A much-needed brush up on production procedures and methods was essential for chapter 8 of the book, so with a specific vendor in mind, the flights were booked and hotels reserved.

Now, I’m not going to go on about how hard the job is, or how stressful travel is in order to gain some kind of sympathy, but what I will say is that, these trips ARE tiring, and NOT glamorous. I think the only person who has the glamour job in Fashion is Mme Wintour, and for the rest of us mere mortals we do the late nights and early starts, the plane delays, the long walks from terminal to terminal, the strange taxi drivers and frisky security men.

So, with this in mind, Here is a brief recap of my trip to Portugal this week, all in the name of research.

In order to save money on flights (it’s me buying them now and not an employer) I headed for a German airline which for a bargain fee asked me nicely to change in Frankfurt and then head on to Porto later in the evening.

Knowing that Frankfurt airport is huge and a devil to navigate, I allowed enough time (ok, I hate being late – so, loads of time between my flights) which meant that for Tuesday, dinner was either a hot dog and some fizzy pop at a takeaway stand or a cocktail and bar snacks at the airport branch of the Sheraton.

Cocktail and snacks went down a treat, although I did have to battle with business guests recanting tales of their management meetings, and Swedish football fans glued to the big screen in the corner of the Lemons and Limes Bar. Still – it was enough to send me on my way to the front row of economy where I had a perfect view of how the business travel flies.

With it being 10.30pm, I was awake for precisely 20 minutes of the flight before I drooled and headflopped over my neighbour in the attempt to get some sleep.

On arrival at Porto, the driver, thankfully, was there to whisk me to the hotel 40 minutes further into the Portuguese countryside.

The cosy room was a vision of comfort and seclusion once I arrived and whilst I could have slept standing, clothed and with overnight bag in hand, I did the necessary and spent a further 20 minutes turning all the lights out. Note to Hotel; One light switch can do the job people…. no need for twenty.

Next day – bright and early, I was whisked to the factory where I spent the day working though production procedures, techniques, planning and trims. Now, as much as I would like to describe the details, infrastructure and layout of the above factory, I shan’t, It’s for the book, I need to formulate and turn the prose, and this, my friends takes time.

Relax – it will come, and hopefully you will like..

By the end of the Wednesday I was production’d out, let me tell you. However a glass of wine, excellent food and great company served a proper way to finish the day.

Note for those who are interested, If you travel to Porto and head outside of the town, into the hills of neighbourhood villages, there are no sign posts, no street names, and the most amazing restaurants are hidden in the middle of nowhere.

The one in question where I dined was next to a fabric mill, down an industrial estate, but nevertheless, had a view of a vineyard and amazing food! surprise!

1 hour after leaving the restaurant I was back at a different hotel about to check in. Now bearing in mind it was now 11pm and my flight was at 6am, my stay there was to be brief:

Here’s how check in went..

Me: checking in, the name’s Breuer

Hotel:  yes – staying for 2 nights?

Me: No, just the 1

Hotel: Really?

Me: Yes, really!

Hotel: Can I have your credit card

Me: Sure!, Can I have a wake up call tomorrow morning please?

Hotel: Yes, for what time?

Me: 4am!

Hotel: Of course!

Hotel: Ms Breuer, next time you stay, the breakfast will start at 7am until 10am,

Me: Thanks – good to know!

Hotel: Ms Breuer, would you like to use the gym?

Me: Does it look like I want to use the Gym, It’s now, 11.20 pm and I have to be up in 10 minutes, so it seems.

Hotel: I guess the gym is a no, ah so here is your card and the room is 233.

Hotel: Enjoy your stay!

And with that I headed to a beautiful room which unfortunately would only be required for sleeping and a super quick shower in around 8 minutes.

Thursday morning – with wake up call success, taxi’d and securitied, found me in an empty airport at around 04.30. ggrrrr

With no coffee, no food and no free wifi, I paced up and down the terminal walking like a runway model and finishing each strut with a Paris Hilton pose. Well, where else can one practice? Eventually the coffeehouse opened and an espresso was inhaled.

On the plane additional headflopping and dribbling was managed, and with the arrival at Frankfurt I tried to find some snack to nibble on..

Note to Airport – please make available non chocolate snacks at the magazine counters. Not everyone wants chocolate, some people like muesli bars and furthermore, SOME people are allergic to chocolate and beef jerky is not a true alternative. !

After further plane delays and more pacing  from me) the flight took off, landed and disembarked. I was on home turf.

In a dream world I would be chauffeured back home, lunch would be ready and a stack of magazines and mug of tea would be resting on the sofa. Alas Rather than heading back to my nest, to shower freshen up and relax, I headed straight into my consultancy job to be buried amongst fabric cards, spreadsheets and 106 emails. T’was a long day.

So there we have it, my research trip to Portugal in a nutshell. Busy, tiring but productive.

If you can find one glamorous aspect to that, please do let me know.

The layering effect of writing a book has to be done literally. Starting with the basic first draft, then layer on the illustrations, the interviews and finally the photos.

To do it via a keyboard and to have all items on a screen 15″ wide just doesn’t ‘float my comma’ i’m afraid.. as I need to see the whole picture in order to figure out where I am and where I need to go.

