LAST NIGHTS FASHION AWARDS

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Me in my Meadham Kirchhoff

Last nights British Fashion awards was an intimate affair held at the Savoy hotel. The awards took place in the Savoy Theatre and we were all cooped up in our finery in tiny seats holding our plastic glasses of Champagne.

Things improved greatly once the awards got underway and Meadham Kirchhoff won best new emerging designer. Spent the rest of the evening feeling pleased with myself that I drummed up the guts to step away from my usual formal evening look - leather trousers, Celine jacket and spike-heeled Kirkwoods - to wear the magnificent red chiffon and lace dress from Meadham Kirchoff's Autumn Winter collection.

This look is a huge leap from my usual formal evening wear. I told my friend Justine Fairgrieve I was channelling an aristocratic woman fallen on hard times who has resurrected and dusted off her finery from various eras. She said she was too. I saw her across the room and she looked like Little Edie.
Jewels were important with this; the neckpiece is late 50s Dior costume jewellery.  

Anyway, wearing this outfit gave a sense of a whole new sartorial chapter opening up.   

Following the awards there was an elegant dinner in the Savoy proper, and it was exquisite from the table settings to the food and company. I was a guest of ASOS, and sat next to the young Canadian designer Thomas Tait. Interesting guy. Then it was a quick scoot with Henry Holland, Erdem, Richard Nicoll, Peter Pilotto, Christopher de Vos, Sarah Mower, Katie Hillier and Charlie Harrington for late night drinks at Soho House.

Fun times.

The most deserving winners on the night were
1. Phoebe Philo for Designer of the Year
2. Husam el Odeh for Emerging Accessories Designer
3. Patrick Grant of E. Tautz for Menswear
4. Mulberry for British Brand
5. Naomi Campbell for Outstanding Achievement
6. Last but NOT at all least the totally brilliant Ben Kirchhoff and Ed Meadham. I don't think they even know how great they are. Hopefully this award will go some way to make them believe it.
Find all the rest of the fun and frolics on Grazia Daily
Photo of me by the ever wonderful Mr Dave Bennett

ABOUT LAST NIGHT.....AT THE BRITISH FASHION AWARDS!

Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large

I promised I would post a picture of me in my Sophia Kokosalaki dress (look 20 AW09), and who better to pose with for it than the fab Ms Kokosalaski herself. Sophia is such an amazing designer, and Caren Downie of ASOS.com, Harriet Quick of Vogue and Bridget Cosgrave of Matches all looked sensational in their Sophia K. Sorry for the grainy quality of the picture, but Sarah Mower took this shot and I think I had the camera on the wrong settings!!! Thanks though Sarah.  It was an eventful evening (see winners list on the fabulous GraziaDaily).

My toe is still throbbing from when Mandi Lennard accidentally stepped back on it wearing spike heeled Lanvin boots while taking the below photo of Victoria Beckham and her friend and protector Natalie Lewis. But the distant throb in my foot - I'm calling it my toe hangover - is as nothing compared to what Karen Elson will be feeling this morning.

The delectable supermodel flown in from Nashville to present Grace Coddington with her Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator actually fell off the stage in the process of walking onto it. A drop of about seven feet. It was such a shocking moment, the noise of 1000 or so people clattering and chattering stilled to silence as we all imaginged the next award would go to an unsuspecting Paramedic. But she picked herself up to a standing ovation and later it was confirmed following a visit to St Thomas's hospital that she has a sprained thumb.

Get well soon Karen. Oh and by the way she was truly the most beautiful woman present last night. Eva H, Claudia S and Kate Mossy were all there but Karen was beyond radiant. After seeing her I want to wear a red dress!

See Mandi's Colette blog here.
Picture credits:
Melanie Rickey & Sophia Kokosalalki: Fashion Editor at Large
Victoria Beckham and Natalie Lewis: Mandi Lennard
Karen Elson: Dave Bennett

THINGS IN MY HEAD TODAY

Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large

1. What I'm going to wear tomorrrow night to the British Fashion Awards. I think it will be this by Sophia Kokosalaki:

I love it. It is so chic. But I'm in a quandry about showing skin. I think I have to. Skin is sexy. My g/f thinks black tights will be chic.

2) It's been over a week since my last confession... I mean blog. When one does have an untended blog growing virtual tumbleweed in the blogosphere, it is a stressful feeling. Especially when there are plentiful stories and posts to share and no time to release them. So now a stack of ideas filling two pages in my "Fashion Editor at Large" notebook are queueing up to depart my mind like buses waiting to leave a garage.

The reason for this long blank is that I have not yet mastered how to fulfil multitude journalistic commitments to Grazia and others while also blogging. The pre-xmas rush is always as stressful as it gets - talk about cortisol overdose, or in my case my cortisol stash is fast depleting. In the last week I have completed the Best Dressed 2009 tome for G's mega-stacked double-issue published on the 22nd December. I love doing the best dressed list, it is extremely intense and detailed but also fascinating how what we look for in a fashion icon changes so much in the space of a year. I think you will be blown away by our choices and omissions.

Clearly by the time January comes along and my new logo/ blog design are up and running, my special blog email address is delivering what I need, and the fashion junior at large and me are in place at our new office this kind of behaviour will be TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. In the spirit of us still being limey amateurs and newbies to the scene, I'm even letting the ridiculously beautiful Fashion Junior at Large swan off for the next three days on a modelling job with Rankin, but of course I made her promise to blog daily to share her experiences.