The Clothes Show Live

If there's a world that seemed magical to me as I was growing up - it was the fashion world. As a teenager I hungrily devoured every page of every fashion magazine that I could get my hands on, and the first time I went to The Clothes Show I got up at 6am and didn't get home until 10pm and every second of it was worth it - I was entranced. So, when I got tickets this year (and then a little later on a press pass) I couldn't wait to get going; cue a roadtrip including a bright green Vauxhall Adam and three gossiping girls with a McDonald's breakfast each.

I didn't really know what to expect this time around - it stood to reason that the show had only gotten bigger since my visiting it two years ago and I wasn't wrong; more stalls were there, more people, more food options; the show has definitely notably expanded since I was last there. We picked up our press passes and nipped into the Blogger's Bar to take a peek but then, too excited by the prospect of the shops (and the Paul's Boutique bags everyone seemed to be holding) we dove straight out and into the crowds.

The show ended up being a little bit of a toss up for me - there were parts of it that I loved; the new stalls of food in the back corner were great, with quick service and real hot food that you didn't have to fight for tables for were a considerably good move in my opinion. Likewise, it was nice to see smaller brands showcased more predominantly this year in the Asos marketplace and alike - alongside the new Designer Outlet which added a little something more amongst the smaller, independent brands. Was it well planned? The clothing and make up sections were, yes. Was it as affordable as two years back? It seems not - there were some brands that seemed to notably have increased their RRP in order to make it seem like customers were getting a deal when this wasn't the case; this was something I also encountered at Girls' Day Out and it just sits wrong with me, but it's annoying more than anything else.

Although, as we had little information to go alongside our Press Passes we had a little trouble finding our seats for the theatre - everything just seemed a little disjointed and unorganised surrounding this - when we finally got in and the show started it was outstanding (minus what appeared to be really poor lip syncing by Charli XCX). With performances and walks all based around seven themes (Dark, Earth, Underwater, Rebel, Red, Future and Pure) I found myself captivated by performers, wearable fashion and high end fashion alike. The fashion theatre is definitely one of the aspects of the whole show that only appears to have improved with time.

All in all - we had a good day. I didn't end up snapping up a bargain, but maybe this was my knowledge of prices of cosmetics making it seem a little pointless to buy them at the show - however I did end up finding some new brands to fall in love with and so it was definitely worth the trip. I will say though, lunch doesn't come cheap (we paid £16 for two burgers and one thing of chips with two drinks) so you might want to consider getting some before, or after, or taking some snacks with you.

Have you been to The Clothes Show this year? What did you think?

Sammy xo.

The Clothes Show provided me with a press pass however I had already bought tickets for myself and all opinions are my own - check my disclaimer for more information.