Now that my exams have finished, I've finally got time to write a very important post that I've been meaning to write forever and ever, about BSB's lovely best friends! They've sponsored us through our Christmas competition, and they deserve a lot of love for that, so we're here to tell you all about them. We promise that Body Image Season will be back very very very very soon :)
Don't forget that you can read What Katie Thinks About Body Image (featuring Katie of 'What Katie Wore') now - CLICK HERE.
Claireis a BSB columnist and professional illustrator,who also runs an Etsy shop, selling "hand-drawn magnets, craft-based sculpture and my Mum's old jeans".
She donated her Fridge-Style Game to the Christmas competition prize-fund, but our favourite of her products at the moment is her Magnetic Romance set, worth $6.50, which is about average cost for her products.
Take a look;
"A gentleman, a lady, and the flowers she breathes over him, depicted in magnets.
Will stick to fridges, radiators, etc! Anything your average magnet likes.
We'd recommend this shop to anyone looking for a unique, eclectic gift for a friend, or for someone who just wants to jazz their kitchen up a little bit!
CoCo Rose Londonis run by a very lovely lady named Janan, who kindly donated a pair of CoCo Roses for the winner, as well as a bunch of other stuff for everybody else. They sell foldable shoes to store in your handbag, for nights out when those heels get too much... and foldable bags to keep the heels in afterwards!
Shoes cost between £30 and £35, and bags cost £3.50.
We'd have to recommend these to literally anyone who has ever felt the strain on their feet after too long in their stilettos - they come in a range of colours and styles, so everyone is sure to find some that they like :)
The lovely Dani of I love Cutie Pie donated a beautiful necklace towards the competition. They sell a lot of wonderful, unique jewelery - necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings in cute vintage styles. Jewelery can vary in price significantly, as is to be expected, but prices are reasonable, and everything is beautiful!
Despite the fact that my ears aren't pierced, my personal favourite product is a pair of gorgeous earrings called Stupid Cupid -
After over a month, British Style Bloggers' Christmas Party 2009 is finally over, and we are very proud to announce that we now have our winners to announce!
So, congratulations to...
In first place, then, our over-all winner is Leia, of HiFashion, who wins a Claire Napier Fridge Style Game, a pair of Coco Roses and a Coco Rose strawberry bag, and a necklace from I Love Cutie Pie.
In second place is Harriet of Where Is Harriet?, who wins a £20 Coco Rose Voucher and a Coco Rose strawberry bag.
And in third place is Rachel of Polkadot Stripes, who wins a £15 Coco Rose voucher and a Coco Rose strawberry bag.
I'll be emailing all three winners now, to let them know of their victory - but I should warn them that our email servers at BSB have changed, and so the message will now be coming from amy.bsb@cybergal.com - so look out for it!
Thank you to everyone who got involved - competitors, contributors, donors and judges alike! We'll be running company profiles on the donors very soon so that you can find out what you're all missing out on... and decide that, actually, you kind of need one of those, yourself!
Once again, thanks to all involved, and happy new year from everyone at BSB!
So, the British Style Bloggers Christmas Party is nearly over - the only thing left to do is vote for your favourite entry.
All of the final entries are below - and each of the judges has picked their favourite to tell you why they love it. Their backing counts for five extra votes, on top of whatever the public vote comes out as.
You have until 2nd January to vote - so, contestants, make sure you tell all of your readers to come and vote for you.
A quick recap of the brief;
- Outfit for the party & description - What are you bringing to eat or drink? (Extra kudos for recipes and photos!) - And what music would you like to hear?
We're all very impressed with the entries below - but in order that we can kick voting off as soon as possible, we're going to add in the other judges' comments once they materialise in our inbox!
Good luck, everyone, and happy holidays, once again!
"I'm wearing a Mina UK dress on top of a French Connection turtleneck. I chose this because it has a forgiving waistline - perfect for all the treats we're sure to be nibbling throughout the evening! (I've been told that the dress isn't very flattering on my figure, but you know what? I don't care! I love it anyway!)"
