Sara Segal Styles: Fashion and Queues

This weekend was dedicated to Fashion (and queues).

It was 8.00am when my alarm began to buzz on Saturday morning. Still half asleep and not allowing myself to give in to my warm bed, I peeled the duvet covers away and got washed and dressed and left the house at 8.30. Thinking half an hour would be perfect timing to take a slow stroll to Brompton Road, get a fairly decent place in the non-existent queue I had envisaged and get my fashionable mitts on at least one item of the Jimmy Choo for H&M collection - as I got nearer to the store, I thought again...

The queue was a mile long and there was at least another half hour to wait until the store opened, not to mention the rain was coming down at full speed. Finally, those sacred doors were pulled back, the umbrellas were put away, the empty coffee cups were disposed of and the queue began to move rather quickly. Once in store - the chaos began.

Shoppers were picking-up every item in sight; suede dresses, fur gilets and sequin jackets were being grabbed off the rails quicker than you could say Choo. I decided I would concentrate on one item, the embellished chain cuff that I'd seen in Look magazine. So I made my way upstairs to find yet another queue. You can imagine my disappointment when I saw that the shoes, accessories and bags were sectioned off and then an even further disappointment when I was told that only those that possessed a coloured band were allowed in. I enquired how one would go about getting a coloured band and was told that they were given out to the first 100 customers that morning - meaning - one had to be queueing at silly-o-clock in the AM.

Grrrr - needless to say, I began to queue in the hope I could pick up a bracelet when the section was open to all. After half an hour I decided against waiting, said goodbye to the lady infront of me, whom I had been talking to, wished her luck and headed home.

With no purchases in hand, I am still glad I went along. I managed to take some fab pics for my blog, soak up the atmosphere, get to grips with the fact that there are people out there even more fashion obsessed than I am and enjoy the buzz of yet another fab high-street and designer collaboration.

Next fashion stop, Sunday morning's Really Really Great Garage Sale, which took place in Selfridges car park. Selfridges had teamed up with Mothers4Children (an organisation that supports children's charities from around the world) to host the ultimate garage sale. It was a chance for all those bargain-hunting fashionistas (myself included of course) to get their hands on some fabulous designer goodies.

Amongst many celebs such as Louise and Jamie Redknapp, Trinny Woodhall and Jodie Kidd, thrifty shoppers were working their way round each stand picking up all sorts of treats. Having asked Kirsty Gallagher the size of a pair of Marni trousers, as well sampling Jodie Kidd's Burberry skirt - I decided to spend my allowance on a fabulous Miu Miu jacket (see below and feel free to ooo and aaa!)

Feeling very happy with my new purchase I made my way to a friend later that afternoon, in order to help arrange her flat for the Clothes Swapping party we were holding that evening.

As guests arrived, the room began to look more like a store than it did a lounge. We all had a little wander, sampling all the goodies we wanted to take home. We were then told to leave the room and after a count of three all tumbled back in to get our hands on some fab items. Everyone was extremely civilised and helped one another pick out some great clothes. Louis Vuitton and Prada bags, designer dresses and a Von Dutch jacket were amongst some of the fab items we all walked away with. I snapped up this gorgeous embellished River Island bolero. All in all, money was raised for charity and the attendants were happy shoppers.