Elevon World Newcastle Fashion Event

To anyone stumbling across my little blog, it would be really quite obvious that I'm not by any means a fashion blogger. But just because I don't write about it doesn't mean that I'm not interested in it. I love Vogue, spend more time than I'd like to admit looking at the Women's Fashion category on Pinterest and , of course, spend 5 days a week surrounded by clothes at work. So, when Kayleigh asked me if I wanted to go to the Elevon World event at the Biscuit Factory in Jesmond I said yes straight away. 

Elevon is a Newcastle based fashion events company, set up with the aim of developing and showcasing the work of emerging designers. Given that I'd never actually been to see a catwalk show before, I was really excited to see what the designers had to offer. There were different ticket options to choose from, including VIP Front Row tickets for £30 (which included front row or table seats and a goody bag worth £50), but we opted for the Standard Admission for £15. We might not have splashed out for the VIP treatment, but we managed to nab some seats 3 rows from the front which still had really good views of the catwalk - and came with a goody bag filled with offers for some local businesses and a bag of Propercorn. Yum!


The first designer of the night was Rebekah Clegg who showcased her collection 'Reflect'. Her collection was inspired by Newcastle and its architecture, and included lights as part of her designs (which showed up much more clearly in real life than in my photos - me and my phone have issues). I loved the inclusion of the lights and I would say that Rebekah's collection was my favourite of the night. 



The next collection was by Oxygen London, whose incorporation of chainmail into some of their pieces, as well as the elegance of the designs, really stood out to me. I could definitely imagine some of the pieces on sale in high-end high street stores. 

The event also included a number of talks, the first of which was by David Reay. Reay, who previously worked for Barbour, spoke about the initial processes of starting up in fashion -particularly regarding issues such as production.

The next collection was 'Rebellion' by Lena Yoo. Unfortunately my phone didn't really want to co-operate at this point, so this is the best photo I have. I really liked her collection though, the pieces seemed wearable and as though they wouldn't be out of place on the streets of New York, where she is based. 


The second speaker we saw was Victoria Anderson, who spoke of the benefits of self employment. I'm not going to lie, I know nothing about business or being self employed so a lot of the talk went over my head. Nevertheless, Victoria's talk was very funny and I think Kayleigh, being self-employed herself, found it quite relatable. 


The final collection we saw was 'Anamorphosis' by Georgia Madge. I really loved this collection, with the look in the top photo being my favourite by far. 

Unfortunately, as we needed to catch the metro back to Sunderland, we had to leave in the interval and missed the end of the event. I loved the event and I'm really glad that I finally got to see an actual catwalk show. I'd definitely go to another Elevon event because it was definitely worth the £15 we paid for the tickets! 

Student Night @ INTU Metrocentre

If you read my last post, you'll be aware that I've had a bit of trouble coming to terms with the end of uni life. So it might not surprise you that when I realised that I'd be able to attend the student event at the Metrocentre I jumped at the chance to go. The only requirement was a valid student card, and thankfully mine was still valid on the 30th September when the event, hosted by Unidays, was held. Seeing as I don't actually graduate until November I reckon that technically I'm still a student until then anyway! 

As I work at the Metrocentre, I'd seen the event being advertised for weeks so I had quite a while to get excited about it, but because I was actually working on the night of the event I had to be prepared to get my shopping done quickly so I wouldn't be late. I did almost bottle the whole thing, especially when I found myself stood alone in a rather long queue full of groups of students talking about freshers week and how much of their student loan they were willing to splurge on the night. I also looked like the most boing person ever, turning down the many offers by the guys from Foster's who were handing out samples of their new Foster's Rocks Spiced Rum and Classic Rum flavoured lager, as I'm not allowed to drink before work and I wasn't sure whether I could even take it in with me. 
Nevertheless, despite my internal struggle (and reluctance to give up my last chance to attend a student lock in) I persevered and after around a 15 minute wait I was handed my save zone wristband and headed out to bag some bargains. As you can see from the photo above, I wasn't disappointed. 

So many of the stores at the Metrocentre were involved in the night, with discounts like 30% off at Levi; 20% off at Topshop/Topman, New Look, River Island, H&M  and Dorothy Perkins and even 10% off at HMV. Many of the restaurants and cafes also took part - I wished I could have taken advantage of everything. I chose to pop into KFC, who were offering 25% off any purchase over £5, and tried their new Zinger Rice Box. I thought it was a healthy choice, for a fast food restaurant, but I hadn't realised there would be BBQ sauce involved - yuk! 

There was also a limited number of goody bags available on the night. I wasn't going to get one, but on the night I couldn't resist, mainly because I really wanted to know what was inside them! The 'Sudent Survival Pack' included a double sided movie poster of The Martian/Bridge of Spies (depending on whether you'd rather have Matt Damon or Tom Hanks decorating your uni room - personally I'd go for Damon!), an intu student cookbook full of yummy sounding recipes, a sample of Pantene's new Repair & Protect shampoo, conditioner and repair masque, a small tube of Oral-B Pro-Expert toothpaste (a lifesaver for when you've run out without realising), a Sausage Casserole Pot Noodle, some Jacob's crackers and some Dizolve washing sheets. 

   Can we just stop to admire the lovely packaging from Boux Avenue please?
  
So, on to my purchases. My first port of call was Boux Avenue, becuase I was in desperate need of a new black bra (thanks to wearing a black uniform 5 days a week). I thought about getting fitted properly, and almost didn't thanks to the queue that had formed for the fitting room. But the next thing I knew the queue had gone and I had no excuse. The girl that did my fitting was called Becky and, although I've had loads of fittings before, she was so lovely that I was immediately put at ease. I felt like a very awkward customer as I wasn't sure what I wanted, and then I wasn't sure that the ones she brought me to try felt right, but if she was annoyed at all she didn't show it. In the end I left with the Isabella bra in black and 3 pairs of knickers (how cute are the tartan boxers please?!) 

                       
I'd been eyeing up this shirt in New Look for ages but couldn't really justify buying *another* checked shirt. However, with 20% off I couldn't resist. Similarly, I've been wanting to read Gotham City Sirens for ages, but with it costing £18.99 in Travelling Man in Newcastle I couldn't really justify that either. Being a huge bookworm, finding out that Waterstones was offering 20% off books was like finding out Christmas had come early...that was until my mam told me I didn't need any more books. Knowing that she'd probably kill me if I came home with a bag of books while she knew fine well that I have a whole stack still to read at home, I limited myself to one *sob*. Thankfully, all she said was 'I don't know where this has come from, you never used to be interested in superheroes' so I figure I'm off the hook! 


Finally, although I didn't tehnically buy these at the student night I wanted to post about them anyway because I really like the photo I took of them. My go to jeans at the minute are Topshop's Jamie jeans, after I couldn't find a pair of their Leigh jeans to fit like the ones I bought in Leeds last year. I already own a black pair, but all of my blue jeans seem to be on their last legs (ahem). So I chose these Jamie jeans from Topshop in the Bridges a couple of days before the student event. I think I'm yet to find my perfect jeans but for now these are my favourites.  

Being my last student lock in, I'm quite glad I chose the Metrocentre over, say, The Bridges or Eldon Square.  Although I would have enjoyed it better if I'd been able to go with my boyfriend or friends, I was pleased with what I got, and I think I was quite restrained compared to some people I saw on the night - I do have to save for my trip to London you know! But anyway, to anyone that is currently or soon to be a student, I would totally recommend attending a student lock in at some point during your time at uni. There are some brilliant discounts to be found, which means you don't have to spend a fortune if you don't want to.











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