Music choice: Bad Romance, by Lady Gaga, "and lots of cheesy Christmas songs!"
Food or drink? Lemon tarts and home-made masala chai (spicy Indian tea).
Judges' Backing? Amy, BSB's founder, says "I love Leia's dress, and the creative way that she photographed herself, and explained her outfit choice. I also have a dependancy on tea, and so trying a different kind is definitly appealing to me!"
“For the party I will be wearing a black vest dress but obviously that would look a bit plain wouldnt it? You all know I believe that accessories make an outfit so I’m also wearing blue tights with houndstooth tights on top, a gret waist belt, grey leopard print shoes, a pearly locket and a pearl bracelet. my jewellery is vintage while my tights and shoes bring it more up to date. my dress is a summer throwback reinvention, i bought it during the really hot june that we had and dont want to let go of it yet. The necklace and pearls were bought by my friend and make me feel a bit more sophisticated. The tights are ofcourse one pair on top of the other but it stands out more than just one pair. And finally my shoes are the comfiest night out shoes I own so wont give me blisters from all the dancing I do at parties!”
Music choice: All You Need Is Love, by The Beatles
Judges' Backing? Janan, of Coco Rose (who are donating prizes) had real trouble choosing, but eventually said "Phew! So you can see my dilemma but I'm going to vote for..... Rachel because of her innovation and originality! :)"
No slideshow – sorry! It seemed silly with just two photos!
“In case you hadn't guessed already, I am a firm believer in overdressing, so I decided to go Blacktie and wear this Vintage 1970s evening gown. The story of the dress is this: My mum wore it when she was 18 to her School Prom, and many many years later I wore it to mine. Since then it's been sitting in my wardrobe not getting nearly enough love, so I decided that this Christmas was the perfect time to get it out again! The bag is Lulu Guiness which I got majorly on sale, and you can't tell but I've got my Melissa shoes on my feet too!
I'd also like to point out I'm wearing the most uncomfortable bra/corsetry arrangement ever underneath it all!”
Music choice: Fascination, by Alphabeat, “as it never fails to get me dancing!”
Food or drink? “Every Christmas I make a Chocolate Yule Log for my family, so I wanted to share that with all the other partygoers too! If you want to try it for yourself the recipe is (naturally) Delia's.”
Judges' Backing? BSB’s columnist and artist, Claire says “just think that dress is SO GREAT and I like the fact that it belonged to her mum. The bag is a nice touch, too. And I could reeeeally go for some yule log right now.. Christmas themed food at christmas party? Yes!”, Danielle, of I Love Cutie Pie, who are donating a prize, says “I think this lovely lady should win for her true elegance and the retro roulade. Always love a bit of Delia.” And, blogger Dream Sequins (whose birthday tea party this is all based on!) says "I vote for Where is Harriet?'s entry. Love the YSL feel of her vintage 70s evening gown. Swanky!"
No slideshow – sorry! It seemed silly with just two photos!
“My party outfit was a result of some very early morning browsing. I thought that I wouldn't be buying myself some new party wear this season but after discovering this dress on Missguided (recommended by Kingdon of Style) I just couldn't resist (they are all now sold out, but there are plenty more very gorgeous dresses on this site at amazing prices!). It has sparkly bits on it so very suitable for Christmas but, a bit different from this seasons all over sequins and definitely a change from the little black dress that I often wear. I also have a sequin and feather hair clip/ fascinator from New Look, which unfortunately you can't see very well in the picture amongst all my hair (another impulse buy).”
Music choice: Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow, by Dean Martin
Food or drink? Champagne, “predictable, I know”, and mini fish and chips, details HERE.
Judges' Backing? BSB’s columnist Florrie says “I think her outfit is best for the brief.” – although she’d like to add that she loves them all, and would like you all to have some lovely karma for Christmas because she’s so impressed!
