Ok people, have your sick bags at the ready. You have been warned. The Only Jeans Fashion Blogger Event was a serious fashion extravaganza in the most surreal sense of the word. Debriefing will happen in three stages – the only way to relay some of the magic of the trip. First we’ll go from airport to hotel to a whirlwind tour of the streets of Copenhagen. The second post will be about the ‘science part’ – the presentations, the blogging salon and the Only Jeans brand. And the final part – the piece de resistance – will be the fashion shoot on the final day. Hold onto your knickers people.
So, thought it might be a nice idea to start with the contents of my handbag. What does one bring to an international fashion blogging event? Why fashion dahlink! No, that’s a lie. I knew I had a longish trip ahead of me so I decided to be super practical and bring some prolific reading material – London Fields by Martin Amis (something light you know?) and a Guardian Guide to the Football Premiership (after my induction to the World Cup this year, I have decided to surrender myself to a football team I can loyally support. So much to learn, so little time…) I also had Grazia for some fashion swotting, although admittedly I was absorbed by the ‘Brad Cheating on Angelina Allegations’. I also had sunnies and an umbrella, as Copenhagen can suffer the same schizophrenic weather moods as Ireland. All of this neatly ensconced in my metallic D+G bag that never, ever goes out of fashion. Below you can see my delightful pink laptop case – one part Legally Blonde, two parts Fashion Blogger. I wore my beautiful Malene Birger dress and my black Peter O’Brien blazer (acquired for €25 on sale in A/Wear many years ago).
Flight was a bit up, a bit down and very round and round…lots of turbulence and delay because of the wind. Was collected by the lovely Briggitta at 12am brandishing a huge sign with my name on it. That quite possibly was the hi-light of my trip. Everybody wants a personalized sign when they stride purposefully through the Arrivals gate…right? Arrived at the Fox Hotel where I was put up in room 114 – Urban Views. Basically, I felt like I had been inserted into the Where The Wild Things Are set. The room was set up like a forest with branches and leaves and little earthy illustrations dotted all over the walls.
Check out the lifts – pretty awesome. It was like a little piece of Berlin as an elevator art installation. I’m not being pushy like, but WHY has nobody nicked this idea yet in Dublin?
And so to the shopping – we really only had a whirlwind glimpse of the city as our schedule was tightly packed. In a nutshell though, Copenhagen just drips with creativity. All the shop fronts and interiors are loaded with vibrant ideas and ingenious merchandising. Equal consideration seems to be given to the the idea of Shop-As-Art-Space and Shop-As-Retail Space. Which is quite cunning really – you’re lured in by all the bright lights and effervescent colours, and then WHAM BAM THANK YOU MAM – the clothing beseeches you to take them home and all of a sudden you have a number of purchases on your hands and you’re out the door. How do Copenhageners dress? Cutting edge minimalism on the whole. Lots of layering, voluminous shapes, lots of textures – suede, denim, leather, wool – with subtle studding and chain-mail details to ramp up the edge factor. Shoes are a big feature and sturdy, moody, stacked wedges were everywhere. The guys have a little more fun, with big, boisterous watches, dungarees, peaked racer caps and technicolor skate-boards. Everyone cycles. It’s not a choice, it’s a mandate. And the cycling does not infringe on style at all. Women still don their 6 inch platforms and the suited and booted arrive in their minimal Mad Men style, virtually wrinkle free. No idea how they do it, think it’s in the DNA. We certainly don’t get away with such effortless cycle chic here in Ireland.
Copenhagen Part 2 to follow…
