Monday 14 April 2014

Accessorise to Mesmerise Blog Competition




When I found out about the competition, I cannot explain my excitement. Jewellery is one of my passions - and as an A Level Art student hoping to go into a fashion-related career, to be able to design an outfit with no price limit was really, really enjoyable.

The inspiration for this outfit began when I was searching for a gorgeous, statement piece of jewellery to base the outfit around. I wanted to be different - ranging outside of a flat, safe colour scheme and going for something bright and bold. So when I came across this phenomenal (and phenomenally expensive) Tom Binns 'neon gold' necklace I almost cried. I'm serious - I had to go and get a cup of green tea to calm myself down.


Tom Binns 'Neon Gold' Necklace, £1558.59 (*)

So my heart was firmly set on this as the statement piece of jewellery. I then built an outfit around it - a simple Dorothy Perkins dress (£32) in a jazzy, fluorescent green to compliment the necklace but with a simplistic, loose shape so as not to draw attention away from it. I then built my ideal outfit around it - a beautiful little Stella McCartney orange soft bra (£85), and some stunningly striking shoes - two-toned heels with bold colours to fit in with the overall scheme (*).

The clutch bag in this outfit is integral in tying the whole look together. It's bright pink - matching the shoes and picking up on the red in the beautiful necklace. I'm always one for a bag - I never show up anywhere without one and am slightly scared when people manage to fit everything they need in their pocket - how?! Givenchy do a really gorgeous range of clutches and this one I've been lusting over especially, but as a student I can't really afford to spend £295 on a clutch! (*) In my outfit I've also detailed what I would want in my bag - lipstick, the Naked blush palette (cries internally that it will never be mine, I am too poor!) and a beautiful neon watch - not only is it useful and integral to a well-supplied Mary-Poppins-esque-fully-equipped handbag, but it also fits in with the colour scheme. Of course also a little Opi nailpolish in 'Red my fortune cookie' (we'll excuse it for having a ridiculous name because it is just so lustworthy).

Finally, the extra jewellery. I wanted to build around my central piece - the necklace, by highlighting some of the more subtle colours within it. I'm a massive ring-girl - I'm currently wearing about 5, (mostly from an antique fair at which I absolutely binged on rings) and since this competition is all about the accessories I may have gone a little overboard on the bling. The big chunky Tony Burch red ring is my favourite - and whilst at £69 it's not cheap, it is a stunning piece to add to the outfit (*). I felt like the outfit was also crying out for some gold - so added some stacking rings (*) from an up-and-coming designer Alicia Marilyn, and a decadent cuff (*). Cuffs are tricky - I think sometimes they just look a bit like Buzz-Lightyear's arm-walkie-talkie cuff but I think that smaller cuffs like this one look really classy and are muted enough not to draw attention away from the rest of the outfit.

The final piece is a little silver ring (below). The competition is being organised by a company called 'Silver tree jewellery' and since they were running it, and I made this outfit for them, I wanted to add a little bit of them into the overall design. I really hope that this outfit fulfils the brief - I wanted to 'Accessorise to Mesmerise' by going bold, chunky and daring.

Hope you enjoy this post - sorry I haven't been on for a while - A Levels A Levels A Levels (cries). Another 2 months and they'll be finished! I love you love you love you if you read this. Have a lovely, lovely easter.


P.S. Bit of a disclaimer - I obviously have not been asked to promote any pieces in this outfit, and could not afford half of them! I'm sure, however, that you could re-create the outfit using far cheaper brands, which is something I might attempt, because I adore it. All my love. X