Laura's Blog

Laura is part of the SheerLuxe editorial team. Laura adores fashion, luxury, the UK high street (that's the best in the world) and the fact that today's woman can still look fabulous on a budget.

Laura can be found shopping online at MatchesFashion.com, FrenchSole.com, Topshop.com, Reiss.com and satisfying her sweet tooth at BettysByPost.com.

When The Pressure Is On...

Published on Monday 11th June 2007

I know I’m not alone when I rush to switch on GMTV in the morning after a big awards ceremony or more recently the Cannes Film Festival. To be honest, I’m not all that interested in who won. The fashionista in me is desperate to see what they were all wearing, who made the faux pas and who stole the limelight.

I’ve got a seriously smart party to go to this weekend and I have to say, I’m feeling rather a lot of pressure about what to wear. It’s one of those one-off parties and I probably won’t be going to another like it for years to come so I want to make the most of it.

For the actresses at awards ceremonies everything has to be perfect and god forbid they get it wrong because if they do, they can be sure they’ll be on the worst dressed list before they’ve blinked with the dreaded pictures haunting them for life. Not that I really feel all that sorry for them - most have a team or a stylist and are given beautiful clothes, shoes, bags and jewellery to wear for the occasion.

The real challenge for the star, the stylist or in my case, me, is to create a look that is not so matching that it looks contrived but matching enough so it looks complete. At the party I’m going to this weekend, the standard will undoubtedly be high, so the challenge is on...

So, do I go short or long? Be safe with black or embrace the summer and go bright? Opt for a print or play safe with plain? The choices are endless and it’s difficult to know where to start.

I always like to have a good hunt around because the last thing you want to happen is walk in to the party to find someone wearing exactly the same as you and the possibility that they’ll look better than you in it – did you see Anna Friel and JK Rowling in that green Ferretti number the other day...? Not a situation I’m keen to find myself in.

Want to know what I opted for? Well I wanted long but knowing I don’t often wear long, I didn’t want to spend or fortune so I went for something that’s plain, timeless and longlasting: a long black number from Monsoon. I’ll just have to hope that my show stopping accessories complete the look better than anyone else who might be in it too!

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