Wednesday 22 March 2017

Style XL Awards 2017


 




It's been just over a week since I went to Birmingham for the first ever Style XL awards. Run by Leah, this informal award ceremony was a personal, almost intimate affair. I was surrounded by familiar faces and friends, in the upstairs of a local pub. No fancy red carpets or sit down meals. This was just what I needed, a little event just to see all my favourite girls again.

Now back to the awards. I'll be honest with you here and tell you that due to Facebook algorithms, I had no idea that nominations were even taking place! I had a few weeks of feeling incredibly guilty that I hadn't nominated my personal favourites. So the first I had heard was my email from Leah telling me that I had been nominated as 'Most Inspiring Blogger'. WOAH! For me, this was a bit of a head scratcher. I don't blog very often, I'm not that great at it, and therefore had no real understanding as to why I had been nominated. But I'm not here to complain, obviously I was super touched! 
With this in mind, I went to the awards with no expectations of winning. I was up against some of my most favourite, influential bloggers that I happen to call good friends and I was just humble to be sharing the same category with them. So off I trotted to the awards with 20 plastic tiaras.


We've all seen that bit in Mean Girls, right? Where Cady snaps up the prom queen crown and throws pieces to all the lesser known girls for being amazing in their own right. Well that's what I did- not that I was crowned of course, but I gave out little pieces to those that did AND didn't win. Not because I felt sorry for those that lost but to remind each and every one of them that they are making a difference. Regardless of categories, awards, titles...as a blogger, you make a difference to at least one person and impact them in some amazing way. Be it confidence, opinions, compassion, style, individuality... To me, showing them their recognition was so worth so much more than winning an award. 

Lucia snaps a pic of her piece of tiara
 Kelly is a selfie superstar in her piece
Kat and her beautiful daughter, Mya
Blog queen Lottie proudly donning her piece
Double the babes in this selfie with Diana and Becky


And finally, yours truly with category winner Tanya, 'One to watch' winner Aimee of Radioactive Unicorn and the gorgeous Becky 

What i wore

Usually I would of bought a super cute new outfit for such an occasion but this time I stepped back and looked at the bigger picture. A small awards afternoon to recognise the bloggers within our plus community. So I pulled out a dress I'd had in my wardrobe for ages that I got secondhand on EBay. Wore it with my Skinnydip clutch bag and Asos velvet boots. The shawl was a strip of fur I bought at a boot sale for £1.50 I will always aim to stand out but this shouldn't have to come at a cost. Sometimes shopping your own wardrobe and adding fun accessories is all it takes for a new look. X

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