Dress: £320, Self Portrait. Trench: DAY Birger et Mikkelsen (old but buy similar from Asos here). Clutch: Anya Hindmarch. Shoes: £69, Boden |
I bumped into Sasha from Liberty London Girl at a press event recently and we were discussing Self Portrait and a recent article somewhere saying that pretty much ‘everyone and their mother’ are wearing this brand to a wedding these days. And I must admit, as I was packing this beautiful dress in the car heading to a wedding in The Midlands, I read a quote on twitter saying “If I see one more person in Self Portrait….yawn”.
I must admit, I was briefly mortified. But then thought “it’s still the most gorgeous dress I’d seen after hours of trawling through the internet”. Journalists, Fashion Editors, and dare I say, Londoners (myself included) tend to be a bit snobby about labels. We have that thing to disregard anything pretty much as soon as it becomes mainstream. It’s a bit like as an English student at university, I refused to read anything from the “bestsellers” list – it was pure snobbery, really. Luckily, I overcame this – right now I’m reading ‘Girl on a Train’ and I’m loving it.
Yet I felt wonderful in this magical dress – yes, it was more than I wanted to pay but the quality of Self Portrait is far superior than any other brands in this price range. And if a brand is getting it right – isn’t it right we should all want to wear it?
I love wearing maxi dresses to weddings, it adds a sense of occasion – and a dress I can wear with flats? Perfect. These Boden shoes really are so comfortable (I danced all night in them!) – and I love that my feet are wrapped up in bows.
Again, the clutch is one of those ‘bring out for every wedding’ bag in a similar vein – the last wedding I went to there were 4 women with the same bag. But I don’t see this as a fashion cliche – more just women with good taste…
I used this Anya Hindmarch ‘Valorie’ clutch for my wedding and it makes me smile whenever I use it. And that’s all that matters.
Dress: £320, Self Portrait. Clutch: Anya Hindmarch. Shoes: £69, Boden |
So – wear what you love. And love what you wear (and don’t listen to silly things people like me tell you about how to dress).
Becky H says
Hi Alex, That dress is beautiful and I have to admit, I have never heard of Self Portrait (maybe a tad out of my price range!) The underskirt of yours looks longer than that on the website… Did you have yours altered? I think I would want to do the same!
I'm loving this brand at the moment. They do the most perfect dresses for special occasions x
Wonky Lauren
I love your comparisons in this post Alex. I was EXACTLY the same and refused to watch Breaking Bad at the time. Thankfully I've gotten over that.
Love the dress – will investigate this brand for future weddings!
The dress is gorgeous and you look fantastic in it.
No, I didn't have it altered at all…the underdress is actually much shorter than the pic online, yes i agree actually x
It has touched on such an undervalued market! So clever x
Haha – thank goodness, Breaking Bad is too good to miss!
Thank you – I'm not sure how many more times I'll wear it but fingers crossed as I love it x
Really interesting dress 🙂 I haven't see something that "different" a long time 🙂 Love it !
Absolutely gorgeous pics!!! Love your dress.
It's a beautiful dress and yes you are right, just because a brand is seen more isn't a sign that it is 'yawn' but more that they've got it perfect right now and stylish women have discovered it and are embracing it
This is so pretty wedding outfit. I have also not heard of the Self Portrait concept in wedding gown. I love this idea and would like to buy it for my destination wedding. You know I have booked the best venues Los Angeles.
Beautiful wedding dress and the country side landscape. Your photos are so awesome.
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