MSFW Flemington Spring Fashion Show – Backstage

This was my first time experiencing the fun, fashion and festivities of Melbourne Spring Fashion Week (MSFW), and I was stoked to get the chance to work backstage at one of their exciting events. Sofitel Girls Day Out was held on Saturday Sept 5th at the Flemington Racecourse, and was truly a must-attend event for all lovers of fashion and all things girly. There were experts providing tips on the latest in fashion trends, make-up consultants, stalls selling gorgeous racewear accessories, and in the afternoon show-cased the Flemington Spring Fashion Parade featuring the latest in fashion and racewear from Myer.

I worked backstage as a dresser/assistant for the fashion parade, and started the day early at 8am to help set-up and prepare the outfits for the show. There were a total of 66 outfits to dress 14 models (12 female and 2 male) – this equated to 5 outfits for each female model and 3 for each male. Some of us managed to watch the models rehearse their walk on the catwalk, a lot of them walked in doubles of triples (i.e. 2 or 3 on stage at one time). Combined with the rather small stage and short catwalk (see above photo), it was pretty clear that outfit changes will need to be extra quick.

Each of the dressers were assigned a model (the guys only needed 1 dresser), and my model was a lovely girl named Madeleine who was a delight to work with :o) Some of the dresses she got to wear were stunning! There were plenty of colours on all the racks, as well as some stand out black-and-white numbers, not to mention a few hats and facinators that were a statement on their own!

As you can see from the photos above, we didn’t have much space to work with backstage. We were all a little nervous at the idea of fitting 14 models+13 dressers+make-up and hairstylists in such a narrow space…let alone the models frantically running through the middle!

While we were busy setting up, the models were having their hair and make-up done. Hair was simple and clean, pulled back of from the face into small bun – perfect for wearing the hat and facinator of your choice. Bobbi Brown were the make-up sponsors for the show and as you can see the hot colour for up-coming spring is juicy tangerine, finished with a matt nude gloss (except for the boys of course!).

We had two shows that afternoon, 1.15pm and 2.15pm. The room was packed with ladies dressed in their best and the shows were a success. Everyone had fun and there were no dramas, no ripped clothing and no models falling over in their frightening high (but gorgeous) heels like a few shows I’ve seen before (phew!).

(Madeliene is my model on the left)

Photo below are a few of the other dressers I worked closely with and we all helped each other out. Always an added bonus when you meet great people while you work :o) To top off the day I ended taking 4 goodie bags home with me haha! Perks of the job ;p

(Left to right: Me, Bianca, Jess, and Jessica)