Letting My True Fashion Colours Shine Courtesy Of Intu Metro Centre Fashion Live 15

Although I don't post that many outfit of the days or style posts anymore I still consider myself at least in part to be a fashion blogger. Although my blogs not as fashion focused as maybe it once was, I've been obsessed with clothing and accessories for as long as I can remember, and despite my unwillingness to share too many pictures of myself at the moment, nothing has really changed.

For someone who loves fashion and likes to write about it, one of the most exciting things that you can possibly do is to attend a fashion show. Like any true fashionista I would love to attend one of the big shows like Chanel in Paris, or Prada in Milan, even if I was at the very back, behind the cleaners! Dreams, dreams, dreams! we should all have them, but it's best to start small and this week I had my first, proper, fashion show experience, and even though I didn't have the opportunity to schmooze with Posh and Becks, and Kim and Kanye I still had a fabulous time.

On Wednesday night I attended an exclusive VIP Blogger Preview of Intu Metro Centre's Fashion Live Event 2015. The theme of this years event is colour - colouring yourself fabulous and finding ways to integrate more colour into your wardrobe is the way to go for Spring / Summer 2015.

With cocktails, wine, vodka shots and nibbles on hand, and selfies being taken, we really did feel like VIP's or should I say VIB's (Very Important Bloggers) as we were allowed past the cordons, and directed to take our seats on the fabulous, multi coloured FROW.

Yes I did say FROW, to be fair we all did get front row seats, but it still added a touch of excitement to the occasion and no doubt numerous tweets and instagram pics of us all shouting "I'm on FROW" I was so busy settling into my front row seat that I forget to take a picture of it so thanks to Intu Metro Centre for this Picture. ( you can find out more on  about what's on the seats later ;)

Once we were all seated we were introduced to out compere for the evening,  BBC Radio Newcastle presenter, and all round fashionista Anna Foster, who was bedecked in a new Spring Summer skirt courtesy of Top Shop and a cute biker jacket and top combo courtesy of House Of Fraser. After a short chat in which she praised the influence of blogging and You Tube, we had a general introduction to the event and found out a little bit more about the work of Centrepoint. 

Following on from the success of their empty shop campaign last year (read my post here) Intu Metro Centre have teamed up again with Centrepoint, which is the leading charity for homeless young people in the UK, for The Big Intu Clothes Drop Campaign. All you need to do is head down to Intu Metro Centre before 29th March and donate your own, pre loved items - a perfect opportunity to have a clear out and to help someone less fortunate at the same time x

Next on stage was Intu Metro Centre Stylist Michaela Dale. Michaela is one of the centres stylists and a member of their personal shopping  and style team. If your in a style rut, you want to integrate colour into your wardrobe or you're shopping for a special event or occasion then you can book either a one on one session with Michaela or one of the team for £15 an hour. or if there are several of you, you can sign up for a group session with champagne and nibbles. I think this a great idea, they are completely impartial and you have every single store in the centre at your disposal.

After a small interval for wine and macarons in my case, it was time for the main event, the fashion show, involving several of the centres most fashionable stores, showcasing some of their spring and summer collections. Both watching and photographing a live catwalk show is really new to me, but all I'll say is I have a renewed respect for professional photographers - this is not an easy task and I think it requires a bit of practise.

First to the catwalk was Superdry, Superdry took over the old Primark store, in Red Mall, and they are well known for their sporty, casual male and female fashions. As you would expect there was lots of bright colours and casual looks, but I have to admit I was surprised by the pretty, Lace Meadow Skirt that you can see on the model on the right. Very girly, and perfect for summer and smarter occasions but styled here in quite a casual way, that would be perfect for a festival .

Next up was Top Shop and Top Man, this is probably the worst picture in this post but I couldn't not include it. Despite the colour theme of the event, they show cased a lot of mono chromes and muted tones. The models outfit on the far left was probably one of my favourites of the night, The cropped top, jacket, and heels were in such a contrast to the almost utilitarian khaki joggers. Although I can't get into a Top Shop, size 16 at the moment I'm very, very tempted to buy these and try to slim into them!

French Connection were the next store to showcase, and although I know longer fall into their size range I love browsing in their concessions and in their Red Mall store. This was probably my favourite presentation of the night. Patterned trousers again are a big look and I loved the pleats, and the vibrant turquoise shades, perfect for when you have a tan. It was a hard choice but the Isla Rippled Flare Dress below was probably my favourite item, and I love how is was styled and how it looked on the model.

One of the biggest department stores in Intu Metro Centre is House Of Fraser. With lots of different brands to choose from and concessions under the one roof, it must have been hard to choose just four outfits to showcase the entire stores Spring / Summer offerings but I think they managed it. The coloured shirt trend is here to stay and bright colours, and clashing prints are as strong as ever in 2015. My highlight though had to be the black, v back embellished BIBA dress. This looked even more stunning in real life, and it goes up to a size 20, if only I had an occasion to wear it and a spare £135.

Another one of the Metro Centre's more designer lead stores is Tessuti, selling brands ranging from Ted Baker, to Michael Kors, Vivienne Westwood and Armani. They showcased a range of smart casual menswear, and some show stopping dress including animal and floral prints, and tassel's

From designer to high street and the next presentation was courtesy of Warehouse. Black never goes away and nowadays its perfectly acceptable to wear black in the summer. The split leg and side jumpsuit was fabulous, and again I love the bright colours and pleats but my highlight was the floral jacquard dress that you can see below. Perfect for a wedding or any special occasion this is another dress that looks better in the flesh.

The final presentation of the night came from high street favourite, River Island. Colour was largely absent again as monochromes and khakis dominated. My highlight here was definitely the khaki jumpsuit,  and the jumpsuit is one trend that I intend to embrace this year

After a model finale, some competition winners and a few rounds of applause it was all over, and it was time, to pick up our goodie bags and head on our way. On our seats like in all good fashion shows was a goodie bag full of fabulous samples, courtesy of House Of Fraser, including some Clinique and Decleor items that I will be reviewing for you as well as some Dior, Molton Brown, and Guerlain.

Also on our seats was a lovely, specially commissioned notebook, and a pencil courtesy of notepds, which featured the bloggers mantra "Eat Shop Blog"

As well as these lovely goodies we also received another canvas goodie bag from Intu Metro Centre and some of the other event sponsors including Hello Fashion.

This lovely bag contained some more lovely samples, and lots of promotional material, pens, a nail polish and nail files, as well as the latest issue of Hello Fashion.

I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved in the event for the invitation, I had a really fun evening and it was nice to feel a bit like a VIP or VIB. If you're in the Metro Centre this weekend, Intu Metro Centre Fashion Live 15 runs until Sunday 29th March, so head to towns square, to take some selfies for a chance with a £500 prize (see my grumpy attempt above) , to donate to Centrepoint  and of course to have your own FROW experience and see how you can let your true colours shine by visiting one of the 4 fashions shows on Saturday and 3 on Sunday. 

My one regret was that the catwalk show didn't include any plus size models or anyone as chubby as me but never mind after my fashion overload I'm certainly feeling a little bit more inspired so who knows maybe some more fashion posts and some OOTD's will be in the offing soon x  Are you a fashion fiend? Have you been inspired to wear more colour this season? Leave me a comment and let me know x