Fashion Show!

On the 18th October, a company named LMP Models held a Charity Fashion Show at the Cumberland Hotel on Bournemouth seafront. There were a few names selected to go and help out at this Fashion Show, and I happened to be lucky enough to be pulled out of the hat.

I was quite nervous about doing this show, as I'd never done anything like it before and I was scared that I'd do something really wrong, like dress someone up in the wrong clothes! But at the same time, I was really excited, as it was something completely different to what I've done before.

When I got there, nobody really had anything to do. All the models were practicing their walks, there were people moving chairs out into the main room, people setting up tables in the VIP area for drinks and such, and we were all sitting about waiting to be told what to do. There were the odd few jobs, but for quite a while, we just watched everyone going about doing what they were meant to be doing.

As soon as the VIPs were arriving, we were sent backstage to where all the clothes were being kept, before having to rush with all the clothes into the main backstage room. It was amazing being in there with all those clothes, getting to look at all the gorgeous styles that the models got to wear! We all raided the rails, to see what was there, someone got to wear Vivienne Westwood shoes! And a gold leather Armani jacket! Oooh there was so much excitement going around the room. We were also with all the models, while they were having their hair and make-up re-done, some of them chatted to us, which was nice. They seemed quite friendly. Unfortunately, a lot of them were eating baguettes and I didn't bring anything for dinner!

Time came when we actually had to start doing stuff. The 'Shop' that I was helping out with was called Vixen, and until the show had started, I didn't have anything that I needed to do yet, but one of the groups had to get their models dressed straight away, so they were changing in the tiny room, it was so cool to see what actually happens backstage, all the debating as to whether they should wear the jacket or not, or what way to have the necklace, with the pendant at the front, or at the back...

When it was our time to shine, we had models flying at us to get changed, from one shops clothes, into ours. Some of the girls were wearing really tight boots and we had to get them into pairs of tights and someone had cuts on their knees so we needed different tights and the clasps on the necklaces were so awkward and the shoes didn't fit someone and a bag went missing... and that sentence goes without breathing, because that is literally how it felt in that ten minutes while we were dressing our clothes on the models.

We all helped out on the last scene, the bridal couture, as there were all these corsets to tie up and loads of layers to keep the dresses poofy and there were loads of us who rushed over to help them out.

And then it was over. It was crazy how fast it went. Afterwards there was an auction, which we watched for a bit, then an after party that we went to, but there weren't a lot of people there so we went to another bar for a few drinks, then back home.

I definately enjoyed myself, I had a lot of fun and would love to do more of these shows. I felt like I settled into it fine and understood what was required to keep it running smoothly and I feel good knowing that we all did a good job.