The LOOK Show Diaries #6

For the final instalment of my LOOK Show Diaries, I wanted to share with you some of the key trends, which emerged from the catwalk. While there were some fantastic designer-alikes on the runway, each store also managed to make the autumn/winter trends feel fresh and unique by adding their own individual twist to the looks. Whether you decide to try androgyny or pattern clashing, there's guaranteed to be at least one trend you can take away and try for yourself. And remember, one of the best things about the LOOK Show is that everything featured is available to buy on the High Street right now!

Whether you decide to swap the stilettos for brogues, or the dress for braces, the key to pulling off the androgynous look is all in the proportions. Keep coats oversized, blazers fitted and trousers cropped, but team them with simple feminine details; a mini dress, a high heel or a flash of pretty tones (reds and pinks will do) to prevent you stepping into cross-dressing territory. 

Best for androgyny: Forever 21 

One of my favourite things about winter dressing is the colours that are synonymous with the season. From fallen leaves, to rusted copper, tones of orange were warming to look at - perfect for winter.

Best for orange tones: Dorothy Perkins

Monochrome looks are always a favourite with me because they're so simple and classic, it's very hard to get them wrong. Blazers and ties looked fierce when paired with leather leggings (are you brave enough?), but my choice would be the Oasis pinafore dress layered over a long sleeve knit.

Best for monochrome: Next

Aside from Alesha Dixon's dancing and the model's sly smiles when friends cheered them on from the crowd, the real fun came from the playful print collaborations. Polka dots, animal prints and tribal patterns all came together in a mix of colours and textures to brighten up any winter morning. Remember that the loudest print will draw the most attention, so wear it on your proudest parts!

Best for playful prints: Urban Outfitters

Electric blue was by far the most popular colour choice on the catwalk. It was best used as a striking accent in an outfit, so keep it to a minimum for an ice cool look. The contrast print dress from H&M has my vote.

Best for blue hues: Marks and Spencer

The Sixties were back in full swing on the LOOK runway, with the famous mini dress in candy colours making a welcome revival. As this look is all about flashing your legs, you might think it's best kept for summer, but mid-length sleeves, oversized peter pan collars, and knee-high socks with flats are all ways of toning down the look by adding a touch of lady-like chic for the winter. 

Best for sixties style: Monsoon

Whether in chiffon or leather, the midi remains the most stylish skirt length for autumn. I'll be wearing mine with a polo neck in simple block colours a la H&M. I love the clean lines and minimal style. Add a floppy hat (the accessory to have at the LOOK Show) for a lady-like vibe.

Best for midi skirts: Miss Selfridge

I can't believe how quickly the LOOK Show experience has gone! It doesn't seem that long ago that I was sat in my caravan overwhelmed to be in the Top 20 let alone the Final 5! It was such an incredible experience for me to be able to attend a show organised by a magazine I admire so much. I've read LOOK for years, so to be sat on the front row at the show was incredibly surreal for me. I feel very lucky that my first insight into the fashion world was such a fun one. I'm well aware the industry isn't one long trip in the VIP lounge, but it was lovely to have a taster. I'm finally heading back home to Devon tomorrow (I've been on work experience in London for the past two weeks), and I now have to find a way of packing all the prizes that came with the experience into my suitcase. It's hardly the worst thing that could have happened, but believe me, it's going to be a challenge!

I just want to say a huge thank you to the people who were involved in making this experience happen:

• The LOOK Team and Lara Lain, who has played a huge part in getting us girls the VIP treatment!
• Westfield Stratford for hosting the event and giving us £200 to explore the new mall with. 
• Toni & Guy for gifting Laurie and I a free haircut as well as a goody bag!
• Bumpkin for my first bloggers night out - a delicious three course meal and free reign over the wine menu....
• Vue Cinema & All Star Lanes, who I'll be taking up on the offer of yet another great night out in the future...
• And Premier Inn for providing a bed to rest my aching feet in at the end of it all!

Last, but definitely not least, I'll share with you the secret highlight of all good fashion shows - the goody bag!

L-R: Magazines, H&M scarf, lipgloss and eye shadow from LOOK's new makeup range, Next perfume, Monsoon bracelets, compact mirror, Make Believe fake tan, Label M products, Kleenex tissues, Palmers Cocoa butter, Evian water, Miss Selfridge gift card, facial treatments, New Look discount vouchers, Westfield photographic chocolate, LOOK Show pass (there was also a Burt's Bees lip balm and Cadbury's chocolates, but the former was already in pride of place in my handbag and the latter had been devoured immediately after the show!)

I really hope you've enjoyed sharing my experience at the LOOK Show with me. One of my highlights has been finding more people to share my blog with, so thank you so much for your feedback because without it, it wouldn't be half as fun! There's still another round to the competition, which will be decided by the LOOK Editor and the team. To win would just be the icing on top of what has already been an amazing experience, which I never thought I'd get to be a part of. With previous winners of the competition including Lily and Amelia, and fantastic blogs from the other 4 finalists, I'm not holding out much hope, but I'll keep the old fingers and toes crossed just in case. If only my caravan was smaller, I'd take it around as a lucky charm - it's worked wonders so far! Who knew!

