New Look Spring/Summer 2014 Press Day

Hi guys! I have been so busy lately. I'm working on a new project with a friend and we get so excited about working on it that I haven't got time to work on my own blog. The new project will be launched soon so hopefully our hard work will pay off and you guys will have something new to enjoy. 

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New Look sent me an invitation to the press event for their spring/summer 2014 collection at the beginning of the month, when I was already back in Vietnam. Luckily I got a few friends in London and one of them happily agreed to go to the press event in my place.

Credits: All photos were taken by Ly Pham. You can check out her Flickr here.

As I wasn't able to come to the event myself, I was very excited to see all the photos and share them with you guys. I definitely love their lingerie corner and the jewellery wall. The lingerie corner is just way too cute with all the floral prints. Their tropical, tribal prints and laces for the clothes and accessories in the collection are super lovely as well.  

I'm really sorry I couldn't write any longer. I will keep you posted with the new project and I really hope you will enjoy it, especially anyone from Vietnam :)

Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy the post! 

See you again soon. 

xx

London Fashion Week Day 1 & 2

Hi guys, sorry I've been busy in the last few days. So here are what I've been doing.

- I came to London on Thursday to attend London Fashion Week and I've been staying with a wonderful family that I know through Couchsurfing. I'm eternally grateful for what they've done and are still doing; they not only let me stay for free for almost a week but also make me feel so welcome in their home.

- I don't know what got into me but I don't really enjoy LFW as much as I used to. I mean I love fashion weeks and I know having the chance to come here, as Press, and see a lot of fashion shows is a privilege that not many people can have. But yesterday, I just felt like I was done with it all. I just wanted to pack my bag and go back to my nest at home. I didn't even bother to go to 2 shows that I enjoyed last season. Although, I blame the weather for all this! 

- London weather hasn't been nice to any of us who come to LFW; it rains all day. The shows I'm invited to are not at the same place, and I hate walking from one place to another carrying my clutch, my camera, LFW tote bag AND an umbrella as well. My left shoulder still hasn't recovered from carrying my (way too) heavy suitcase on Thursday.

- And I don't bring enough clothes for this cold weather. All I could wear in this cold weather are a short sleeve knitted jumper, a pair of black jeans, a blazer jacket and a pair of cut out boots; that's it! I'm seriously considering buying a leather jacket from a high street store to wear in the next few days and keep the tags to return it before I leave London.

I guess that is enough whining for today. I started to enjoy LFW again after Antipodium and Holly Fulton shows today. The main reason is that I got invitations to those shows all by myself. I know my blog is not (yet) a good one and I don't have a massive number of views or followers or even readers for that matter but getting invited to LFW is just what I need to motivate myself to keep on blogging and finding new ways to make this blog better.

Anyways, here are some photos from LFW that I took in the last 2 days. Sorry for the quality of the photos, I used my camera to take photos on the 1st day but I was too lazy to bring it on the 2nd day so most of the photos are taken with my phone.

backstage at Yeashin Kim Spring 2014 presentation

model waiting for the show to start

my favourite looks from Antipodium show

I don't have any shows to attend tomorrow but we (I and my colleagues at the magazine) decided to treat ourselves to a little spa session at The May Fair Hotel (it sounds luxury I know, the good thing is it's free with press pass!). I might be able to get my Toni and Guy hair appointment and have a haircut tomorrow and probably be able to stop by Fashion Scout for a show after. I really really hope it won't rain tomorrow, or I will probably stay at home and watch South Park all day.

I still have a few more shows to attend next week before LFW ends on Tuesday so I will post some updates here as soon as I have some free time. In the meantime, check out and follow my Instagram as I always upload photos and videos as soon as the shows are over and I take photos of mostly everything! I've also uploaded videos from Antipodium and Holly Fulton shows today! The link is on the right side but if you want to search on your phone, here is the account name: thewardrobug (@thewardrobug)

Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy the post! 

