BFW Spindle Show

If Brighton Fashion Week’s Couture show celebrated all things weird and wonderful and the Ready-to-Wear collections trend-led, everyday style, then Spindle magazine’s picks fit snugly to plug fashion's middle ground.

Oops! Fashion’s Lycra monochrome jumpsuit, geometric-print puff shoulders, capes and hoods were out-there, yet deconstructed wouldn’t look out of place in any of the summer’s self-consciously cool nu-rave festival tents.



Dig For Victory’s colour block body con dresses weren’t dissimilar to the many Herve Leger bandage dress inspired pieces that have graced the catwalk and high-street over the past year. However, the one-off pieces, created from vintage fabrics, indulged in more fashion fun as the show went on – the satin and velvet 'Red Riding Hood meets French maid' dress would be a dream for any dress-up box.



Charlotte Haggerty’s monochrome numbers used feathers and ruffles in much the same way as Flik Hall had demonstrated the night before, but also employed more pedestrian styling to create wearable yet captivating ensembles. This collection was all about taking a mix-and-match approach to fashion, keeping the colours simple but using contrasting panels and clashing prints and textures and adding details such bows and lace leggings to create a striking eclectic effect.



Finally, Brett Le Bratt’s menswear collection created hybrid fashions, merging Hawaiian surfer-dude prints with yachting-set deck style and adding an Edwardian and military edge to the boho artist look, in each case producing ensembles that were sharp, classic and fun.



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BFW Fashion Fair and Fifties fest

As part of the BFW Ready-to-Wear Shows, The Corn Exchange was once again transformed into a fashion fair, with stalls selling independent-designer clothes, accessories and shoes.



Among the highlights was Creme Nouveau's biscuit brooches and necklaces, Hatastic's domino brooches and leather bow hair-bands, MA Jewellery's vintage-inspired trinkets and Now, Voyager's ecclectic mix of brightly-coloured hair accessories and knitted goodies.


Highlighting the current obsession for all things vintage, there were more second-hand stalls than there were those selling original designer pieces, with some gorgeous Fifties-lace swing dresses, leather bags and retro-print cushions on offer.


Always up for a bit of bargain-hunting, I picked up a pair of Fiorelli speckled oversized sunglasses in a Pierre Cardin glasses case for just 50p, a navy leather belt for £2 and an Eighties' Betty Barclay dress for just £10. Score.



My finds added to the freebies I'd already received in the above-average goodie bag - given out to the first 100 people through the door - which included polka dot bow studs from Miss Funkystuff, a L'Oreal hair treatment sample, 20% off voucher for Warehouse, Irregular Choice bag (the only use for which would be to carry wine bottles to a party) and a copy of new magazine Spindle, which celebrates emerging creative talent and features the beautiful Laura Nixon on the cover.


After the fair, and the Spindle and first Ready-to-Wear shows, my friends and I chose The Dorset's 'Feel the '50s' event from the Fashion Through The Decades venues around the city, where we enjoyed a pint to the sounds of a live Rockabilly band, and a hairdresser creating quiffs, as well as the swing dresses, hair scarves, tattoos and denim turn-ups, proved plenty to admire.


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