Blog by Andrea McVeigh

I made my catwalk modelling debut recently, not that I think Kate Moss would lose any sleep if she knew! It was for a charity event, the Uber Chic Look Good Feel Better fashion show, held in Belfast's Ramada hotel at Shaw's Bridge and organised by the fabulous Marcus Hunter Neill. Marcus is a local entrepreneur and fashionista who stole the show from Noel Edmonds when he appeared, a few years back, as a contestant on Deal Or No Deal. He's also been on UTV's L8 and Live series and has his own radio show on Feile FM.
He's also behind the local launch of a new beauty brand called Uber, which is a favourite with celebs such as Charlotte Church and Coleen McLoughlin, and he recently took over the local running of a brilliant charity called Look Good Feel Better. It's a cancer support charity that provides free makeover sessions for groups of women affected by cancer and its visible side-effects, such as hair loss. As well as getting a goodie bag filled with free products, women can come together and enjoying a pampering day filled with make-up tips.
So that was the reason for the fashion show, which featured eight 'real women' as models, including me! There were tall and short, young and mature, skinny and plus-size women in our group, and that was the whole point - to show that real woman are beautiful and special, each in their own way, and that we don’t all need to fit in with some random idea of what's attractive.
Unlike the reputation that supermodels have, there was no cattiness backstage - in fact, we all bonded brilliantly and had a real laugh doing the show, even though our hearts there thumping and we were filled with nerves before we took to the catwalk. Once we mastered our walking, we were fine. Yes, you read that right - walking! It's not as easy as it looks, not when you're on a catwalk, walking in front of 350 people. It's all to do with sashaying, turning, pausing - and trying not to trip!
Once we got past our initial nerves we all had a great time - and we made new friends into the bargain and helped raise money for a brilliant charity that really does make a practical difference to women's lives. Not a bad night's work - and it was great fun too!
One of the boutiques which lent clothes for the show was Beverly Hills on Belfast's Bloomfield Avenue. I've also made a friend in its owner, Sheila. It's funny how fate and fashion can throw people together! Anyway, she sells amazingly beautiful ball gowns and 'occasionwear' dresses for women going to formals, weddings, cruises and days at the races. It's a little piece of Hollywood in the heart of east Belfast and without the La La Land price tags!
With the weather being so bad and no prospect of any holidays on the horizon, I'm making the most of Belfast's newest cinema, the Odeon in the Victoria Square complex. With a cinema, shops, restaurants and even apartments, the development is like a mini city in its own right.
The screening room I was in to see The Dark Knight, the new Batman movie, was huge, and accommodated hundreds of people. Being there felt like the old days when I used to go to the Curzon on Belfast's Ormeau Road with my mum, dad and big brother and you had the choice of sitting upstairs or down! The Odeon isn’t quite that big, but the sheer size of it was impressive.
I loved the movie too, even though I'm a girl who usually prefers romantic comedies! The late Heath Ledger was brilliant in it and even though it's a bit of a lads movie, specialising in special effects and sci-fi technology, the cinema was filled with women. Come to think of it, the film did star the gorgeous Christian Bale and Aaron Eckhart. Maybe that's why so many women had turned out to see it!