An Evening With Nicky Clarke

Luxx Mint, Nicky Clarke, myself and Alev from What's On

Those of you who have wandered into the Mailbox in Birmingham recently may have noticed a few changes happening. One of which was the opening of a new Nicky Clarke Salon on the top level of the complex.

A few weeks back, I went along to check out the salon and take part in an exclusive Q&A session with the man that started it all off in the first place, Mr Nicky Clarke himself.

The legendary (in my eyes at least) Nicky Clarke was the one hairdresser 'to the stars' that always stood out to me from a young age. The styles he created were the epitome of style and glamour and I could only dream that one day I might have the opportunity to meet the man, let alone have him work his magic on my own hair. And well, the latter is still to be achieved, although he did do a couple of quick demonstrations on how to make the best out of my naturally curly hair (see photos via the link below).

Nicky and one of the hair stylists from his Birmingham salon doing a demonstration during the evening.

Listening to hair related issues and questions from myself and the small gathering of fellow Birmingham bloggers and media (including Fashion Mommy, Luxx Mint, Style Birmingham, Lucy Kite, What's On and Birmingham Mail) Nicky handed out advice, tips and tricks to each of us in the way only a true expert can. Whatever we threw at him he answered instantly, offering up effortless demonstrations and showing his skills at transforming anyone's hair within a matter of minutes. Well, he's not built his empire and reputation on being mediocre has he!

A snapshot of the Glossy magazine covers for which Nicky Clarke has done the styling, displayed in the new Birmingham salon in the Mailbox.

I have to admit, not usually one to come over all star struck (after all, I have drunkenly fallen off a stool in the presence of the Stereophonics before, much to the embarrassment of my friend who was working for them at the time and had invited me along) the little girl in me that used to burn bright red in embarrassing or overwhelming situations came back with a vengeance on realising that "oh, Nicky Clarke, the hairdresser I've always admired over any other is actually touching my hair". Yes, a moment of 'fangirling' hit me for a couple of minutes and my chest turned red and blotchy. As I'm sure my face did although I'm hoping my make-up was doing its job and hiding that. Sigh.

To see a few photos of the salon, Nicky and the guests during the evening, go HERE.

Fashionistas Flock to Birmingham for Style and The Saturdays

I said it a couple of weeks ago; September means STYLE for Birmingham, and the last weekend of the month certainly proved that.

No sooner had we (I) wound down from the Harvey Nichols AW13 fashion show, we were hit by another huge wave of style in a way only Birmingham can do it: Style Birmingham Live.

Always an exciting date to put in your calendar, Style Birmingham Live - for those who don't know - aims to showcase the best our fair city has to offer in the way of fashion and style from big name brands to  some of the best independent fashion labels in not only the city, but the UK. Although being an honorary Brummie, I am a little biased when I say that of course.

The main event is always the Style Birmingham catwalk show, which this year seemed better than ever. Hosted by presenter of the moment Emma Willis and the fabulously camp Rylan Clarke (seen above), scenes showcased some of the best fashions the city has to offer from some of the best brands. I was only slightly disappointed to note that there were less independent stores involved this year, although visually it certainly didn't detract from the overall experience. In fact, if there was any chance of a dark shadow being cast over the whole thing, Rylan's teeth were on hand to bring some light back into the room (seriously, they were so white, Daz would be jealous!)



As well as this, and a whole heap of discounts, deals and demonstrations happening all over the retail offering in the city centre area, the other main attraction was the Bullring show.






Coincidentally the Bullring also celebrated it's 10th birthday this September and, with all eyes on the famous shopping centre, the Bullring team certainly pulled out all the stops, hiring no other than the gorgeous Mollie King to host the 7pm showing on Saturday 28th, with three of her beautiful The Saturdays band-mates (minus Frankie) joining her on the catwalk for a fantastic performance to round off the evening.



Well now, until that point I'd felt quite good having got myself all glammed up for the evening do following this show, but The Sats soon put a stop to that. Darn them for being so beautiful.

I was all dolled up in my black sparkly dress which I'd adjusted into a backless dress myself (see image below). Luckily, the only potential malfunction - my totally non supportive stick-on bra - didn't actually malfunction. Think using your cutch bag as an inconspicuous way to run through Debenhams holding your boobs in place so they didn't fly up and hit someone in the face, or worse, your own face, before send so-called bra flying to the floor. In fact, I was quite impressed with this £4.99 investment from Primark. It was even still stuck to me when I woke up the next morning (I think wine may have had something to do with the fact I forgot to peel it off!) and earlier on in the evening a lady even asked me "are your boobs real?". Yes, yes they are. I hope that question was meant as a compliment.



All in all, Style Birmingham was a great success and I'm sure the many people who visited Birmingham especially for it will have had a fantastic time. That goes for the retailers too, as it has since been reported there was a 35% increase in footfall on last year's event.

Just one little thing I'm going to leave you with, which was an unexpected surprise as me and my friend wandered down New Street on the Saturday afternoon...


Whether this beat-boxer knew he was going to have a slightly larger audience than usual due to it being Style Birmingham that weekend or not, he certainly chose the right day to show off his vocal talents. Fantastic stuff!