NE1's NFW: Rox Royalty VIP Event

Last night the place to be was certainly the Thrill Room at Rox, Monument Mall as Newcastle's fashion elite gathered for the last VIP event of NE1's Newcastle Fashion Week 2014. The night was one of glorious cocktails by The Cocktail Project, canapes by Cafe Royal and luxurious pampering from Malmaison Newcastle. Forever Long Hair stylists and Nails Inc. nail artists were treating guests to makeovers and manicures and Melissa Bailey was sketching fabulous fashion portraits for the evening's VIP. NE1's Newcastle Fashion Week's official florist had provided beautiful floral decorations which perfectly suited the soft grey velvet sofas and mirrored interior of Rox's Thrill Room. The Rox jewellery is gorgeous, too, and I have picked out quite a few pieces that I really want to own (hint - it's my birthday soon...)!

I was lucky enough to have Melissa Bailey sketch my fashion portrait and it was brilliant; she's made me look like a skinny supermodel. What more could one ask for? As for my outfit, I decided to go for an almost entirely Topshop ensemble with only my River Island shoes being the only exception. I bought this orange bag from Topshop earlier in the week as a post-deadline treat to myself and I love it. It's going with me everywhere. All the time.

We chatted to some bloggers who were there and I also managed to speak to the Editor of Luxe Magazine about getting into journalism. (Networking points for me!) As we left, feeling rather indulged, we were handed a Rox goodie bag containing creme from Malmaison, Sir John Fitzgerald macaroons, Paul Mitchell haircare and many lovely discount vouchers. It was such a fabulous evening and it's safe to say that NE1's Newcastle Fashion Week 2014 has been a resounding success; I'm just sad that it's over! I already can't wait to see what next year's Newcastle Fashion Week has in store!

DYO Pre Launch Party: NE1's NFW Fringe Event

Yesterday I had yet another fantastic afternoon at a fringe event for NE1's Newcastle Fashion Week 2014. My flatmate and I went along to the DYO Fabulous Jewellery's pre-launch party, which was certainly a success. Hosted at Nancy's Bordello near Newcastle's Quayside, we were surrounded by displays of DYO jewellery; there were rose quartz and turquoise statement necklaces (to name but a few) and every table in the room was adorned with more gorgeous semi-precious jewels on bracelets and rings. As we arrived, the DYO team greeted bloggers and guests with glasses of wine, delicious cupcakes and cucumber sandwiches.

Launching this year in July, DYO Fabulous Jewellery is a unique high-fashion web functionality tool. (This sounds very complicated, but in reality it really isn't.) The concept is to provide a fantastic new bespoke jewellery service for the fashion concious. There's more; DYO's new web interface will bring a unique Design Your Own tool where the client can click and drag beads, chains and pendants onto a template as they create their own jewellery. Janet, the Founder of DYO, gave a talk about the company in which she emphasised the importance of caring about where your jewellery comes from. The reality of where and how high street jewellery is made is far from glamourous. All of the DYO jewellery components are ethically sourced; Janet has met all of her suppliers around the world, from the Phillipines to China, and she promotes unique artisan crafts by using small suppliers and beads made from recycled materials.

With the DYO bespoke utility extending to offering an upcyling service of pre-loved jewellery (say, your grandmother's pearl necklace) and a colour-matching tool so that your outfit is complete, DYO will be able to meet your specific requests with ease. There really isn't anything I can say to fault DYO's concept, especially as all of the jewellery is made in Newcastle. DYO employ people in Newcastle and support small suppliers around the world, making their jewellery entirely ethical and unique. As for accessibility, Janet gave a live demonstration of their web interface, which will be made live in July, and it looked very easy to use.

After Janet's talk, we all drank some more wine and had a look at the jewellery on display before being seated for a jewellery making masterclass. We all chose our beads and chains with the aim of creating a princess pendant necklace. The girl next to me made her necklace in what seemed like seconds while I dropped beads on the floor and generally made a mess. After some help and advice I managed to make a lovely dark blue and grey necklace (which I am super proud of), however it's safe to say that I'll be sticking to the writing and leave the jewellery making to the experts. The masterclass was really fun and everyone came up with such different designs which, I guess, demonstrated the value of DYO's Design Your Own service; we all created something unique and to our own style - we were able to have exactly what we liked in a necklace. It was a fabulous afternoon and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for DYO Fabulous Jewellery.