Photo Post - September 2016

September opened to heartbreak. We had just lost our dog, Belle, and my brother and I, in particular, were devastated. The day after she died I had to go back to Dublin for work and I spent the following days physically separated from her absence, which made it emotionally somewhat easier to cope. When my brother had to come up to the city for the day, I brought him out to lunch and was shocked by how bad he looked. We sat over bibimbap and talked things through and, if anything good has come from all of this, it is that we are definitely closer now.

The next day my friends came over with flowers, homemade cookies, hugs and consolation and we spent the night talking, laughing, crying with laughter and dancing into the wee hours of the morning. They listened to what I needed to say, held my hand and cheered me up and made me realise just how lucky I am to have friends like that in my life. Similarly, I had a Skype date with one of my best friends, who is currently living in Hong Kong, and she listened to everything I needed to get off my chest, hearing me out and just being there for me. Then she dropped the wonderful bombshell that she was returning in November and I suddenly had something to look forward to.

In the following week I had a minor existential crisis, fell deep into a new book and spent an evening with my bestie wandering around and drinking a pot of tea in our local bar, before heading home for the first weekend since Belle had died. I promptly cried upon arriving home and realising she wasn't going to rush outside to welcome me home, when we opened a bottle of Champagne and she wasn't there to eat the cork, when we left the back door open and she didn't sneak in - moments everyone else had had time to get used to but I was experiencing for the first time.

The next week was the run-up to fashion week and mostly involved packing, washing, ironing, planning, buying bits for the trip and attending the launch of Youngblood Cosmetics in Ireland. Then, on Thursday evening, I flew into London and my friend and her boyfriend met me at the train station to walk me home with them. As they went on to bed to get ready for work the next day, I settled into the room they had prepared for me and made friends with their new dog, delighting in having one to play with and pet. Friday was busy with four shows to attend and I had gotten cocky about knowing my way around central London so I got lost lots and spent much of the day running around like a sweaty lunatic but it was a wonderful start and I loved all of the collections I saw. The following few days were a blur of meeting friends and going to shows.

When I finally got home on Tuesday night, I was exhausted but on a high from Fashion Week. Said high meant that I crashed right back down to earth the next day when I had to go back to work as per, but the very next day I had Lloyds Pharmacy's #BeVersionofYou breakfast in the morning and the Bryt skincare launch in the evening. That weekend I went home to my family to celebrate my birthday and went out for dinner in Richmond with my pals on Sunday night and everyone made me feel all kinds of loved and appreciated.

The final week of September saw me start a Korean language course in Trinity, have dinner with my bestie, walk down memory lane and meet one of the stars of comedic cinema disaster, "The Room" with the society I used to run in college, and get ambushed on my walk home by a friend who dragged me into a pub.

Overall, September was a fucking crazy month. A lot happened and I'm still working through the incredible backlog of blog posts and articles that I need to do based on all that happened. The month opened to sorrow but it was mostly filled with love: friends appearing when I needed them most, bonding with my family over shared loss, people making sure to gather from all over to see me when I was in London and, not one, not two, but three birthday celebrations.

It was a month filled with chaos and hard work but also with the amazing opportunities that I am given - largely because of this blog and everyone who reads it. I get to meet designers, travel, attend shows, sample all sorts of products and, even, sit front row at Fashion Week because of hard work, of course, but also because you guys stick around to read what I write and look at pictures I take. And I am incredibly thankful for that.

I'm not quite where I want to be in my career or life just yet but the journey thus far has been (mostly) a good one, one I'm lucky to be on.

Thank you for travelling it with me thus far, may we have many more adventures in the future.

Love,
Colette x

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LFW SS17 - Day IV

Day four of LFW SS17 kicked off with a rather luxurious start. My first presentation of the day was for Aspinal of London and was being housed in Claridge's. The setting was incredible, the attention to detail impeccable and the bags were beautiful. And they absolutely spoiled the attendees. Cakes floated around the room, Champagne was flowing and we were each gifted a beautiful leather-bound notebook as we left. The highlight of the collection, for me, has to be the pastel section. Bags, clutches and accessories in mint, baby blue and pale pink shades were set against a Barbie Dreamhouse backdrop and were every inch the kind of elegance that the brand is known for, just given a particularly pretty and summery vibe for the season that was in it.

After the presentation I had to dash off to meet friends for lunch at Ten Ten Tei, a little Japanese place with charmingly grumpy staff and delicious food - I'd highly recommend it. Once lunch and coffees had been had, I brought Matthew with me to the Fyodor Golan presentation. Last season, I wasn't really feeling the overwhelmingly neon collection and, while there was neon present this season, I found the overall direction a lot more cohesive and pleasing. Golan's love for bright hues, metallics and clubwear was given a cyber punk makeover that reminded a little of a noughties sci-fi drama in the best possible way. Think goggles, a-symmetry, distressed denim, holographic fabrics and elaborate hairstyles.

Three days in a pair of beloved ankle boots that barely had an insole left meant that, after Fyodor Golan, I dragged Matthew to the Primark on Oxford Street (i.e. Hell on Earth) to find something I could bear hobbling around in.

Then we said our goodbyes and I hobbled right on to the Ashish show, delighted for myself and trying to ignore the burning pain. I missed the show last season because of my flight which devastated me because of my absolute grá for the brand. Thankfully, this season more than made up for it. Ashish Gupta, in the face of Brexit and the rumblings of intolerance that followed it, brought India to the catwalk and embraced the diversity that makes the capital great. The Delhi-born designer personally sported a sweatshirt that simply stated "Immigrant" and boldly showed just how vital being multicultural is to fashion. "Old Bollywood" was the inspiration and a sitar player filled the packed room with music as a canopy of fairy lights glittered overhead and an incredibly (and importantly) diverse procession of models in elaborate gilded headpieces, embroidered and vibrant garments, painted faces resembling gods and goddesses and accessorised with live flowers and even a live snake, floated by. By far, it was one of the most exhilarating and beautiful collections of the season with a depth to it that is often absent and shows exactly why fashion is about so much more than clothes draped over flesh.

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Ashish A/W 2014-15: My inner-child is squeeing.

LIGHT-UP, FREAKING RUNNERS.

I've genuinely been saying I want a pair for a while now but for some reason, by and large, they don't make them for adults. But now Ashish is bringing them to Topshop in an up-coming collab and yesterday they debuted them in their A/W 2014-15 show. I'm not mad on how they look but dammit, I haven't had light-up feet since I was a child!

Childlike and exuberant are, in fact, the best words to describe the showing. It was all sequins, pastels, princessy skirts and crowns. And I loved it. Some pieces were less than wearable but, overall, pieces could be integrated into many a wardrobe to add fun and flavour. The palette, nods to the nineties and touches of sportswear are nothing new, we've been seeing them season after season, and yet the collection seems fresh and endearing. This is largely down to the execution and styling. There's a lot going on but never really too much - the ruffle dress and ruffle two-piece denim suit are more out there than I could personally handle but they are moments of absolute extremes in a collection of well-handled maximalism that avoids becoming clownish.

PS Yay for the statement ending. "Love Will Win" is kinda the ultimate statement tee for our generation, right?

(Images from vogue.co.uk)

I give the collection 4.5/5 Colettes.