I can always rely on my friends ability to have fun at a party. I went to a joint 40th birthday party recently and it was an excellent night. The theme was Hollywood Movies and we were invited to dress up as either our favourite leading actor or go for red carpet glamour. I went for the latter - any excuse to wear fabulous shoes!

I pondered my outfit for a while, I didn't want to spend a fortune and I wanted to wear things already in my wardrobe, but I rather fancied wearing a big skirt. When I saw this Coast skirt on eBay (BNWT) for £25 and knew it would be perfect. My initial thought was 'wear it with a stripey top', but I talked myself out of it, telling myself I had to wear something dressy. I spent ages trying to find something and in the end, as you can see, I went for the stripes and I'm so glad I did. I felt fabulous and very 'me'.

The top is a new addition to my wardrobe, I hope it washes well and keeps it's shape because I bought two, I liked it so much (you can never have too many stripey tops). The clutch bag is from Boohoo, it's not  place I normally shop but I was running out of options (and time). A word of advice - never try to buy a clutch bag after Christmas. There were a few I liked on eBay but I kept being out bid, the search of my local charity shops proved fruitless, and even the New Look, Accessorize and H&M sales didn't have anything to fit the bill.


The necklace I've had for ages - it's Monsoon but I won it on eBay in 2011 and this is the first time I've worn it. I love it but it's not the easiest thing to dance in (I say dance - jumping about like a loon is rather more accurate). As I boogied with the likes of Austin Powers, The Black Swan, Cruella De Vil and Scarlett O'Hara, it kept flying up and hitting me in the face. Now I understand how big boobed girls feel.


The shoes were a Christmas present from Andy 4 years ago (isn't it hard to take photos of your own feet?) and this was the first opportunity I'd had to wear them. One of the guests at the party didn't think that it was me because 'I looked too tall'. They were surprisingly comfortable, although I did take them off to dance for fear of injury.

So, there you have it, my red carpet outfit for £51.00. Not bad eh?

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