I'm a big fan of The Clothes Show, although not so much a fan of the fact that it's so close to Christmas!! A massive room full of clothes and beauty products, with the odd celebrity wandering round - sounds a bit perfect to me! ;)
If you haven't heard of The Clothes Show, then let me explain...
Set in the Birmingham NEC exhibition centre, The Clothes Show is a fashion festival set over 5 days featuring top fashion and beauty brands, hair and beauty demonstrations, catwalk shows, celebrity performances and appearances, makeovers, experts and next generation talent.
I love wandering around the stalls, especially the new up and coming designers, checking out pieces that are 'one-off' and unavailable anywhere else and grabbing some fab bargains at great discounted prices.
James gave me £150 to treat myself.
And I did ;)
Myself and my friends Syreeta, Donna & Sandra headed for Birmingham NEC last Saturday, December 7th and as always, had a fantastic day.
There were some lovely stalls. Yes, there was also a massive amount of 'market style' stalls, probably a lot more than Ive seen before, but there was soooo much to see, and lots of hidden gems hidden amongst them. There were lots of stalls full of quirky, handmade bits, stalls from new fashion designers and new companies.
We spent quite a bit of time at the DeMontfortUni stall, showing our support to our local up and coming fashion designers. One of my friends picked up a necklace and another bought a fab top by @abbscull (random that I managed to find her on Twitter! :))
Luckily on the day we went, it wasn't too busy that we couldn't walk around at our leisure and explore everything. I've heard since that the Sunday was crazy busy!! So I think we were pretty lucky!
Me being me, LOVE LOVE LOVE the Beauty Hall. Even with more beauty products than I can physically store, I can never have enough. And I wandered around all the amazing cosmetics trying not to buy too much! :)
My friend was an actual celebrity magnet! Spotting and managing to speak to celebs such as Kingsland Road, Romeo & Lisa Maffia. I did make it my aim to have my photo taken with a celebrity but I didn't manage it. Booo. To be honest, my friends aren't really celeb fans and whereas I found it fab seeing people I watched on my telly every week, such as the Made In Chelsea & TOWIE lot, they didn't really care for them, or know who many were lol. So without running the risk of losing my friends, I snapped a few photos and kept going. I was a bit gutted I didn't fulfil my aim. I do love my celebs!! Next time ;)
Geordie Shore's Vicky
We had a fab girly day and picked up lots of gorgeous bits between us!!
Then we finished the day with the Fashion Show, before heading home.
This years Fashion Show, held in the Alcatel One Touch Fashion Theatre, was a celebration of The Clothes Show's 25th Anniversary and based around the the 'A Weekend In The Country'. The dancers and models, and not to mention the outfits were amazing, and the show was fantastic so hats off to all involved. Hooooow much does BB Kaye love the attention?? I swear he gets a bit more cocky every year! ;) haha, he's a good lad though! :)
As always, The Clothes Show was a fab day out!
Let me show you some of the bits I purchased...
The only clothes I purchased were these from an exciting young fashion label, OhMyLove London.
I managed to snap up this Leopard Print Jumper (although I can't find it online), Feeling Feline Cream Fluffy Jumper (£35.00), Feeling Feline Taupe Jumper (£35.00) & Black Dress (which I can't find online either) all for £30!!
And these are the other bits and pieces I picked up...
There are a few Christmas presents for the other half but I've tried not to get those in the photos just incase he's having a little nose!! ;) But let me fill you in on what I bought...
Police ToBe Woman perfume with a free shower gel. I can't remember how much these were, but it was a great price and he threw in a skull bandana too. :)
Barry M Goody Bag (£10) - as always, the BarryM goody bag was popular, including a little bag with 5 nail polishes, 2 of which were limited edition and then the usual coloured eye pencils, mascara, a lovely lip gloss and 2 pots of dazzle dust. Although it's pretty much the same every year, it's a fab goody bag and great value for money!
Bomb Cosmetics Soaps - I love this brand. Pretty, handmade, natural products; think 'Lush's sister'! I was pretty gutted when they shut up shop in Leicester. The stall looked beautiful, they'd quite clearly spent a lot of time and effort making their stall look amazing. I think the soaps were 3 for £5?! And I picked up an Orange Soda Soap, Sweet Sundae Soap (which Bradley has bagged!!) & Lemon Meringue Delight Soap Cake. They smell divine!! Yummy!
So...? Goody Bag - I actually think this was one of the best goody bags I spotted, in terms of value for money. In the £10 goody bag was a gift set including their original scent perfume, body spray and body wash, a box of 3 'rock n roll' body sprays, a travel wash bag, a travel toothbrush, a t-shirt, dry shampoo, a So...? Brit body spray and s gift set of their So...? Brit perfume, lip blame & body spray. How fab!!
Popbands - These are usually £6 each for 5 but we got some on offer using our Clothes Show wristband (which was also a Popband ;) ) I'd heard of this brand before, from their celeb twitter promo. They're soft and stretchy hair bands that don't snag your hair or leave any dents or kinks once you take it down. I'd been meaning to order some for a while, as I have to wear my hair up daily at work while working with young children, and normal elastic hair bands damage, pull out and snag my hair constantly. Whereas these are so nice to use, I can pull them out of my hair and feel reassured that they're not pulling half my hair out with it. Plus they look a bit prettier on my wrist :)
Some cute handmade jewellery. 2 necklaces and a bracelet.
Boozi Hand Cream - My friends and I were in our element when we stumbled across this stall. Boozi Bodycare is a range of cocktail fragranced body care. Oh yes! We're big cocktail fans so we loved the idea of this! If I hadn't already had my Christmas shopping sorted, these would've been perfect gifts for the females in my family! I think I'll definitely look them up again in the future! I picked up a WooWoo Hand Cream.
W7 Cosmetics - I was so chuffed when I heard they'd be there this year. I discovered W7 when a friend bought me the Africa bronzer as a Secret Santa present and I fell in love with it!! I also own a yummy nude lipstick by them too, and although they're such a cheap brand (which I usually tend to steer clear of), the products that I have used have been fab! They had a 5 items for £10 offer on so my friends & I stood for ages picking things up. I came away with a much needed new Africa bronzer, a Double Act bronzer, which is a dupe of the discontinued 10 Bronzer by Benefit, which I loved, a Bronze Shimmer Compact, a pink blush & a light diffusing concealer for my under eyes. Bargain! ;)
So, we had a really great girly day out. I'm a big fan of The Clothes Show! They've already released next years dates. Same time next year, ladies?? ;)
