My Saturday’s usually consist of getting up early and heading to work or wandering up to Primrose Hill for a lazy afternoon. However, this weekend took a slightly different turn as I was very kindly invited to my first ever fashion soirée. I was headed to the Drift Bar in London for the Bloggers Boutique event held by Shore, Amy and Shope. As it was a sweltering hot day and I had to contend with a busy afternoon rush on the tube in 35 degree heat, it was only fitting that I wore something cool. So I put on my Topshop crochet dress with leopard print wedges and my Zara Shopper, along with jewellery from Reiss.
Scarlett London’s Fashion Writer Rachel Dixon (left) with fellow blogger Monyka Young
After arriving at Liverpool Street thinking I had the journey to the Drift Bar sussed I couldn’t have been more wrong. After wandering down Bishopgate several times and receiving strange looks from builders and passers by I began frantically tweeting, ‘@blogsboutique I’m lost by Houndstitch St looking for the Drift Bar please help!’. Eventually, after ten minutes of walking past the location (twice), I looked up at some nearby scaffolding and found the venue. It was quite an unusual choice of venue for such an event, as unlike other boutique type occurences it wasn’t held in a dingy dark conference room in a hotel but a bright airy space with a mini aquarium and floor to ceiling glass panes which allowed the beautiful weather to flood into the room!
As it was my first event, I was quite nervous about meeting new people but once I walked around the room and introduced myself, it was easy to get along with everyone as we all had our amazing surroundings to talk about! After a short introduction from Shore, Shope and Amy we were treated to a tutorial by My Face Cosmetics who showed us how to create a ‘sexy evening look.’ She made it look so simple (although the model was naturally stunning anyway) and used summery shades of blush and royal blue eye shadow shades finish off the look. My favourite talk was from the lovely guys at Filthy Gorgeous who were so informative when it came to all things beauty! From lashes to ‘Tiger Print’ nails to the amazing Lip Tar (which I was given a sample of), they discussed in vast detail what their products do for clients and how we can emulate this same process at home!
The rest of the day was scheduled with some great talks including Internacionale and the Motel girls who even gave us a sneak peek at future collections, which you can view below. As well as telling us the brand’s inspiration behind some of the designs. My favourite item had to be the neon union jack flag dress (no guesses for the inspiration behind that design) which the PR girls at Motel announced they will be wearing at the Jubilee – so watch out for them! I also loved a beautiful 50’s style red swimsuit with really cute ruffles that are guaranteed to make any girl look glamorous on the beach!
The venue itself was spectacular and the food was no different. Picking the perfect choice of the ‘Duck Club’ made with raisin bread and included egg and bacon strips made it officially as the best sandwich I’ve ever had.
Bloggers enjoying the Bloggers Boutique Event – including Lily from llymlrs & Zoe from London Lipgloss!
The layout of the Drift Bar made it really easy for bloggers like myself to navigate round each section, which was handy as there was so much to take in! The Filthy Gorgeous Stall was one of my favourites, as they had a fantastic array of beauty goodies as well as the Lauren’s Way stall – as I hadn’t previously had a chance to try Lauren Goodger’s famous tanning treats – which give a very natural looking tan and don’t give off the tell tale tanning smell. After wandering around all the fabulous stands and speaking to fellow bloggers, it was time to get our final talk from Sue Moxley, founder of Famous cosmetics and former Beauty Editor of The Sun (who brought along her I’m A Celeb husband David Van Day for moral support). She gave some really useful advice on how to break into the beauty industry and talked about her amazing career which was very insightful!
Overall the event was fantastic and the only thing I could fault it on was that there wasn’t long enough to chat to everybody! The food was great, the venue was amazing and the goody bag was fabulous! Packed to the brim with goodies from Laurens Way, Filthy Gorgeous and Betty Hula it was definitely the mother of all goody bags! It also included some incredible discounts to some fantastic brands!
I can’t thank the organisers enough for having me along the event, and I hope it will be the first of many!
