5 things I learnt at London Fashion Week A/W 17

This London Fashion Week was, for me, one of the best. As glamorous as it sounds and looks, Fashion week is a bit relentless.

Working all weekend on your feet, with shows from 9am-10pm, traipsing from one side of London to the other and being ‘on’ and buzzy the whole time is actually not my idea of fun.

But this one was different. The sun was shining, I didn’t have to pack an umbrella once (!) and I learnt a few things along the way:

1. You don’t have to do everything…

When I worked at magazines, I had to do every show, every presentation and after party. Even the off schedule shows which often left me 10 minutes spare between each show, always running late and spending all my money on buses, taxis and never having time to eat.

But it doesn’t need to be like that. I now request around 10 tickets for shows and presentations that I’m genuinely interested in, or have relevance to what I do. I don’t spend weeks chasing ticket requests or getting panicked about my seat – if I get a ticket, great, if not – I have time for lunch. My schedule has really eased up and means I get to actually enjoy presentations (which are usually in beautiful buildings) and catch up with fashion friends. Which is what it’s all about really, isn’t it?! And that brings me to my next point…

2. Fashion Week is better with friends

Of course, I always knew this but I’d never had time for it before. One of the best things about fashion and especially blogging, is the friends you make, and planning catch ups, coffees and lunches with friends all doing the rounds is the best bit of the shows.

I even got to catch up with one of my fave busy ladies, Erica Davies and we even got a bit of time to film a Fashion Week video. It’s our first ‘proper’ YouTube video, so bear with us – we take a look inside Erica’s Hill & Friends bag:

3. Maybe I need some white shoes

You heard it here (not quite) first – white shoes are the new thing for spring. I’ve never been one for white heels in the past but everyone was wearing a pair at the shows and I’m kind of convinced. Plus Mulberry featured them in their show so they’re set to continue through to A/W. I’ve also seen a great pair from Next (here) that would look great with a white shirt and jeans. Trust me on this one.

4. Don’t dress for the cameras

I never really enjoyed Fashion Week until I started to relax and dress like myself. There’s always so much pressure to be photographed by streetstyle photographers between shows and it can be tempting to dress for the cameras and not for yourself. Sure, it’s fun to wear your favourite clothes, but I used to think my outfit wasn’t good enough when people didn’t photograph it.

Maybe it’s because I am a little older, and definitely because I’m wiser, it doesn’t seem to bother me anymore and means I get to places much quicker without being stopped by photographers! I never wear next season’s catwalk look, I always smile for cameras (which they hate – someone actually told me to stop smiling once!), I wear real clothes in a real way and have accepted that as my USP. And it means I can wear a hoodie to the shows – and that’s far more fun.

5. Bloggers are beginning to be taken seriously 

I know Bloggers have been ‘influencing’ their way round the shows for a while, but this season I really noticed they have made their way to the front row for validated reasons, not just for a brands’ publicity.

In the last year, I have seen a shift towards PRs (who previously had admitted they had no interest in Social Media or Influencers) caring about a blogger’s perspective. We’re not all freebie hunting power hungry people willing to go the launch of an envelope.

Most of us have a voice and opinions on Fashion that are relevant and relatable, and have more freedom of speech to give true opinions on brands and shows. There is also a shift towards working with bloggers who have an identity and an engagement, rather than just bloggers with numbers. For the first time in a few years, as a Blogger rather than Fashion Editor, I felt I belonged to be at Fashion Week in my own right and was appreciated for attending. And that, for me, was one of my proudest moments.

For a zero effort London Fashion Week look, click here.