So stuck in the 70’s I shall remain, blissfully happy with coloured Post It notes and pens.

Now I won’t lie to you, I generally scour the fashion press for tit bits and highlights, allowing a wonderful ‘fash’ person to do the legwork for me, and in this case its Imogen Fox at the Guardian who made a rather marvelous summary of what we should be focusing our beady eye on over the next few months. Below are just some of the trends to watch for;

Spots – these are big… not literally you understand but metaphorically… Polka dots, large, small, black, white all are clear and present. Is this a traditional trend for Fall? Not sure to be honest but as we’ve had nautical stripes for the past 3 seasons, its nice to go spotty if only for a change of shape.

Big Earrings – think Pat Butcher ( for non Brits see EastEnders). Shoulder skimming, bling or non bling, these ear droplets should neither be subtle nor slight. Be loud and proud my sweet, sweet friend taking care to watch the weight. Ears like a tribesman is by no means chic.

Bag Holding – strange trend I hear you say but not so… Gone are the bent-arm-handle-in -the-crook-of-elbow pose, instead we have large A4 clutch situation, grip it and hold it close to the chest like a sixth former holder her chemistry file.

Long boots – Not convinced this is a new trend as such. I guess the whole ankle freezer styles are out and long knee skimming are in… For those who live in Holland, you will be very aware that long boots have been in for, oh, say, forever. I guess this trend only applies to the Non Dutch population.

Colour red – Watch out for reds, that’s what the big names are pitching. Of course, no one in their right fashion mind calls it ‘red’ Instead think, vermilion, Merlot, burgundy and lipstick.

Coincidentally, just to throw in a plug….I have a whole section in my new book about colour names. In general, the colour shade remains the same each season, it’s the name that changes and just so you know; naming colours is big business. It’s neither to be sniggered at, nor held up in a bar and ridiculed.

Colour naming is a job and a serious profession. Something to aspire to me thinks..

If there was a central information site which listed fashion courses, creative workshops, had online learning, my world would have been different, and i have to say, possibly a richer one.

Artsthread has been set up to link the creative peeps of this world to those in industry. Obvious I hear you say… maybe…. but this is the first site to do it.

After spending years in industry and on the receiving end of graduates who are creative but lack business skills, this is a dream opportunity and one greatly needed.

Recently invited by the V&A in London to host a talk, the people at Artsthread know their fabric from their fusing so If you are creative, want to be or know someone who is – check out the site.

Ok – so the current stage is that it’s in its first draft stage and I’m in the process of writing the book proposal.

Having never written one of these before, or rather, successfully written one, I am finding it tough to say the least. The hardest part is stepping back from the piece and being honest in its content, its target market and it’s competition. It’s find for the author to think ‘ it has a place in Waterstone’s but in reality, does it?

The A.B.C. here in Amsterdam has a phenomenal reputation in workshops and especially writing workshops. It’s caliber of speakers is second to none and the knowledge gained is priceless, so it was here, yesterday, that I attended a workshop by Jo Parfitt on How to write and publish a book.

Not only is Jo a seasoned speaker, she is also an author of 27 books. Clearly she knows her stuff, but what I found most refreshing is that the information she shared was rich and plentiful. It was all business, no bullsh*t and it honestly saved me hours of time researching and a lot of money.

It is SO refreshing when someone genuinely passes on nuggets and gems of their knowledge for free ( the course was only 35e, so in my eyes that’s free).

I thoroughly recommend her workshops if you have even the vaguest interest in writing.

The book is a guide to how the industry works and is, or should be, a hands on, practical approach to creating a fashion collection.

All well and good I hear you say… well actually yes because the focus of this book is not to fund retirement in a dream house at Big Sur, spending my days making jam and walking the dog (although that WOULD be nice), more that it will enable me teach and pass on my knowledge to others who need a helping hand, who have the dream but not the knowledge. So please bear this in mind when you read the next ditty of the story….

I was on holiday in Texas over Christmas. It was my first time there and the primary reason was that of a family visit. One evening my boyfriend and I went for dinner with some friends and one of the other guests was a lady who works in water parks ( the giant water slide places that scare the s*it out of me but are loved by many). An Interesting lady, my age I think, maybe a tad younger but a serious career women with a strong voice.

We chatted about our jobs and careers and  it turned out she had just returned from Central America where she had met a small community of women who wanted to set up a business making handbags from locally sourced materials but they were missing a designer to lead them and also some production knowledge. They had the resources, the enthusiasm, the workforce but were missing the design and the production guidance.

Immediately this struck a chord with me – what can I do to help on this? I thought..

Before the words came out of my mouth she offered up that she already had a bag designer in Vancouver BC who was keen to pass on designs and creative know-how but that they were missing out of the process knowledge.

Now – how is it possible that a random meeting like this at a house in Austin TX can result in a possible connection such as this.?

This to me is a perfect example of random coincidence. How cool would it be to pass on from my side, basic information, to a group of women who are desperate to have a creative voice on the other side of the world.?

Nothing is in work yet but from my side the interest is there and I am pursuing it avidly.

Talk about championing the underdog…. I’ll keep you updated.