As it’s London Fashion Week I decided to write an “on trend” blog about my passion for fashion.
I’ll start by taking a look back at my childhood fashion. Unsurprisingly, pink and dresses played a big part. One dress that particularly stands out was my first ever bridesmaid dress for our very close family friends, Jon and Wendy. I remember at the time going to a fitting and feeling like a real life princess. The dress was blue and pink with a gorgeous flower headdress. I loved the dress so much that when I had to take it off I cried the whole way home.
Thankfully, having a beyond talented mum, I was able to indulge in my love of dresses with the many she made me…from a cute white frilly sun dress for our first abroad holiday to my gorgeous gold prom dress, she made for £5 after I said I liked Charlize Theron’s at the Oscars that year.
The next step on my fashion journey was of course the teen years. Like many teenagers, I used this as a chance to experiment and thus made a fair few mistakes ( luckily there aren’t any pictures of me trying to recreate Jlo’s look in my pink velour tracksuit.)
There are a fair few pictures however of my clubbing photos which randomly make me a little sad. Not because the clothes are horrible, I mean they aren’t great! But, the reason they make me a little upset is because they are SO frumpy. I’d often wear long dresses over trousers because I wanted to cover up as I felt I didn’t have the best figure. Looking back I can see my figure was absolutely fine and the only thing that was wrong were the certain people around me.
As I went into my 20s luckily those people went and while I still had a few daemons in my head, I used fashion as a way to boost my confidence by wearing brave, bright and fun outfits to represent the person I wanted to be.
Using fashion to boost my confidence was something that continued as I started career. I think it was my mum who told me that you shouldn’t dress for the job you have but the job you want. This meant that even in my days working in Bordon as Editor of a local magazine( no offence to anyone that lives in Bordon but you’ll know that it isn’t exactly a fashion capital) I’d strut down to the local Tesco in my six inch heels and ridiculously uncomfy pencil skirts (thankfully it wasn’t a long walk!)
Now, obviously I’m no Alana Sugar, however this love of fashion and being creative with my clothes led me to my job at the luxury fashion brand Aspinal of London, where I got to take part in numerous fashion weeks and see fashion icons like Anna Wintour and Edward Enniful – something I’d always dreamed of in my days in the beautiful Bordon.
I went on to swap handbags for hotels with my job at Four Seasons but my love of fashion definitely still plays a big part in my career, life and general self esteem. This sounds a bit deep but I truly see a direct correlation between clothes and my mood. In the first lockdown, getting up and putting on a fun outfit (despite not leaving the house) was one of my favourite parts of the day.
Today, as I look back at key moments in my life, I can remember the outfits I chose and the meaning behind them, from the suede mini skirt and knee high boots I wore on my first date with Stu to the confidence boosting black blazer dress I wore on my interview at Four Seasons. And this is why I have a passion for fashion.
alanaburnett 
Love this article Ali xxx