29.04.2011- Wedding Dress(ed)

The Royal Wedding is upon us! This time tomorrow, Prince William and Kate Middleton will be married and I will probably have eaten twice my body weight in cake, scones and finger sandwiches in celebration of the big day. In a fashion focused celebration of Kate and Wills' nuptials, my lovely best friend Sarah of City Girl's Fashion Box set myself and a host of other bloggers the challenge of coming up with two outfits for the wedding, which we would wear if we had been invited (I still maintain that my invitation got lost in the post!)

Outfit number one is a dream designer look- what we'd wear if money was no object:

Round Frame Sunglasses, Tom Ford £108, Feather and Flower Hairband, Tarina Tarantino $163, Saskia Lace-Trimmed Silk Chiffon Dress, Erdem, £3920, Single Button Blazer, Paul by Paul Smith , £202, Satin Platform Pumps, Miu Miu, £340, Flower- Appliquéd Leather Ballerina Flats, Valentino, £370,  Arty Gold-Plated Glass Ring, Yves Saint Laurent, £120,  Lovebirds Ring, Alex Monroe, £155, Pink Champagne Alexa, Mulberry, £868.

I created this look around this stunning Erdem dress, which I've admired since I first saw it on the catwalk at London Fashion Week last September. As is routine with me, I've included a choice of two pairs of shoes- a high heeled pair of Miu Miu pumps and these gorgeous Valentino flats, as I'm hopeless in heels (and who needs sore feet when they're dancing, right?!) In view of the chill in the air at the moment, I've popped in a lovely blazer and kept the accessories simple with a much-lusted after Mulberry Alexa, some pretty rings, a cute hairband and the obligatory paparazzi-proof sunglasses. I haven't added up the total cost of this outfit, but suffice to say that it's probably a small fortune! Which leads me on to outfit number two....

Fleur's Penna Dress, Nadinoo, £145, Double Corsage Hairband, Debenhams, £9.60, Cream Jewelled Maribou Shrug, Debenhams, £52, Cyphert Bag, Aldo, £36, Powder Rose Ballet Pumps, H&M, £12.99, Spot Lace Glove with Frill, £10, Accessorize, Nude Knot Court Shoes, £33, Dorothy Perkins, Paul & Joe Lipstick, £15, asos.com, Marbled Stone Ring in Rectangle Case, £8.50, Topshop, Enamel Flower Earrings, Urban Outfitters.

On the lower end of the price spectrum, this pretty little lot was selected from the cream of the high street, as well as some online shops. I only discovered Nadinoo last week, and I'm already head-over-heels in love with their beautiful dresses. I love the pattern and cut of this dress, and put together a vintage inspired look around the cinched in waist and classic silhouette which it creates. I would wear this beautifully detailed shrug from Debehams over the dress, along with these elegant gloves from Accessorize, giving the outfit a 1940's flavour. Again, as with my designer picks, two pairs of shoes are essential, so I settled on these heels from Dorothy Perkins, and some cute flats from H&M. Accessories wise, I chose this cream bag from Aldo (which I've been lusting after for ages), corsage hairband from Debenhams and jewellery from high street favourites Topshop and Urban Outfitters. Add in a pop of fuchsia pink Paul & Joe lipstick, and you've got an affordable, vintage inspired outfit which I think is more than fit for a princess. 

I've really enjoyed putting this post together, and would like to say a massive thank you to Sarah for asking me to get involved, and for giving me something lovely to fill the post-dissertation boredom! Check out the picks of the other bloggers here:

Sarah, Emma, Lucy, Michelle, Hannah, Lucy, Hannah and Gem.

Happy Royal Wedding everyone!

(Image credit: polyvore.com and Sarah for creating the banner.)