BHLDN Boston Fashion Show: A (Terrible) Picture-less Recap

Last week, my friend Emily and I went to the BHLDN/Anthropologie fashion show at their Chestnut Hill store. This was the first for both of us and neither of us knew what to expect besides the free champagne and sweets! Emily and I had dinner and hung around the little plaza prior to the show. Chestnut Hill Square actually does not have much to offer, in my opinion, so we primarily perused the Paper Source. I think many others had the same idea because the store seemed to be fairly busy with people in pairs (the BHLDN event was RSVP+1), but it quickly cleared as soon as it was 7pm.

The front window display

I wish I had taken more pictures, but it seemed a bit embarrassing. (Even taking pictures of ourselves were done sneakily or at least tried...) There was a line at the front door and someone came by to check everyone's name on the list. The inside of the store had sections of chairs lined up in rows in two sections of the store: one by the wedding gowns and one by the back room where Emily and I sat. I took one other picture that night showing the view from my seat.

Models walked in from the other room seen in the back (And so many people on their phones...)

Most of the clothing racks seemed to be in their original positions and it didn't look like a lot was moved for the chairs. Each seat had a cute little bouquet of flowers with different colored ribbon and a BHLDN label. Unfortunately for Emily, her bouquet fell out of its ribbon and onto the floor.

After we picked our seats in the front row, we headed over to the dessert table. No one was taking any of the drinks or desserts, but instead taking pictures of the table! I just dove right in and grabbed a glass of champagne and a small chocolate cupcake that looked like it was spray-painted with gold paint (I hope it was edible...). The first glass of champagne was very tasty and I wish I knew what brand it was. The second glass, unfortunately, was not as tasty and I bet it was to prevent people from drinking more than two glasses each. If that was their tactic, it definitely worked on me--I had to wash it down with a macadamia nut cookie.

It took about an hour of waiting and chatting before the show began. Some "higher-ups" from Anthro were in and made a few comments along with the store manager and a few designers. The fashion show itself was fairly short and featured (it seemed) all of their wedding and bridesmaids dresses, though they did add in a few dresses sold under Anthropologie. I was a bit disappointed with the way some of the dresses looked and most of them looked better online than in person. Many of them looked flat.

I was fairly excited to see the ombre petal wedding dress since I've been wanting to make my future wedding dress have a similar ombre effect. It was interesting to see that the dress wasn't dyed with a fade, but rather, the petals were grouped together in such a way that it made the bottom of the dress have a gradient. That might actually be easier for me to do than to dye the fabric and hope the color fades in a nice gradient.

BHLDN's Emma Gown

After the show was over, most people scattered to either look/touch the wedding dresses on the rack, fill out a form for the raffle, or shop and buy Anthropologie clothing. Emily and I did the first two, but didn't feel much like buying clothes. I was even surprised they allowed people to shop at that time.

All in all, it was okay. I was glad to have experienced it and would definitely do something like this again even if it does mean with dealing with some crowds. The free drinks didn't hurt at all either!

Clearly the champagne has its effects...

Thanks for reading!