Gok's Clothes Roadshow

Whilst sitting in a cafe with the boy a few weeks ago we noticed a flyer through the window advertising the fairy gokmother himself, Gok Wan's mighty arrival to Leeds to film the catwalk show section of his new TV programme Gok's Clothes Roadshow. Filled with vivacious delight I made my way down making sure to defy my usual lack of punctuality to the Leeds Corn Exchange (a most resplendent piece of architecture if you ever get the chance to visit it) with a couple of friends ready to see the genius of Mr Wan flaunt itself before me. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. Half an hour. Forty-five minutes. Just over an hour later than the specified time, Gok graced us with his presence, donning his trademark black suit. I'm usually one of these annoying fashionably late people myself, so combined with his winning charm and humour, our Gok appeased the increasingly impatient crowds and commenced his fashion fix.

The premise of his new show was very similar to a previous series of his called Gok's Fashion Fix. If you're unfamiliar with the basis of Gok's Fashion Fix, it's basically a fashion showdown between Gok and his arch rival fashionista Brix Smith-Start, with Gok backing the high street and Brix supporting the designer labels. They're both given the same seasonal trends to work with to create an appropriate outfit, which they then showcase down the catwalk. The twist is is that the audience watching the fashion show has no idea which outfit belongs to the high street or which is designer. The audience then votes at the end which lot of outfits they liked most and either Gok or Brix wins the show.

Unfortunately, photographs were forbidden from being taken during filming. Gok kindly allowed us to go snap happy with photos of him at the beginning but after that it was nada. I sneakily tried to take a few on my camera, craftily putting it on it's ISO setting where it would take a good enough picture without the flash - but I must have been a lot more conspicuous than I thought when one of the security guards lumbered over and rumbled, 'No pictures, love.' Ah well. Anyway that's my excuse for the lack of photos and the poor quality of the few I have.

Taking into consideration that the show will air sometime mid January, the styles that were sauntering down the catwalk were a fleeting forecast for what will be big next year.

Trend Number One: Bold Clashing Colours




The models that walked down the catwalk wore bright, block, clashing colours. One wore a combination of pink and red whereas the other (shown above) united green, red and blue in a uniform that surprisingly exuded a quirky sophistication. A trend not for the faint hearted, I'd say. Execution would have to be spot on to get away with this look but I would encourage a few bold flashes of colour to brighten up any day-to-day wear or that little black dress, like these little gems:

Asos Leather Satchel £60


Waterfall Drape Shorts, Topshop, £34



Sash, American Apparel, £6 (in sale)

Trend Number Two: Monochrome

Firstly, let me apologise for the quality of the above picture - and secondly, let me tell you that the timeless combination of black and white will apparently be your best friend this new year. Both Gok and Brix took an alpine approach to it, which knowing British weather will be very apt during January and February. Luckily this is a look that requires minimum effort and will have maximum impact.

Animal Print Maxi Skirt, New Look, £8 (in the sale)

Black Diagonal Stripe Tights, Topshop, £8.50
Heart Knitted Skirt, ASOS, £30

Trend Number Three: Ethereal

I wish I had gotten some pictures of the models for this trend as the dresses they were adorned in were phenomenal. I'll be making sure that I tune in January to find out where they were from as my memory of the event seems to have deteriorated a bit. The dresses were floor length, flowing and subtley jewelled and sequinned. The models looked like veritable Lord of the Rings style Elves, as if they'd just stepped out of the fairy world of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Opt for chiffon, lace, pale colours and dainty embroidery to channel the Queen Titania look.

Victoriana Lace Dress, Oasis, £60
Fringe Dress, Topshop, £150 (in the sale)
Pleated Goddess Maxi Dress, Love Label, £32.50 (in the sale)

Trend Number Four: Oriental

One trend that is already visible in the shops is the oriental theme. Gok and Brix went all out - chopsticks in hair, the whole lot. A more toned down way to embrace the Far East is to swap your cardigan for a very now printed kimono, dare to wear a thigh high slit skirt or dress, don an appleblossom print top or even experiment with some Geisha style make up.

Kimono, Topshop, £28
Floral Print Vest, Topshop £33
Silk Snake Print Kimono, Topshop, £100



I stayed to see the whole of the catwalk show and quickly tried to deduce from the number of pink and black paddle boards the crowd were waving in the air (despite me and my friends' attempts to get Gok's paddle giver outer's attention, we were not lucky enough to gain a paddle and were refused our right to vote) as to who had won out of Gok and Brix. Unfortunately I didn't stay to find out who was the winner, but from my quick deduction I'm pretty confident it was Mr. Gok Wan who came out victorious - but I'll have to wait til sometime in January and become an avid Gok fan once again to find out if I'm right.