Here at BSB, we're currently in the process of sorting the Christmas Competition finalé out - we're judging all the entries before we put them to a public vote.
But, we thought we'd show you all what the staff and contributors of BSB are wearing and bringing, to get you all in the spirit of things... so crank the cheesy Christmas songs up, and party!
What we're wearing...
Amy in a Masta for Ark polka-dot-bows dress, and Claire in a beautiful vintage dress
Florrie in a sparkly H&M Dress and Emily in a black Oasis prom dress.
Here at BSB, we're all feeling a little bit festive, a little bit early this year...
Well, Ok, that's a little bit of a lie. Amy's feeling a little bit festive a little bit early this year - she's even listening to Christmas songs on YouTube as she types this!
Anyway - to celebrate our first Christmas at BSB, we're having a faaabulous competition, inspired by the wonderful Dream Sequins and her blog's virtual birthday party...
So...
Yep - that's right! We're having a very special Christmas Party this year, and it's happening right here, right now!
We've hired a very large, imaginary room in a very stylish somewhere in London, with pink and silver tinsel, and star-shaped fairy lights everywhere... and we'd love for you to be there to celebrate it with us!
"So tell us about this competition, then, Amy..."
All our members are invited to the party (yes, you are allowed to sign up just so you can par-taay with us), and as a community of fashion bloggers, we thought it was only right to hear about what you're wearing to the party... as well as some other stuff.
In fact, that's how you enter - we'd like you to write a post on your blog, with a photo of you in your Christmas Party clothes (there's no theme, m'afraid - whatever you feel festive and party-ish in is good with us!), telling the world about the party, and about what you'd wear.
It's a bring-a-plate party, too, so we want to know what you're bringing for us all to eat or drink - be inspired, and bring something festive and cool! Show it to us, or give us a recipe, and we'll love you even more.
We'd also like you to tell us which song you'd like on the playlist - festive and fun, or the one you always dance to, or the one that means the most.
Anything goes...
"Recap that, then, a second... I have to write a blog post with what?"
A photo of you in your party clothes
An explanation of what you're wearing and why
What food (or drink!) you're bringing to our non-existant party
And what song you'd like on the playlist
"Then what?"
Then post the link to your blog, as well as your email address, as a comment on this post! You have until December 10th to do it!
"Um... Ok. But... what do I win?!"
We have three prizes, kindly donated by our lovely new sponsors;
First Prize is - A pair of Coco Roses and a strawberry bag, kindly donated by Coco Rose London, Claire Napier's Fridge Style game, and a Look of Love necklace, kindly donated by I Love Cutie Pie
Second Prize - A £20 voucher for Coco Rose, and a Coco Rose strawberry bag, kindly donated by Coco Rose London
Third Prize - A £15 voucher for Coco Rose, and a Coco Rose strawberry bag, kindly donated by Coco Rose London
"How're you judging this thing, then?"
The judging panel hasn't quite been decided, yet - it'll definitly be all of the BSB contributors, and hopefully reps from Coco Rose and I Love Cutie Pie, too, as well as maybe some other people... Ho humm, who knows?
The judges will whittle entries down to five, and then those will go to a public vote - so you need to get your supporters out in force to help you win!
"Anything else?"
Of course!
Firstly, it would be amazing if entrants could please follow @ilovecutiepie and @cocoroselondon, on twitter?
And secondly, terms and conditions - this competition is only open to members of British Style Bloggers (although you can join just to enter). You must be a UK resident to enter, and you must provide all elements of an entry in order to be elligible. You must display a BSB badge or Blog of the Month badge on your blog to be elligible. Contributors, sadly, can't enter.
We'll let you know anything else as we think of it!
Good luck, and see you at the party (we'll be posting our party blogs here, even though we can't enter the competition, to keep you in the spirit of things!)...
And, merry Christmas, happy hannuka, and a thoroughly joyous holiday season to all!
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