Ciao Meow heads to Brisbane Fashion Festival

Well it was with much excitement that I frocked up and headed along to Brisbane Fashion Festival for the first Group Show, held in Brisbane City Hall. The venue itself was gorgeous and very grand, as were the attendees. Brisbane's fashion elite were out and boy was it fabulous fashion watching! Outfits varied from skinny jeans & cami's to cocktail frocks and long maxi dresses (somebordering on formal dresses)! All in all though, I am pleased to say Brisbanista's are on the whole, simply fabulous and if I do say so myself, very stylish!

So what did I wear? Well, it was a tough decision that came down to 2 Shona Joy Dresses - the Tahitian Affair Tank Dress and the Stranded Summer Tab Dress. In the end, the weather was a deciding factor - the Tank dress was to be worn back with a little black blazer, while the Summer Tab dress was to be worn on it's own. As Brisbane had a record breaking hot day for August, the Summer Tab dress won out! Not to mention I am very partial to a LBD. So I pared this deceptively simple dress back with some tan accessories - peep toe wedges, a leather cuff, Lisa Marinucci earrings and a vintage clutch. Make up was kept simple with a nice dark defined eye (actually was running extremely short of time, so had to be simple! Lucky it was my plan all along!). My dear friend and fellow fashion lover Mel, also attended and supportingly wore a gorgeous Ciao Meow dress, a Fleur Wood Vera Dress from a few seasons ago. With her blonde pixie cut and blue eye's she looked stunning, as usual. You can't beat a classic Fleur Wood.

So what about the show? Well it was glorious. Akira revealed his latest collection, which consisted of beautiful cobalt blue's, oranges and reds, mixed with blacks, creams and whites, long and flowing and draped to perfection. Feature flowers decorated the shoulders of these stunning models as they glided past in the sweetest red sandals. It was simply divine, as you'd expect from this talented designer. Then Carmague, a Brisbane boutique, showcased some of their best selling international designers including Dries Van Noten, Martin Margiela and more, which were of course, stunning, though a little more mature in taste. But fabulous none the less!

Then of course to conclude the show was Brisbane design duo, Easton Pearson. Now I am a huge fan to begin with and this show didn't disappoint. True to form, patterns, brights and kaftans ruled the evening and I was lost in a world of exotic poolside parties (well, that's where I was imagining wearing these delightful concoctions!). Gorgeous paisley prints, long flowing caftans, orange capri pants and leggings, ruffle dresses, printed singlets, bright waisted belts and embelished neckpieces draped loosley round the models, even hanging down their backs, stole the show for me. I was oohing and ahhing my little heart out!

All in all, it was a perfect evening, finished with a Napoleon Perdis gift bag (a nice new lip gloss in berry red) and a champagne at the Sebel bar (to conclude our fashion watch - my favourite was Kirsty Clements of Vogue Australia and the lovely ladies of Easton Pearson who looked divine in their own creations!) before ending the evening. My gorgeous Shona Joy dress held up very well in the style stakes, proving itself to be a modern take on a great classic - I was very proud to be representing Ciao Meow!

For some great pics of the show, visit the gallery at www.mbff.com.au. If you were there or are going to the other shows, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Enjoy and ciao for now,
Ciao Meow xxx