Sneak Peek of... My Graduation Dress!

As I mentioned in my last post, my Uni work is all complete so naturally my thoughts have turned to graduation. Or should I say, my graduation outfit! (This may be a little pre-meditated, my results aren't out until the 24th of this month.... but I am a glass half full kinda girl!!)

I hit the Trafford Centre yesterday with my best Manc' friend- also graduating with me- to find our outfits... 

Obviously I will be getting Graduation Gowns, but we found it really tricky to decide what kind of dress to get as we don't actually get a chance to wear the robes or even look at them until the day, so it is difficult to visualise what would match perfectly. I had seen a photo online of our robes so knew the colours we were graduating in would be black, grey and a burgundy red.

Graduation Gowns (Image courtesy of the UCLAN website)

The more obvious choice would be to go with a classic black dress. It is perfect for the occasion- timeless, formal and no worries of colour clashes, etc. This is what my friend went for and I have to say the dress she chose is stunning and suits her perfectly. 

However, I decided to be difficult and try and go with something a little bit more daring, that will stand out and be different on the day. I thought it would be harder to find and was pleasantly surprised with what I ended up with.

The Outfit:

Dress, French Connection £60, Shoes, River Island £45

I have to say it was a very Carrie Bradshaw-esque way of shopping as the shoes became the inspiration for the outfit! I fell in love with them straight away as they are a gorgeous coral colour (this picture does them no justice!) I was keen to steer clear of platforms for my graduation as being 5ft 9...and a half... ("sometimes a girl needs a half!") I tend to tower over most people in my heels anyway. This does not normally bother me, but I should imagine lots of pictures will be taken on the day and I do want to avoid the awkward crouching pictures as much as possible in group shots! Besides, ankle straps are bang on trend right now and these strappy sandals will be perfect for my sunny escapes as well as my graduation so I will definitely be getting my monies worth. 

The dress I found later and it stood out immediately! There are a lot of 60's inspired shift dresses out at the moment, which are amazing but they do absolutely nothing for my shape. I am a curvy girl, I have hips and a bum and baggy dresses do nothing more than swamp me and only emphasises how wide my hips actually are! Therefore I was ecstatic to find this figure hugging number. The black band details slims the waist whilst the orange panels highlight my curves in a more flattering way, injecting a pop of colour at the same time (that works perfectly with my new shoes!) It is knee length so great for the formal occasion and the black and grey will compliment my graduation gown. Winner!

I am slightly anxious that the more orangey/coral tones will clash with the burgundy on my graduation gown, however, I just loved this outfit so much that if need be I can wear my gown closed in pictures, and at least I will have a fabulous outfit for my celebratory meal. 

What do you think? Is this a look you would get for a graduation or do you think I should have played it a little more safe- or maybe gone even crazier!? Do you think the colour clash will be a problem on the day?

Maybe you have another event you're preparing for- I would love to hear your outfit ideas! Comment below or feel free to Tweet me (@Kate_Muzza) 

Kate 

xx

Done and Done! My final Uni experience!

OK! So this is the first post I have actually sat down and done in a long LONG time! I have been super busy finishing Uni (Forever! Sob!) and covering staff shortages in work so have had very little spare time! Thankfully the staffing issues have been resolved and my final hand in for Uni has been and gone, so I can finally concentrate on my blogging a little more full time.

My first post as an almost-post-grad (my graduation is not till next month, then its official- EEK!!), has to be about something that has been a massive part of my life for the last three years, and that has to be my Uni course! I wanted to share my thoughts on why I feel it has been a worthwhile way to spend the last three years from my own personal point of view. With the cost of University being sky-high right now, many people are put off at the idea of investing so much money into something with no guarantee of a career at the end of it. This is completely understandable and I am one of the lucky ones that was not hit by the increase in fees, however, I have found my University experience invaluable to my career path. If anyone is sitting on the fence at going to University to do a creative course such as this then maybe this will help?

For those that don't know I studied Fashion Brand Management at UCLAN (The University of Central Lancashire, in Preston). The first thing I want to point out is, it is not a design course. Many people see "Fashion" and automatically assume- but this course is tailored to those that want to make an impact in other areas of the industry such as Buying, Marketing, Styling, Journalism and Merchandising. It covers a broad spectrum of modules with many past graduates going on to be successful in many coveted positions in big name companies such as Adidas, Littlewoods, Missguided, ASOS and many more! Fellow students from my course have already landed top internships with the likes of New Look and Jimmy Choo! It offers incredible opportunities and has taught us some amazing skills that are essential tools within this industry.  If any of this sounds appealing, then perhaps this is the course for you?

What I felt I have learnt (from the many sleepless nights pre-deadline!) is how hard-working I actually am! I have improved my organisation, my time-keeping as well as practical skills within IT such as Photoshop and InDesign. I would never have thought to start this blog had I not become interested with the social media world following a second year project at Uni. Most importantly I found a direction that I wanted to move forward with in my future. This was something I did not have fresh from finishing my A-Levels- or even when I applied to do the course! I had it in my head styling was my future and that was the industry I wanted to pursue, however, very quickly into the course I realised it was not really for me! Don't get me wrong- I love putting an outfit together, and I also love assisting with shoots but it was not my strongest area. I realised PR and Marketing are what I really am good at and actually enjoy doing to the point where it does not feel like work! I realised I have a deep passion for writing but also researching and using everything I find and putting it into something creative which is why I feel the PR world is where I belong and is therefore what I am currently pursuing. However, I have to say my placement was a massive help at reaching this conclusion, but thats a whole other post!

So to that end, I thought I would show off some of the images from my final campaign...

Final Stand...

My project was based upon the brand Pandora releasing their own Fragrance line. I used a very talented model in my shoot, Gemma Louise Dyson, (check out her Facebook page here) and makeup artist Emily Walsh (check out her page here) to create most of the promotional artwork I have displayed. The bottle I used for the product shots was Stella McCartney's Lily Fragrance with a lid I adapted myself and photoshopped. 

However, my campaign was just one of many! If you are interested in beginning a course such as this, or even work in industry and want to check out some of the latest talent in the North West, UCLAN will be holding a Degree show displaying all third year work. The private viewing will be this Friday, however, it will be open to the public on the following dates:

• Sat 15 Jun (10 – 3 pm)
• Mon 17 Jun to Fri 21 Jun (10 – 6 pm)

Visit the UCLAN site here for more information and the link to the free parking permit. 

I hope you can make it! Don't forget to check out my stand (second floor of Victoria Building, room 204) I would love to hear your thoughts!

Kate 

xx