The last day of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia seemed like it past by like a blur, mostly because it probably did. After four non-stop days of attending, writing about and ducking backstage to fashion shows, our bodies were craving sleep, food and flat shoes. But there was no rest for the wicked. Here’s how our day went:

6am: Morning group personal training session – done only because my personal trainer agreed to let me skip one session this week and I had used up that pass on Tuesday morning. It was a killer session and I wasn’t looking forward to slipping into heels afterwards.

7:30am – 9am: Answering emails, finishing a few blog posts and getting dressed.

9:30am: Arrived at Carriageworks a little too late for the Alice McCall show, so I watched the live stream from the Media Centre.

10:40am: Attend the New Generation show, scribbled many illegible notes and took a few snaps of some looks I want to follow up on.

11am: Visit the Sunglass Hut pop up one last time to say hello to friends and have another play with their range of sunglasses. It was also a good excuse to get some fresh air and have a chat to other fashion writer friends about our thoughts on the week.

12 – 3pm: Spend time in the Mercedes Benz Star Lounge (free coffee and nibbles!) and the Media Centre, writing, working and having girlie chats.

3pm: Watch The Innovator’s show and was impressed by many of the designs, in particular the interesting use of perspex rods (stay tuned for the post) as attachments for gorgeous neoprene gowns. We snuck backstage afterwards to take close up photos of the pieces and get goss from the backstage manager about what actually happened as the models strutted down the runway.

4pm: Watch the beautiful Ae’lkemi show and marveled at the beautiful specially designed pieces by Samantha Wills.

4:20: Steal away with Nicole for our outfit shots – posing with some of our fashion week essentials, read more about it below.

5pm: Decide to call it a day and watch the rest of the shows from the live stream, but vowing to make it back for the International Woolmark Prize event at 7pm. That didn’t happen, instead we watched everything on the live stream with a bowl of pasta in our PJs.

What we couldn’t live without this MBFWA:

Normally most years I feel like a bag lady at fashion week. Thanks in large part to laptops, DSLR’s and a change of shoes when my feet start to ache. Here are 6 of our favorite things that made our lives a lot easier this fashion week:

1. Microsoft Surface Pro 2: With it’s detachable keyboard and powerful computer/tablet abilities, we used this magic machine to write stories, edit photos and video (because it’s powerful enough to run Adobe Photoshop and a few other programs at once) and keep us on email every time we were in the MBFWA Media Centre. It is also smaller than my previous Ultrabook laptop, meaning I didn’t need to bring it in a separate laptop bag.
2. Nokia Lumia 1020 phone: Runway photography from an array of seats with varying lighting and a moving model can be tough. No wonder the media pit full of photographers at the end of the runway have expensive DSLR’s and even more expensive lenses. This little phone packed a punch with it’s 41 megapixel camera with fancy features where I could adjust things like shutter speed, white balance and brightness came in handy. Especially the shutter speed function. You can check out some of our runway photos and video on our Instagram channel.
3. ASOS HAPPY HOUR Heeled Sandals: A week in heels can be a nightmare thought, but we managed to get through three out of the five days in these strappy sandals from ASOS. Retailing at less than $80 and featuring a chunky heel, they made walking around Carriageworks much more manageable and matched all my white-based outfits perfectly.
4. Ray Ban Reflective Aviator Sunglasses: No outfit is complete without a pair of sunnies and I am obsessed with these since I got them last year. They are my go-to accessory with their classic shape but oh-so-stylish reflective gloss.
5. MAC Eye Shadow compact & Liquid Last Eyeliner: I am such a huge fan of MAC, as is many other girls I am sure. But when everyone asks what my go-to brand for lasting makeup for long stressful days are, I always name MAC for their eye shadow and their liquid last eyeliner. Known to be budge free (and waterproof), Liquid Last is my make up bag must have for beach holidays and manic days where I don’t have time to be touching up my face all day.

What we wore on Day 5:

Equipment shirt from Shopbop
Shorts by Mink Pink (coming soon to MarketHQ)
Lack of Colour hat
ASOS Happy Hour Heeled Sandals
Marc by Marc Jacobs watch from Shopbop
Bangle from St Kilda Markets

Outfit photos by Nicole Cooper

This content has been created as part of my involvement in the Microsoft Connections Program.