A couple of weeks ago, I was given the incredible opportunity to shoot a London Fashion Week promo with a new couture dress designer. Since I started my blog, I’ve been granted some amazing and wonderful experiences – but the whole shooting thing is still very new to me – and I’ve really been enjoying getting creative and working with fashion brands. So, my answer was an immediate yes. Even more so after I visited the designers showroom in the heart of Soho, where I fell in love with one dress in particular.
The designer in question was the beautiful Jody Bell – who I had the pleasure of meeting in person at the first fitting. Based in Spain, her stunning dresses have a Mediterranean feel – with silky fabrics and signature style bell sleeves – all available in a plethora of pastel colours. Described as ‘red carpet’ ready, her first capsule collection was launched on March 1st – and features a number of garments that can be very easily dressed up or down. Just a quick browse of her gorgeous designs will transport you to visions of being on holiday – which in my opinion, can only be a good thing.
Couture dresses often conquer up images of wacky, unique designs that are completely unaccessible to the average women, so I was really pleasantly surprised to see how Jody has made each item her own style – while still maintaining wearability.
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The dress I fell head over heels with was this silky number – complete with a matching bag (which hasn’t left my side – as you can see from this outfit post). After trying on the sample dress, Jody made me my very own to keep after the shoot, which absolutely made my year, as I don’t think I’ve ever owned something so beautiful before – let alone something that had been made especially for me!
On the shoot day itself, we explored Soho with a lens (or several – to be precise) – and filmed a number of different clips for the promotional advert – which was to feature DJ’s The Glitter Beats and fellow blogger Nixalina, as well as myself. It was such a lovely experience – from start to finish, as often shoots can be quite intimidating when there’s a big crew involved, but this one felt like making a bunch of new friends, as we all had lots of fun along the way. Candy who did my make-up and hair was absolutely amazing – keeping me warm in between takes with a big coat (although it looks sunny, it was freezing on the day) and Dean was so encouraging about the shots that I couldn’t help but break into a smile (so all smiles are real!).
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It was a very surreal experience, as behind the scenes, we had about four people taking photographs and filming on different cameras and another with a huge light reflector. Passers-by either looked very bewildered or stopped to take photographs of what was happening on their phones!
I was delighted to take home my beautiful dress – which I also wore for a show at London Fashion Week this season – but I think I’ll need another special occasion to justify whipping it out of my wardrobe (if anyone has a red carpet event, I’m so ready). I’m hoping to be working with Jody Bell again in the near future on another exciting collaboration, so watch this space!
And in the meantime, if you want to get lost in a world of incredible dresses – you know where to look…
London Fashion Week 2016 Jody Bell Film from Jody Bell on Vimeo.
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