Celebrities, designers and the glamour world joined together this month to help the Clothes Show Live celebrate its 21st year.
Sequins and knitwear dominated the catwalks at the NEC in Birmingham from December 4-9 and there was a definite festive feel in the air.
Tens of thousands of people arrived at the show to get a look at the hottest fashions this season, grab discounted goods and spot celebs.
I arrived on Saturday at around 10am and it was already busy. It was hard to know where to begin with many fashion stalls from Punky Fish to Barry M cosmetics filling the floor space.
Excited shoppers moved from stall to stall in awe of the large amount of accessories, shoes, clothes and health products. This was definitely a haven for shopaholics.
A special feature of the event was the fashion theatre which held up to 6,000 in the audience.
There were four shows on the Saturday and throughout the week many celebs took turns to present including Gok Wan, George Lamb and Hollyoaks soap star actors.
Saturday saw celebrity presenters Fearn Cotton and Dave Berry take to the stage to introduce the performance, helped out by Hollyoaks’ Ashley Taylor-Dawson, who plays character Darren, and Carly Stenson, who plays Steph.
The theatre piece was spectacular with dancers and models showcasing fashion with a background set of revolving screens displaying snowy and wintry scenes.
During the show there was a Christmas medley and a musical numbers as those on stage showed off their break dancing, ballroom and jive moves.
The performers showcased a range of different styles including hot pants and heels, gold leggings and sparkly tops as well as angel and Gothic inspired creations.
After the show I managed to get backstage where I caught a glimpse of models running around and changing their costumes. I also bumped into Ashley and Carly who told me she had managed to find time to go around the stalls between stage appearances.
“The Clothes Show 2009 is brilliant. I’m already wearing a different outfit to what I arrived in,” she said, pointing to her colourful sweater and blue girly dress which she bought that day.
She was also wearing over the knee black boots and a short tartan skirt.
She looked both comfortable and fashionable and I wondered how she thought her style differed from that of her Hollyoaks character Steph.
“I hope so for the better,” she said. “It does depend who dresses me as they do dress me really nice but I have never taken clothes home with me from Hollyoaks.”
Ashley, who was wearing jeans with a white t-shirt and grey cardigan, said he was also enjoying himself.
“Doing the shows has been great fun,” he said. “I hope I have better style than my character in Hollyoaks. I am always ‘daft Darren’ who has the ridiculous clothes. I wouldn’t take them home with me.”
Hollyoaks is set in nearby Chester so I asked the actors if they had ever been to Shropshire. “I have been to Telford and I think it is fantastic,” Ashley said. “I have been all over Shropshire. It is a beautiful place.”
During the day there were various catwalks including one with Daily Telegraph fashion expert Hilary Alexander presenting fashions including Dolce and Gabbana, Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood.
Fashion scouts walking the halls looking for fresh talent and a number of girls walked around wearing badges declaring that they had been noticed by modelling agencies.
All in all the show was a fantastic and inspiring day out with so much to see and do.
A must for all fashion enthusiasts and shopaholics.
For more information visit www.clothesshowlive.com