Burberry Prorsum S/S11 Womenswear

So, lucky me, I won a ticket through my school to go see the Burberry Prorsum Womenswear show. I was so excited for my first real fashion show that I spent the day before trying to think of what to wear, and shopping for said outfit. After much deliberation, I finally settled on a nude-rose kind of shift dress from Top Shop, but once I got to the show it really didn't matter. Nobody cared what I was wearing (except, obviously, for me) when there was a room full of fashionistas who were far more interesting and famous than myself. It was fantastic. Let me paint an image of what I experienced at the show...

The Before

I arrive in the enormous queue of people waiting to get in, and there are ticket checkers every two meters to prevent any gatecrashers. The room is all white, with a glossy black catwalk and a mirrored Burberry pattern on the backdrop. When I get inside, I'm herded to the back of the room with all of the other standing ticket holders. Apparently, I wasn't the only nobody concerned with what I would wear, the room was full of die hard fashion fans and bloggers who haven't reached Tav'i fame, especially the standing row were I was placed. Let me tell you, they all cared what they were wearing. Never have I seen such a big place filled with so many well dressed people. Not to mention the amount of designer bags, big sunglasses (in a very dim room), and crackberry addicts--I include myself in the last. Watching the crowd was definitely worth arriving a few minutes early for. As I looked around, waiting for the show to begin, I noticed that most eyes in the room are on the coveted front row seats and the people filling them. Most were editors, some were celebrities whom I failed to recognize but overheard people whisper about, and of course there was Anna Wintour. I froze a bit when I saw her. Apparently I missed out on catching a glimpse of both Sarah Jessica Parker and Alexa Chung, for which I am very disappointed.

The Show

The lights dim, the whispers stop, glitter falls, and the heavily emo music starts. The models start walking out. To start, the models wear neutral beige trench coats, biker jackets and leather trousers with pops of orange, sky blue, and lime green accessories. The coats and trousers are very motorcycle inspired with quilted detailing. One in particular caught my attention, it was a mid length beige classic trench with quilted and patent leather sleeves, and I wanted it. Then we saw a few vividly coloured dresses and skirts. A model wearing one of them had the worst walk I have ever seen. It was shocking, I couldn't figure out what she was doing. It was as if her shoes were two sizes too big, and four inches too high, and she was trying desperately to keep them on her feet while staying upright. I soon realized that there must have been a problem with the shoes, as two models took their shoes off mid walk, one model tripped, and the poor girl with the awful walk took a tragic nose dive just seconds before being off the runway at the very end of the show. Pity, I was really rooting for her, and she came so close. The pieces at the end of the show were kind of romantic/rock and roll. Softer colours, more textured fabric, with a rock and roll edge in the form of a leather jacket or a trench coat with studded sleeves. The show was full of classics with a very modern twist. It was the Jetsons, motorcycle jackets, embellished trench coats, neutrals, bright colours, and a dose of animal print for good measure. Yet with all of the variety the show still maintained a sense of uniform.

After

The lights turned on, and people started filing out. This part took forever, as there were paparazzi crowding every exit. I saw Fashion Television doing some interviews on the way out, and I got so excited that I had to resist from jumping in front of the camera and saying "What up Canada?!" Thankfully, I did not, it would have been really embarrassing for me. All in all, it was a great show, my first time was special! It did make me question how well-suited I am to work in the industry though; for a bunch of people who love fashion, and who I heard say good things as the show was ending, I've never seen so many seemingly unimpressed people before. I don't think I'm cool enough for this!

Model fall at the end of the show. Photo by Ben Stansall, afp/ getty images