What to be, when backstage at Fashion Week

Last week, I put my 9-5 job on hold for two days, to take on the role as an #NZFW Backstage Blogger. My sartorial dreams came true as I interviewed designers and their glam squads, sneakily touched the clothes on the dressing racks and sat in the back, middle and front(!) rows at New Zealand Fashion Week. In those whirlwind 48 hours, which felt like forever, I found myself dazed and confused, shy and little, then fab and articulate. Although I was backstage, I definitely wasn’t “in”, and it was a little bit daunting being surrounded by so many industry greats. Somewhere between hour 2 and 4, after a few sweats and shivers (so not #fashion, I know), I gave myself a wee pep-talk, pushed forward and wrote a reminders list.

Fashionably late: the tale of Karen and me

Being a new girl at an all-girls’-school was where I met Karen: last name Walker, and of the fashion persuasion. Five years of high schooling opened my eyes to the world of Walker, as I was literally going to school in it: ‘Karen Walker’s School for Young Ladies’ would have us aptly named. As the years went on, the amount of mini bow earrings, love heart rings and daisy diamante bracelets amongst us almost outshone our academic scores. By our last day of high school, we had enough silver to fashion a life-size Runaway Girl monument and enough KW tees and jerseys for her to wear a different outfit every day of the year.

That one night, at the Theatre of Fashion

Fashion has always been a passion of mine, and I know many of you can relate. As a young girl, I owned 3 barbie dolls and 5 outfits between them. When I decided that they needed to stop committing the crime of outfit repetition and copycatting, I took to the scissors, scrap fabric and sewing needles and made up my own mini ensembles. As I grew older, I advanced into a sewing machine and made more mess than I did as a child. I made myself two ball dresses and a few skirts, cushion covers, curtains and aprons (as well as started a countless number of other projects!)