You can find all my LOOK Show Diaries here as well as under the link in my sidebar. And you can read even more about the show from the online, special edition magazine here.

Wednesday Wishes: The LOOK Show Edition

This week my usual Wednesday Wishes feature has been taken over LOOK Show style. One of the amazing prizes awarded to the final five bloggers at the LOOK Show was a £200 gift voucher to spend at Westfield Stratford. I've selected the key pieces that are on my LOOK wishlist, and linked the brand names to the product for you to find easily if you love them as much as I do. Now, where is a girl supposed to start? Ciphering through my photos from the show, I realised I liked  a lot of things on the catwalk. One of my favourite brands from the day (surprisingly) was Marks & Spencer. I say 'surprisingly' only because I tend to think of M&S catering toward a more mature age range, which I think they'd agree with. However, they really turned out some fantastic looks that I'd love to wear, starting with this bright orange cocoon coat. I'd coveted it long before the show for its Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast At Tiffany's look, but it's quite voluminous, so there's a dangerous amount of potential to look like an orange smartie. 

The Coat:

Marks and Spencer

The Cropped Trousers:

Urban Outfitters

The Dress:

Oasis

The Jumper:

Marks & Spencer

The Going Out Dress: 

River Island

The Blazer & Shirt Combo:

River Island here & here.

This doesn't even really scratch the surface of what I'd like to buy from the show, but even a £200 gift voucher can only get you so far. 

What looks did you like the most from the show? Favourite pieces?

The LOOK Show Diaries #5

Here's some snippets from the LOOK Show. So, after leaving the pre-show reception/sauna/blogger fest, we headed to take our places on the front row! We were offered mini bottles of champagne to sip on when we weren't snapping photos of the show, and I tried to be nonchalant about the huge goody bags, which had to be stashed under our seats. LOOK readers will already be aware of what the show's all about, but I'll explain just in case you don't. LOOK magazine is passionate about championing the Great British High Street, and proving that style doesn't only have to come at the cost of a personal stylist and a designer label. Their show is all about featuring the latest drops for the coming season, which are affordable to every budget and are available to buy right now. The thing I enjoyed most was seeing some fantastic outfits put together by stores I wouldn't necessarily shop from. There were outfit combinations that I would never have thought to try, but they looked amazing, which really opened my eyes to the potential of dressing from the High Street. 

While we were getting the celebrity treatment, some real celebrities also popped up along the front row including Alesha Dixon, Kelis, Kimberley Wyatt from the former girl band, The Pussycat Dolls, and pop girl group, Parade. The show was kicked off with a catwalk debut by Girls Aloud's, Sarah Harding, and was interspersed with a phenomenal performance by Dionne Bromfield. Not only was I astounded by her amazing voice (which sounds even better live), but she practically pranced down the runway in skyscraper stilettos and she's only fifteen! I've still not learnt the art of merely walking in heels, let alone dancing backwards along a runway...

Sadly the show absolutely flew by. I could have sat for hours watching the collections, but there were still more LOOK prizes to be enjoyed...

The LOOK Show Diaries #4

The LOOK Show has been and gone, which still feels odd because I spent so long looking forward to it, yet it seemed to be over in a flash! I tweeted throughout the day to keep you guys updated on what I was up to, but if you missed my tweets and Blackberry pics, I'll fill you in from the start. Despite only going to stay at the Premier Inn at the new Westfield Stratford shopping mall for one night, I still managed to take enough luggage to obtain a shoulder injury! It was one of those 'what if I need this...what if I need that' scenarios when I was packing, so I pretty much took everything with me. I took my best friend Laurie as my plus one, and when we arrived we left our bags at the hotel and took over their toilets for ten minutes to change into our outfits for the day. If there's one thing I've learnt about fashion week, it's not all about the glamour...

After ditching our bags at the hotel, we made our way very, very slowly to the LOOK Lounge. This wasn't by choice - the shopping mall was just so busy! What should have been a twenty second walk turned into a fifteen minute shuffle, with me being pushed along by an old woman who later confessed to using me as her 'shield' through the crowd because I'm tall! 

When we finally reached the LOOK Lounge we were greeted by the lovely Lara, and then photographed for some photos for the LOOK website. I hate having my photo taken at the best of times, but having it taken in front of the LOOK team when you're full of nervous excitement is even worse! The Lounge was a little pop-up blog hub and I quickly sat down to start tweeting you guys! 

After a totally unanimous vote from you in my LOOK Show outfit choice post, I decided to wear the blue Warehouse dress, Topshop 'Adore' boots and Asos handbag. Thanks for your help!

From the Lounge we headed to the VIP Reception, which offered free champagne and delicious baby chocolate cupcakes (amongst lots of other yummy goodies!). A lot of my favourite bloggers were at the reception, including last year's LOOK Show winner Amelia, as well as Selina, Kate and Emma. It was very strange to see the people behind some of the blogs I've been reading for a long time, but everyone was so lovely. I had a bit of a fan girl moment when I saw that Fritha had brought Selina from Flying Saucer as her plus one, as she's one of my favourite bloggers.

