Tis the Season to be.......Fabulous Darling!!

The ultimate in British designers, creative’s, supermodels and supernovas all turned out in their finest glad rags to strut their 'thang' last Wednesday at the British Fashion Awards 2009 held at the Royal Courts of Justice. Fortunately with my new job at the British Fashion Council (cough name drop cough!*) I...5"2, Elle F, brought up in the depths of the fields in Shropshire, had in fact acquired a personal invite!!! To work rather than play...but none the less, a total Charlie Bucket moment - being handed my golden ticket to the Fashion Factory!

On my short lunch break, merely hours before the event (along with other errands to run...as all us women have!) I had to find THE dress that was not only suitable for the purposes of the red carpet but one which would help aid any of the gorgeous & eligible men attending the event in deciding that they would in fact happily settle down with a fashion and press assistant! Tough decision! Unfortunately, James Corden was the only man to arrive with his own arm as a date! My life wasn’t to be entirely fulfilled but atleast we would laugh, alot! With my purse screaming for help, as the 13,000 pennies flew out at the counter of French Connection, I finally found it.

 (Source: BFA website)

Thrown completely in at the deep end with clipboard to hand, I quickly found myself in 'The Zone' telling the oversized and definitely outspoken Paparazzi to....pipe down luv! At 7pm sharp, I started to assist the first of the guests down the red carpet. Jerry Hall and daughter Georgia May Jagger (who won supermodel of the year after creating an incredible cover for Vogue in Sept at only 17) were the first to arrive, followed by the likes of Kate Moss, Phillip Green, Eva Herzigova, Daisy Lowe, Erin O'Conner, Christopher Kane, Claudia Schiffer, Henry Holland, Grace Coddington, Joan Burstein, Twiggy, Pixie Geldof Christopher Bailey (who was extremely lovely and humble as he snapped up 2 of the most prestigious awards of the night; Designer of the Year and Designer Brand) and the FaBuLoUs VB Queen herself...looking as per...immaculate and vaguely doll-esq in one of her own designs...even with the insane numbers of screaming fans and Paparazzi, whose camera bulbs were set to explode in overheating with the intensity and repetition of the flashes! Finally, firecracker herself, Dame Vivienne Westwood arrived at half 9 and her infectious and curious aura was instantly felt by all those who surrounded her.

After the beautifully cooked duck, presentation of the awards, press and TV interviews, finally the clock struck 1am and each Cinderella was one-by-one, escorted out of the building by their large, bald, rather unattractive Prince's/Bodyguards as the Pap’s waited in hope/desperation to snap the 'C' List drunkard who was unable to control their Moet intake. Fortunately for us, they never got their shot! (..we snuck them out the back!!! Joke!)

* Moment of the Night: The beautiful Nadja Swarovski (whose prestigious brand sponsored the event) complimented my...hair band..as she growled “Beautiful Darrrrrrrrling”! Claim to fame if ever I’ve heard one!

After an extremely long and magical night, crawling into bed for 4am, my only souvenir of the evening was a bit of sparkle dust off the Red Carpet that snuck into the crevice of my shoe. Ironically, I now can’t find one of those shoes which makes me wonder that maybe there is hope for a fashionable fairytale ending for those people the 'wrong' side of the Pap’s camera!