Outfit Post: Non-LFW Street Style

Confession: I shot this outfit a month ago and saved it to run during London Fashion Week. I love the rhythm I’ve gotten into work my blog, posting a weekly outfit post at the beginning of the week and wanted to continue this while I was busy at the shows. As an old-school blogger, I’m at the shows in a serious capacity, to report on the collections and everything I see rather than focusing on what I’m wearing and having a semi-annual blogger catch up.

However, things didn’t quite go to plan this season. Earlier in the week, I launched a brand I’ve been working on for the past 6 months and I was utterly exhausted. Not exhausted in that “I’m so glad Monday is over” way, actual exhaustion. The vision going blurry, headaches for days, insomnia kind of exhaustion. The late nights and continued lack of sleep caught up with me and I physically could not drag myself in for the shows.

Honestly, I’m disappointed in myself but sometimes, your health needs to come first. In London, we make a massive deal of being busy and overworked, wearing it like a badge of honour but there’s nothing great about working yourself into the ground. Instead of running around in the cold for 12 hours a day, I spent LFW holed up in my room sleeping and it was the best decision I could have made. The impact of digital on fashion week means you don’t *technically* need to be there; with live streaming and images being emailed across immediately post-show, you can be there without being there.

What isn’t captured in the live stream and images is the *excitement*. The queuing and running around, especially as a blogger aka one-person publishing team, is exhausting and dull. But once you’ve taken your seat in the show space, the excitement is electric. The hum of chatter, PRs rushing to get everyone seated, the booming music subtly setting the tone for the show. It all adds to the frisson of excitement that can’t quite be conveyed without being there.

The other element of fashion week that can’t be faked is what’s going on in the streets. Street style is as influential as the clothes going down the runway, arguably more so. It’s given birth to countless photographers, influencers, books and bloggers. In the early days, before Garance Dore, Phil Oh and Tommy Ton were shooting campaigns, street style was a candid, almost voyeuristic peek into someone’s sartorial world. Street style is a lot more contrived, often planned meticulously weeks in advance but it’s still as fascinating to see how pieces are put together.

This brings us full circle, to a look I shot weeks before the shows. It wasn’t really even supposed to be a street style look, I just happened to be wearing the outfit as we strolled past a graffiti-filled street and it all just came together. I think that’s when the best looks are pulled together, a little spontaneously rather than overthought and diligently planned until there’s nearly no impulsive flair left. Let’s keep a little joy in dressing.