Vau Vau

Vau Vau looked set to be a blast and it did not disappoint. It was a loving celebration of all things fashion.

Photo by Danielle Jaques

My boyfriend, Jay (Waste of Ink) had a stall showcasing his graffiti artwork, Stacey (Eustratia) had a stall also featuring Richard Aryes chain mail jewellery and loads of my model friends were featured in the show as well as walking myself.

We started the day in our usual whirl wind of chaos arriving late to the hair dressers. This some how ended up with me getting pushed to the back of the que and I ended up having to wait a few hours in a nearby cafe. As a solid believer of DIY and avoiding the hair dressers wherever possible I was suitably impressed with the line of catwalk quality hair emerging from Rebel Pin Up. Perhaps it was the tattooed clad stylists or the gigantic gold mirrors but I was quite excited but the time my turn came. I could even be persuaded to visit there in future if I ever felt a trip to the hair salon was absolutely necessary. Check out their website for more info http://www.rebelpinup.co.uk/.

Rebel Pin Up

The event was held in the beautiful leftbank church in Leeds which we spent the majority of the day shivering in. By the time I eventually arrived back from the hairdressers most of Stacey's and Jay's stalls were set up so I spent a large amount of the afternoon socialising with the other models and feeling smug that I brought a wealth of cardigans, jumpers and coats to combat the chilly temperature.

The church just after we arrived

Jay and his stall

Rik and Charlotte

The Eustratia stall 

In the show there would be a mix of vintage attire and boutique designers along with the extravagant finale from Eustratia. 

The rehearsals for the show were fun. For the first few shows it was a simple walk down and straight back. However for the Eustratia show the choreography was a little more complicated. We went through it all quite a few times just before the doors opened, till everyone was satisfied we knew what to do. The music for the show (writting by Dave Abbot) had separate parts for each set of characters and even I was impressed that the walk timed perfectly with each section. The music fitted really well with the show and it must have been catchy because it was in my head for the rest of the week. My character was a queen and along with Stacey we were the last pair down, this involved wielding an oversized paper fan which was the only thing I ended up being nervous about. 

Toria going through the walk

Charlotte and Stacey 

 Sophie Adamson Art & Accessories had a beautiful stall

Toria in her custom Eustratia pink antlers

 My Rebel Pin Up hair

Laura was a deer in the show

Jay painting a spray can

(my pictures are half black from this point on as I accidentally opened the case before winding the film back)

I never actually ended up having chance to look through all the stalls, as I was caught up with helping with the show. I even somehow managed to be the last model in line for the start as I disappeared to the toilet while unbeknownst to me Toria ran around looking for me. I must have not been paying attention to the start time while I was casually queuing to use the loo, as Charlotte bust in and insisted I jump to the front, followed by Toria whom informed me everyone was ready but me.

I love the pre-show mix of adrenaline, nerves and excitement. It isn't like a lot of other things I've experienced, probably because I'm far to terrified to go on roller coasts and avoid as many painful pursuits as possible. If there was a reason to walk in a show again it would definitely be this along with sharing the experience with so many lovely, down to earth girls. It is something special sharing the wait with singing, dancing, excited, giggling girls.

My vintage outfit by Wildchild Media

Charlotte did my favourite pose! By Arlen Specter

Verity & Beth by Arlen Specter

Ezra by Arlen Specter

Helen Peta Storey by Arlen Specter

Me by Arlen Specter

Beth (not sure who took this ?)

Stacey by Arlen Specter

I can't say what the show looked like from the outside but I can say from the inside that everybody who took part did an amazing job in the show, it was so much fun and I'm sure each and every girl pulled off there looks flawlessly.

There was a few mis-haps along the way, my car got reversed into and one of my tops was temporarily misplaced (apologies to Beth for freaking out). However all in all I had a lovely day and I hope the people watching enjoyed it as much as everybody who took part.

By the end of the night our group of stragglers packing up final bits and pieces from the stalls were huddled round the one industrial heater trying to get warm, before packing stuff into the cars and heading back to Toria's to spend the rest of the evening chilling out and eating take-a-way pizza.

Well done to Toria Brightside and Emma Parry for organising the event, Fashion Pony for sponsoring,  all the stalls who took part, all the models and designers, make up artists and to Rebel Pin Up for awesome hair. Once again I was so pleased to be apart of it and hope to be involved in the next one. All in all over £2000 was raised for the charities Guide Dogs for the Blind and Cancer Research.