my lfw survival guide
My feet are firmly back on British soil with only a brief one nighter in Paris standing between myself and this seasons London Fashion week.
Last season was the first season where I spent the entire week in London, missing Lumi with back to back shows. By the end of it all I felt like I had been hit by a bus and much like in these pictures, I struggled to stay on my sore swollen feet.
My schedule was too tightly packed and I’d tried to do way too much all at one time, it’s similar to how I deal with a full box of chocolates, it always seems like a great idea at the time but as you stuff that last chocolate into your mouth, you suddenly realise you have totally over indulged.
This season it was going to be different. I want to be able to savour moments and really absorb what makes this industry so intoxicating. I know for some, the menial tasks of heading back stage with a brand seem like a bore, I am all too aware of how you can feel distinctively “sore thumb-esque” when hair and make-up artists are creating their masterpieces all around you. But there is also something magic about it. About watching a bare faced beauty, stride with her gazelle like limbs, back stage and under a cloud of hair spray , under-go a spectacular transformation.
For me, it isn’t about simply viewing the final show fighting for that front row seat, it’s about the story behind each look, what inspired it, what product made it all come together and what on god’s great earth is that high light she is wearing.
So this season I was going to be sure to breath it all in, and here’s how;
No. 1 Select Your Schedule
First things first lets talk about the shows. Because it’s all well and good opting for simply the designers you love and respect, but this season is all about the partnerships when it comes to my schedule; The master behind the make-up, the hair stylist behind style and all the tips and tricks in between. So be sure to select the shows you love and then re-select the partnerships you love even more to enjoy a 360 fashion week experience with the shows that really inspire.
No. 2 Be You in Every Sense Of The Word
How you look and dress is important, less for the benefit of others and more for your own. Comfort, in every sense of the word is important to really experiencing the history that is being made all around you.
I always find I can be a little more adventurous with my wardrobe during fashion week, wearing items I would maybe save for special occasions, for day time wear and even bubble tea dates. But it always reflects me, the girl who forever wears her heart on her Bardot sleeve.
No. 3 Physical Comfort
I mean comfort in the physical sense of the word also, this girl right here is gonna be on her pins for a while so whilst I like them to be pretty, it is damn hard to concentrate on how NARS create the contour of Gods when all you can think about is the torturous burn coming from deep within your new Louboutins.
No. 4 Location
Now this one might seem a little obvious to begin with so lets get that bit out of the way but my advice to you, if you aren’t a London dweller like I am, and you are migrating there for the week, choose your hotel wisely. And by wisely I mean don’t pick the pretty hotel on the other side of the River because you might as well just set up camp in an Uber for the entire week. Yes that was me last season and no that will most definitely not be me this season.
But by wisely I also mean choose a hotel by how it makes you feel. I look for the ones which leave me with a sense of escape the moment I flop down on the bed, there’s preferably a spa of sorts which I can escape to and leave a few hours later wrinkly and rejuvenated.
No. 5 SNACKS!
A girl has got to eat and you don’t want to be caught out in a traffic jam like the one outside of the Topshop show last season, with no supplies so purse friendly snacks are always a good idea and if you see the Vita Coco people make sure you stock the hell up and stay hydrated.
