20th Birthday Bash

As far as Birthday's go, 20th birthdays are not that exciting. It's similar to a 19th, as it's the awkward stage in between the big 18th and even bigger 21st. Besides this, you still want to look good on your birthday no matter what age, so this is just a little post about what I wore on my recent 20th birthday and why if anyone is interested.

I'm typically a last minute kinda gal, however for my birthday I had planned to be a little more prepared than usual in regards to my outfit at least. I searched both in stores and online for the right birthday outfit for weeks yet nothing caught my eye. This was my main goal- Eye catching. Of course you want to stand out on your birthday so I ordered a few pieces that had potential to see what I could do.
Firstly, I ordered a little skirt off 'Motel Rocks'. This is an online women's fashion brand which incorporates both edgy and girly looks, recently seen on most of the girls on this seasons 'Love Island' so you are most likely unknowingly familiar with their stuff if you haven't already heard of them. For me, it's their range of sequins covered products in particular which stand out and therefore I had to get my hands on one. I ordered the 'Weaver Skirt' in Unicorn sequin (pictured below), priced at £35 however, I used a Unidays student discount code and got the total including shipping reduced to £30.99. Woo!

This skirt was ordered on the 11th of July yet, I didn't receive my order until the 17th so I wasn't particularly impressed, as I had chose standard shipping which is supposedly 2-3 days. I do however LOVE the skirt however, it didn't make the cut on the big day. 

The reason for this was mainly because I couldn't get a top nice enough to go with it. I found the perfect top on 'Missguided', but of course they were out of stock in my size. And so, the search continued. 

I found a little top off 'Pretty Little Thing' that I loved and knew would go with well with the skirt, so I had to order it (especially considering it was reduced to only £8 in the sale). It is a white faux ostrich feather crop top, with long mesh sleeves (pictured below) and it does go well with the skirt, yet I still didn't settle for this combo, so I decided to continue the search.

I also ordered a plain baby blue knit skirt off Pretty Little Thing as well to go with this top, however I prefer the Motel Rocks skirt to pair with it as it stands out more.

The final option that I ordered after tirelessly browsing was a stunning red dress off one of my favourite online boutiques- 'Oh Polly'. To be honest, this dress was a show stopper and I had built such high hopes of it in my head. Oh Polly mostly market their product via instagram and target influencers to promote their clothing. And it works. Seeing this dress on the amazing Tammy Hembrow (if you don't know her, you should) just somehow screamed "BUY ME"- and so I did. I was so excited for this dress to come as I have a few different pieces from their collection and have loved them. This dress is a red satin Midi dress, which is strapless with a side split. It is quite revealing to say the least, so it is not something I would usually go for.

 So, from this image I thought that this dress would be amazing and my worries were finally settled. The dress arrived only a few days later and I was eager to try it on. I think I had built it up so much in my head that I was destined to hate it from the moment it touched my skin. When I tried it on I was instantly disappointed. I still can't actually put my finger on why I didn't like it, but I just felt so uncomfortable in it and knew that I would be extremely self conscious on the night so I decided to return it. The split was higher than I expected and I just dreaded the thought of anyone seeing a bit more of me than they had bargained for. The material was so fitted that I could just feel my stomach bulging out and it had made me feel as though all these weeks in the gym had been pointless. So with one day left (and limited funds) I was on a stressful mission.

So the day before my 'Birthday Bash' I went to my nearest shopping centre with only half an hour to find a dress. I went into 'Miss Selfridge', grabbed three dresses which I thought had potential and quickly headed toward the fitting room. The only one that I thought was nice was the one that I bought in the end. It wasn't what I had in mind, but it was a simple, flattering dress that I was comfortable in and I knew I didn't have a lot of time so I made my way to the till, to then find out it was reduced to £7 from £35, which of course instantly made it more appealing.
As the dress was plain and simple, I decided to do something a little different with my hair, added a little diamond necklace with a matching ring and I was good to go. (See Below)

Dress: Miss Selfridge- £7
Shoes: New Look- £20
Bag: River Island- gift


Not forgetting, it was also my friend Emma's 20th Birthday too around the same time so we shared our night together. She went for a brighter dress from Pretty Little Thing which was great for a birthday outfit. Check out Emma's outfit below!

(Instagram: @emma.cass )