Note from a Stylist plays hookey on day 4 (Valentines day) of MB Fashion Week

So it was Valentines yesterday and your intrepid reporter was set to make 3 shows at the madhouse that is Fashion Week.  An afternoon show by Juan Carlos Obando down at uber hip Mac & Milk studio - which they kept reminding me to attend, sadly fell by the wayside. Later in the day it was Custo Barcelona - who reminded me 4 times and Vassilios Kostetsos who sent some lovely red invites in keeping with the valentine theme, but failed to remind me at all.

Given I am but a lowly blogger - that said, a blogger with an opinion - the possibility of an actual physical seat was slim at any of these shows.  Celeb bloggers like Tavi or Bryanboy may be the current big thing in the front row, but the rest of us in the lower end of the fashion blogging pool are still struggling to figure out the hierarchical maze of fashion week.

It seems that celebs A to Z get middle front row, along with key editors (who actually choose to be end of front row so they can whip out to the next show in the next tent). The next two or three rows are taken over by other glossies, buyers, friends of the designer and the like. Whilst rows 4 backwards seem to be a melee of laggers and blaggers and also rans who think they are doing the big 'fash' week thing with just the one show on their list. More often than not this crowd consists of girls in high heels preening themselves accompanied by their less fashion savvy menfolk, who then approach the blogger next to them to take a snap of them and their 'gal' in their seats.

So the key at these shows with a 'standing' ticket, as I was explaining to a lovely Welsh intern I met today (from my mothers hometown of Caernarfon, so she must be alright), the key is to align yourself next to an aisle, ask the on duty crowd control folk in a polite clipped Brit accent if they are ready to fill seats yet and then storm on down to the best one you can grab. Interestingly today (when I wasn't playing hookey) my blagged seats belonged to someone from Nylon mag, a buyer at a Brooklyn boutique and a second tier weekly gossip mag who were clearly all playing hookey.

So given a choice between driving to the city on Valentines night, standing inline, being told I have a 'standing' ticket, barreling into the back row and sneakily positioning myself at the correct aisle for optimum access OR, lighting a fire, eating a Sunday roast - yes food! seeing too many giraffe like models of late makes you want to eat food - it's the Valentines day hookey choice for me...