Apart from a couple of things earlier on in the week, this was the first real 'fashion event' I'd ever been to, so I was a little overcome with it all. I'm not a shy person, but even I felt nervous about approaching people. It feels very strange to mention my little blog to people, or to have others recognise me from here. It was a proud moment for Dressing Miss Dolly :)

Stay tuned for the next part...

The LOOK Show Diaries #3

Finally finished packing to head off for the LOOK Show tomorrow. I'm also starting work experience on the Monday in London. I haven't been so stressed since trying to hand in all my uni deadlines, and it's not a welcome feeling! But today, now that I'm packed and know where I'm going (kind of), the excitement has finally started to sink in and now I cannot wait! I've got to get to my flat tomorrow and my friend, Laurie, who I've decided to take with me to the LOOK Show, arrives on Friday. The prizes are so overwhelming at the moment, I don't know what I'm looking forward to the most. The whole experience just looks amazing, and getting to meet fellow bloggers who I've admired for years is an added bonus!

Here's my outfits that I showed you yesterday, in the flesh so to speak. I've pretty much decided it's a no to the 'Alexa' inspired one. I just don't have the legs for it and it feels like a top on me. Let me know which is your favourite.

Zara green.

River Island black

Warehouse blue

Which dress should I wear to the LOOK Show?
	The Zara green
	The River Island black
	The Warehouse blue
pollcode.com free polls

For some reason, being consistently told I'm 'so tall' at 5ft 7" had led to me believe that I have long legs. I know 5ft 7" isn't actually that tall in the scheme of height, I'm no Abbey Lee (although technically I'm the same height as Kate Moss....), but these photos have just made me painfully aware that I don't really have the legs I'd envisioned...

Looking foward to hearing what you guys think. Are any of you going to LFW this weekend? Any tips? I'm sure there's going to be some kind of LFW etiquette that I'm going to break all of the rules of in the first five minutes. Save me the shame, yeah?

The LOOK Show Diaries #2

This is a preview of the dresses I bought yesterday for the Look Show on Saturday. I've got tonsillitis at the moment so, aside from planning this weekend and an upcoming two weeks work experience in London, I'm pretty much sleeping in-between, which is why my posts have been non-existent this week. Hopefully I'll feel a bit better tomorrow and will do some proper outfit posts of my new things! The dresses look so much better in person, but they all need a good deal of accessorising to add some personality and style. I knew I wanted the Topshop 'Adore' boots ages ago, so I went and bought them first to try on with dresses as I went along. Despite them not being that high, they're really uncomfortable, but I'm hoping some of those gel things will help as I'm planning on wearing them with pretty much everything. 

All Topshop

The inspiration....

Erin Kling

Zara dress, Topshop boots & necklace

The inspiration....

Louis Vuitton AW09

River Island dress & bag, Topshop boots

The inspiration...

Alexa Chung

Fingers crossed my posting will be back on form tomorrow!

The LOOK Show Diaries #1

With work out of the way for the day and my life on track for the next few weeks, I can finally get around to telling you about my not-so-secret good news: I made it to the top five of the LOOK Magazine blog competition. Just to go back a mere week (it feels so much longer), it was five o'clock when I'd really given up all hope of making it to the final. Just making it to the top twenty meant so much to me and to have my blog, and my caravan of all things, recognised by one of my favourite magazines was incredible. As much as I wanted to get to the next stage, I really wasn't holding out much hope of getting any further. I'd distracted myself all day with various things, including getting eyelash extensions, to avoid stalking the LOOK website and Twitter, so by the time it got to the evening I told my endlessly eager parents that I hadn't got through - until my phone started buzzing with Twitter alerts. When I checked my mentions I was so shocked to find so many lovely messages on making it to the final five. I couldn't believe I'd made it! 

To work in the fashion magazine industry is my dream, however unachievable it seems at times, so to have this opportunity to sit front row at LOOK's show means such a lot to me. The only downside is that I now have to worry about what I'm going to wear! A dress I'd daydreamed of wearing when I first entered the competition was featured in LOOK magazine last week as their 'wonder dress' of the week. Coincidence or a clear cut sign? But even if I've found the dress, which shoes do I wear? What bag? You know I'm going to need your help deciding. 

I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has always followed Dressing Miss Dolly, and to my new followers too. It makes me so happy to see people enjoying my blog as much as I enjoy writing it! Stay tuned for more LOOK Show posts and take a look at the other girls who made it to the final too: The Style Rawr, Temporary Secretary, The Fish Tank and Burn The Blonde. I can't wait to meet them as well as last season's winner, Amelia. 

P.S - Here's a peek of what I wore the other day. I'm not quite convinced by my outfit. It felt a little too Grandma-prim-and-proper for me. I'm not sure if it was the skirt length, or the black and grey palette with the skirt length. What do you think?

Topshop sweater, H&M jersey dress, Primark leopard shoes, Asos bag.