What to wear to the ‘Oscars of the blogging world’?!

_{Some items have been gifted}

If you’ve not heard me shouting about it already, I’m a FINALIST in the National Blog Awards 2014! I’m going to the awards ceremony on Friday night and it’s been described as the ‘Oscars of the blogging world’ so I’m expecting a fabulous night out in London and looking forward to meeting lots of glamourous bloggers. My best friend Jenna from Glitter Daze blog will be among them, as she has been shortlisted in the Wedding Blogs category, so it will be amazing to catch up with my Northern buddy after a few months apart! After my initial excitement, my thoughts obviously turned to what I should wear (I am a retail and FASHION finalist after all!) and of course I had no idea. Jenna always looks super-fabulous with just the right amount of glitz and glam in her outfit choices so I’ve been discussing my dress plans with her and have finally settled on this…

My first choice was this blazer from Joules. I’d had my eye on it for while because the cut is beautiful, the tweed is such great quality with pretty rainbow colours subtly sprinkled throughout and I wanted to wear something smart as a nod to the importance of the event. Plus, when I tried on the jacket I needed a SIZE 8 (there is no way that’s right!) and that made me feel good 😉 I think it’s because it’s such a fine piece of tailoring that it fits me so well in the smaller sizes and it looks great left open (although it does button up too, honest!) so my dress will still show beneath it. Which leads me on to my next choice:

I am in love with this vibrant New Look dress that I have been gifted for the occasion. I have honestly looked at every single dress online and visited the store 4 times this month to try on dresses before I took the plunge and went for this ‘online exclusive’ pink lace dress. The A-line cut is really flattering and I think I’ll be able to fit in quite a few desserts before the dress starts to bulge! I also love the cute sweetheart neckline which doesn’t feel too revealing because of the layer of lace over the chest. I also like that the dress covers up my arms because I’m more likely to take off my blazer if I have a little arm protection beneath! I love the fit and style so much that I’ve since ordered it in black as well and got a bargain because it was reduced online, yikes! As you can see from the photos, the dress picks out the pink elements of the Joules blazer (the collar even has pink velvet underneath) and when I turned back the cuffs, the lining was also pink so I think I’ll wear it like this – Wham! style 😉

I’ve instagrammed my accessories choices last week and here they are – a pair of black suede wedges and a gorgeous envelope clutch bag, both from New Look. I’m not sure if I’ll be in black tights or nude (I guess it depends on the weather and how brave I am feeling) but I think that the bag and shoes will go well with either, and they look great with the black & gold belt that came with the dress. Plus there’s plenty of room for business cards in my clutch for all the networking I’ll be doing 😉

So now I just have to get my face and hair sorted and I’ll be ready for the big day! What do you think of my outfit choice? Any ideas for how I should wear my hair? Are you going to the National Blog Awards too? I’d love to hear from you so please tweet me @Cassiefairy

Some items in this blog post have been gifted to me and the pink links indicate a gifted product, affiliate link or information source. All thoughts and opinions in this post are based on my own experience and I am not responsible for your experience 🙂