Last weekend the British Style Collective took over Liverpool for a fun filled, shopping fuelled, fashion forward city takeover! I'd been waiting for this event since December after attending the last Clothes Show in Birmingham, the weekend came round quickly and it was absolutely fantastic to experience it all. I was lucky enough to get a press pass for the weekend along with some lovely other Liverpool bloggers and influencers. I'd attended a pre-show event a few weeks before which was exciting and we found out all about the weekend coming up, you can read that post here.
The first day of the BSC was Friday the 8th of July, a sunny day beamed upon us, me and two friends caught the 8am train into Liverpool and headed straight to the Exhibition centre near the Albert Docks. Here I was able to pick up my pass and gather any info I needed from the press area and bloggers bar. The bloggers bar had press info, refreshments, power sockets and home decor from John Lewis; these was perfect for our blogger photos and flat lays.
The exhibition centre was home to the fabulous shopping halls all weekend, filled with over 100 brands showcasing and selling top pieces. Entering the shopping halls was so exciting, there was so much to see and each of the stands was filled with items to shop right there and then. The first stand I spotted was of course the Spectrum Collections stand in all it's pink lights, the Spectrum girls are so lovely and have the most amazing makeup brushes; think mermaids, unicorns and fabulous-ness. We headed straight over and I picked up a couple of their duo-fibre brushes and a makeup bag as I didn't already have these in my collection. It was really nice to catch up with the Spectrum girls too; hope you'll be there next year?
We made our way around the centre checking out all the stands and picking up some bargains too, the Glamour Mag stand was amazing and offered a 12 month subscription and a goodie bag for £9.00; we all signed up and was thrilled with the contents of the goodie bag. Inside the bag was brands like Batiste, Merci Handy and Nip & Fab. We also stopped by the Andrew Collinge stand who was doing hair styles using his new range of products; Andrew was also on the expert stage demonstrating a waved hair style. Nair had a memorable stand with a summer holiday theme to it, there was a photo booth that created a gif; if you shared to socials you had a chance to win a holiday to Ibiza. Alcatel Mobile was showcasing their new A5 LED smartphone which you can configure the back of the phone to play LED lights as notifications, to music or just for fun, the stand had a UV makeup station and a photo booth too.
There was lots of fashion stands as well as hair and beauty; Victoria's Secret was there offering bra fittings, Topsy Curvy showcased with Loverobe, Oasis had there trailer van filled with fashion pieces of the season, River Island was offering personal styling services in their style studio (this is also available in the Church Street store) and there was lots of independent businesses with their best products available.
The expert stage talks took place within the Exhibition centre, we caught the 'Get the Look' from Co by Andrew Collinge, 'Complexion Perfection' with Pixi Beauty and 'Miss Pap X Olivia Buckland' How to Stay Sassy talks which was all interesting and gave us more of an insight to the brands and their products which was all available at the show.
After shopping as much as we could and talking to brands we headed for some lunch in Liverpool ONE before the main event at the Echo Arena. Gourmet Burger Kitchen is at the top if Liverpool ONE and has wonderful food for all, we're regulars in GBK and love trying new burgers and sides. I'd also recommend the Strawberry and Elderflower juice because it's refreshing, fruity and refillable! Liverpool ONE had events on in stores including beauty masterclasses, samples, lessons and offers throughout the centre. BSC really did take over the city last weekend!
The first show of weekend was at 2 o'clock, me and my friends was super excited, me especially as I knew that the Clothes Show team are known for putting on a fantastic show that's not an everyday fashion show! Since I had a press pass I headed back to the press area to be taken over the the arena for the show, us bloggers had a side view seat on the front row, this was pretty cool to see the fashion pieces, acts and models up close. I was able to see a front view of the stage from the side screens.
The Echo Arena hosted the Alcatel Fashion Arena beautifully, the stage was set up in a triangle shape with the point at the front of the audience, the screens was across the back of the stage adding themed scenery to each part of the show and 2 big screens at either side of the stage showed the live filming of the show. I was absolutely blown away by the performances from the models and Rock the Runway, each section of the show was filled with energy, fashion and smiles. It's good to see the models enjoying the show and not just focused on their facial expressions. Rock the Runway was at last years show in December and did an even better job this year, the effort and skills was inspiring and brilliant to watch. I especially enjoyed the Pop Chic and Vintage Circus sections, the fashion pieces from the Pop Chic was very creative and eye catching and the Vintage Circus performance was my favourite because it combined aerobatics with story-telling and fashion. The fashion show lasted an hour and was on 2 times a day, your ticket depended on which show you had access too.
St George's Hall was holding talks, catwalks and panels all day long, on all three days of the show. There was a fashion bus taking you to St George's from Liverpool ONE but it was just a short walk away. The venue is so beautiful and held the weekend long events perfectly, there was talks from fashion experts like Caryn Franklin and Jo Elvin and designers; Henry Holland and Gary McQueen. There was also blogger panels talking about fashion, trends and blogging, these featured local bloggers like Life of Pingkan and Scouse Bird Problems. The designer catwalks filled the hall and showcased the latest trends from designers, there was so much inspiration and fashion insight for a fashion graduate like myself it was a really great place to be over the weekend. I really wish I'd spent more time at St George's Hall this year and plan to use more of my time here at next years show because there was so much to see, find out and enjoy and of course the venue is glorious.
The Albert Dock was the place to be for vintage and retro fashion. On Saturday and Sunday the Albert Dock was host to Fine Tuned Festival. The Docks was filled with a range of vintage traders, independent designer fashion, street food and a vintage car show all of which was perfectly at home on the Albert Dock for the weekend. The pop up 'Best in Show' catwalks, beauty make overs and street performances ran all day Saturday and Sunday but I think it would of been nice if this part of the event was on Friday too; maybe next year?
On Friday the Creative hub was open to students and educational groups, this hub was filled with industry information, catwalk collections, art exhibitions, fashion illustrations and was the place to be for aspiring students. There was imagination rooms from Graduate Fashion Week, Fashion Tech, Live Fashion Illustration Garden and Skill of Fashion Talks. As a student I would of greatly appreciated a place like this to help me on my educational journey, I think it's great that BSC put together a place for students to learn and be inspired as well as enjoying the rest of the show.
The whole experience was fun, inspiring, energetic and exciting; me and friends had a fantastic time and I already can't wait for next year. My plan is to stay over in Liverpool for the weekend so I don't miss a thing next year and it would be fabulous to hang out with some of the Liverpool bloggers more too. Next years show has been announced for the 13th-15th of July 2018! Make sure you don't miss it!!
Thank you to the British Style Collective team for putting on a wonderful event, city wide takeover and bringing fashion, beauty and lifestyle! I would like to personally thank you for my press pass and I really am looking forward to next years event!
