnily enough i've had this dress for ages but hardly wore it as I felt it drained me, but with my new brunette hair it was perfect and once again FashionCREEP! Style Spotted me!!
Karen Millen Snow leopard dress (DK193), Karen Millen Cotton mini bag (GL049); Photograph taken by Brendan Gallagher.
Karen Millen Cotton mini bag (GL049)
The final day for FASHIONWEEK was Style Sunday, a more intimate, exclusive event consisting of an afternoon of good food, sparkling bubbly & fabulous fashion!! For this, the finale of FASHIONWEEK I fully embraced the opulent trend, combining gold lace & blush pink silk in my Karen Millen dress, with the dress’ corset, obi belt style waist detailing giving a welcome nod to the oriential trend as seen on Gucci & Zac Posen's A/W catwalks! My vintage coat fitted in well with this season's oversized coats from the links of Chloe and Diane Von Furstenberg and also worked well in keeping out the winter chill!! My "arm candy" came in the form’s of a butter soft leather bag from Jasper Conran and a black suede & rose gold "Bayswater" cuff from Mulberry whilst my emblished sandals from Karen Millen finished off the look!! They may not have been the Louboutin "Waterfall" sandal's which SATC's Carrie Bradshaw loved, but I definitely felt like I was a SATC gal in this outfit!!
Karen Millen Lace mini dress (DN137), Karen Millen Metallic emblished sandals (FL136), Mulberry "Bayswater" Cuff, Jasper Conran Handbag; Photograph taken by Brendan Gallagher.
Jasper Conran Handbag.
Karen Millen Metallic emblished sandals (FL136).
Mulberry "Bayswater" Cuff.
All in all it was a fantastic week of shows & I thoroughly enjoyed wearing all my Karen Millen outfits to the week!! I hope you all enjoyed reading about them!!
Massive thanks to Sean Loughran from CMPR for providing me with FASHIONWEEK's photographs from each day taken by Brendan Gallagher; Re:Found Event photograph taken by George Pennock.