See you again soon. 

xx

My London Fashion Week experience

I didn't plan to write this post but my friend kept asking me to share my fashion week experience so here it is. It was my first fashion week ever hence there were actually so many things that I regret. Below are my tips for anyone who is going to fashion week this September.

PS: I attended LFW as press (fashion writer/reporter) so all these tips would be especially helpful for any fashion writer/reporter out there x

DO NOT TAKE PHOTOS

I mean, you can take photos with your phone to publish on Instagram or Facebook or use as materials that you can look at right away to write your catwalk review but do not take photos to use as supporting images for your articles. The reason is even when you're seated front row and have a very good camera, you can hardly get a perfect photo, instead, most of the time, you will get tilted ones. Seats are placed on both sides of the catwalk so you can never get a photo like this All the photographers gather at the other end of the catwalk, setting up their cameras and tripods before the show begins and the models always walk straight up to them before turning back, and that's how they get such good photos.

To demonstrate, here are some of the best photos I took at Jena Theo show (I sat front row)

Have you noticed how bad they are?

TAKE NOTES, TAKE A LOT OF NOTES

Get your notebook out while you were queuing and take as much notes as possible even before the show begin. Catwalk/fashion show reviews are about more than just clothes or trends since everyone can access the photos of the show online a few hours later and spot the trends themselves. What you need to cover in the review is the atmosphere of the show, the music, the 'service' there - in another words, all the things that people who did not attend the show cannot have access to.

WRITE THE REVIEW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

Even when you take lots of notes and photos, you will soon forget about small (yet might be important) details about the shows that you attended. All the excitement, impression you have about the show won't be able to stay in your mind for long. Apu Jan show was the first one I attended at LFW but I didn't write my review until about 1-2 days later. By the time I started to write the review, I found it extremely hard to find anything to say as everything I felt when I was watching the show were, sadly, gone. After spending hours looking at the show photos, the information that they gave me before the show and reading other reviews in order to remember, I finally finish the review but it didn't really meet my standard. So, if you want to write an exciting catwalk report, write it immediately after you walk out of the show!

NO BAG ALLOWED ON THE FIRST DAY

What I mean is on the first day of fashion week, when you come to the registration area to get your press/blogger pass, they will give you an amazing LFW tote bag with show schedule and map. In addition to that, if you're lucky enough to have VIP invitation to any shows, each show will give you their own tote bag with free goodies inside. At the end of the day, you will end up carrying plenty of bags and trust me, it's just horrible. I brought my own bag on the first day and ended up have to carry my bag and 3 other totes from one show to another. My whole body hurt when I woke up on the next day. So in conclusion, don't bring your own bag on the first day of fashion week!

It's been 2 weeks after LFW so these are all the tips that I can think of. Apart from all the exhaustion, lack of sleep, messed-up timetable etc. LFW was such an amazing experience for me and I can't wait to attend it again this September!

(me at LFW, waiting for the next show)

Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy the post! 
See you again soon.
xx

The Norwich Vintage Fair

I was so excited about the vintage fair this year. I knew about it last year but never actually went to one because it was on Sunday and Sunday is my sleeping day. This year is probably my last year in Norwich so I tried to get up sooooo early (at 1 pm lol) to attend the fair. It costs you £2 entrance fee at the door and behind that door is a vintage heaven full of stuffs from clothes, hats, shoes, jewellery to pin-up postcards.

As much as I love the clothes and shoes there, I can hardly find anything that fits me properly, I guess that's the problem with being too tiny and having really tiny feet. The jewellery selection was actually a disappointment. I love vintage jewellery as almost every piece is one of a kind but there weren't as many beautiful jewellery as I expected. I found a really cute fur hat but ended up not buying it since it was a bit tight (now I feel regret though). Anyway, here are the photos that I took (it was dark so I didn't realise some of the photos weren't very good until I got home)

Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy the post! 
See you again soon.
xx