I am so nervous about this event, but I equally don’t want to miss out, so I’ve swallowed the £55 train ticket to London (yes, that’s right – £55 to get in and out of London off peak) as I’ve been invited to a Next Blogger Network event in Shoreditch. Social anxiety aside, I am looking forward to it, but as you might expect from me, my outfit had to be planned well in advance…..
Ideally, I’d be wearing clothing bought from Next, and luckily that’s where most of my January sales haul came from, so I had a few items to choose between. We’ll be doing our Next #outfitoftheday Instagram posts, so I thought I’d get mine prepared in advance. (There is no way I’m going to have time on Friday morning to take some decent photos, and as I’ll be on my own in London, I won’t be able to have them there either.)
It was a rare sunny Somerset autumn day on Saturday, so Chris and I headed over to Wells to take these alongside the Bishop’s Palace. Nearly ten years we’ve been living here, but I’ve never taken a stroll along this footpath, which is a shame as it was so pretty. It’s not too late to discover a place perfect for picnics and fashion blog locations though!
The blush pink blouse is gorgeous – slightly sheer, so I wore it with a skin-coloured vest underneath – and has a wide ruffle around the neckline, which reminds me of the circus! (I love anything about the circus, so this is perfectly fine with me!) It also has really pretty bell sleeves with pleated cuffs. Unfortunately it was a little too chilly to take off the cardigan for long, but take a look at this spring outfit post where you can see it better so you’ll see what I mean! I bought it in the Next January sale, so probably isn’t available any more, but I’ve found some similar for you at the bottom of the page.
The same goes for the Next maroon ra-ra skirt. It’s a little shorter than the skirts I usually go for, but it’s so comfy (you can’t see the wide elasticated waistband in these photos) and I’m a sucker for a frill of any kind, so it’s perfect for me!
I’ll be honest, I was a little worried that the whole look was a little too schoolgirly, but I’ve convinced myself I can just about get away with it! The Harry Potter cardigan doesn’t help matters, but the sporty style stripes are in fashion, and I kind of want to at least look a little bit on trend at a fashion blogger event! Also the colour grey went well with the rest of the outfit, and the dark red stripe matches the skirt too. The fact that it’s also got the Gryffindor emblem on it might be a conversation starter when I’m in a room full of strangers.
I bought the cardigan when I was on holiday in America a few years ago from Hot Topic, so I’m afraid my UK readers will only be able to get it if you pay a fortune in customs costs. With any luck, Primark will do a similar design soon!
The pearl and crystal necklace is a hand-me-down from my sister and I hope adds a touch of class to the outfit! The boots are from Timberland and were a Christmas present from Chris last year. They’ve been great and if you’ve seen my other style blog posts from earlier in the year, then I’m sorry that you’ve already seen them quite a lot! (I must remember to give them a clean before Friday!)
I’m very happy with the outfit, particularly as the colours are perfect for autumn style. And if I’m confident in my outfit, hopefully I’ll be confident in myself too!
Shop the look:
Similar tops:
Next blush blouse
Gryffindor Harry Potter cardigan:
NB. This actually looks exactly the same as mine. Buy large as I’m size 16 and bought the XL and doesn’t button up without gaping!
Similar skirts:
Similar boots:
I’ve added this last photo later because I was given these amazing tassel earrings in the goodie bag on the day of the event and they just needed to be photographed!
Linking with #iwillwearwhatilike at Not dressed as Lamb.