There's nothing better than wrapping up warm in a stylish overcoat and teaming it with a smart blazer! Thanks to Debenhams, I was able to piece these together for this shoot. The tan overcoat has become a new, firm favourite of mine! It is versatile and can be worn with almost anything, I particularly love the movement of the coat and how well it fits. My friend Daniel and I ventured our way over to Leeds, and despite having the shoot take place in the city centre at lunchtime on a Saturday afternoon, the location was virtually empty! Once again I am thoroughly pleased with how the images turned out, I hope you all like the images too!

Have you shopped with Debenhams before? What did you buy? Which is your favourite item that I'm wearing? Let me know your thoughts, as I would love to hear from you!

Don't forget to check out my other Debenhams Street Style Shoot; Wedding Day Style and my very own picklist on their website!

WHAT I WORE:

DEBENHAMS | HAMMOND & CO WHITE TAILORED SHIRT

DEBENHAMS | HAMMOND & CO TAN OVERCOAT

DEBENHAMS | HAMMOND & CO BLAZER

DEBENHAMS | TAN BROGUE BOOTS

TOPMAN | BLACK SPRAY ON SKINNY JEANS

RAYBAN | ERIKA SUNGLASSES

It was Friday 29th April 2016, and at 6:30am, I had sprung out of bed. I was beyond giddy, in fact, I was bouncing around my room to much annoyance of my friend Amy, who was still half asleep. If somebody had told me, that I would be waking up to snow on the morning of the UK Blog Awards, I would have laughed in their face. However, this was the case, and I was certainly not laughing.

No matter how grizzly the weather was outside, it did very little to dampen my spirits. Amy and I had started to get ready for the day ahead, and I had driven us over to go and pick up my other friend Caitlin, and off we went to Leeds. We had the music blaring, our moods were high and we were all eager to get ourselves to London! We made a quick pit stop to Pret A Manger for a drink and a little nibble, and then the journey to London began. We'd managed to find ourselves a table seat, and as we got ever closer to London, the reality of the event ahead, soon kicked in.

We had arrived at Kings Cross and waited for a taxi which then took us to our hotel for the night; Westminster Park Plaza. This hotel was in fact, the venue for the UK Blog Awards, and I felt it made it easier for us to stay there overnight, so we weren't rushing around London all 'glammed up' trying to find the venue. Little did I know... This made no difference whatsoever, but more on that coming up. During the taxi journey, I felt butterflies. Taking in all of the sights such as, The London Eye, Big Ben and The River Thames, I couldn't help but feel incredibly lucky to have been given this opportunity to be a finalist at the UK Blog Awards!

After dropping off our luggage in the room, and being in absolute awe of the hotel, we then grabbed an Uber and made our way over to Mole Taco Bar, which had been recommended to me by a follower on Twitter! I had already taken a look at the menu prior to arriving, and we chose the 'Nachos and Guacamole' for starters which we all shared, along with the 'Potatas Bravos'. (AMAZING!) I then chose the 'Chicken Tinga Taco' which had 'sour cream and shaved lettuce' inside of it. As I'm typing this, my mouth is watering and I want to make another trip to London, primarily for this! I also had the 'Polpo Flip Cocktail' which I can confirm, went straight to my head. (Oops.)

The girls had an appointment at Blow Bar for their hair to be done, and after what felt like 3 hours, Caitlin and I made our way over to Oxford Street to do a last minute shop! I am useless on the Tube, and Caitlin declared that she was no better, yet to our surprise, we had managed to pull off a successful Tube trip! However, it didn't feel that successful, as we had arrived back at our hotel with just 35 minutes to go before we had to be ready... I don't think I've ever moved so fast in my life, and Amy had arrived back at our room with just 5 minutes to spare. I won't go into too much detail about my mood, but I'm sure you can imagine just how stressed I was.

The evening prior to the awards, I had almost fallen off my chair due to an email from BMW offering to chauffeur us to the Awards so we could arrive in style! I understand, you might be thinking, 'I thought they were already staying at the venue?' Well, yes. But this opportunity was too good to turn down! Our driver, David, picked us up and took us for a little drive around London. I felt like a proper 'celebrity!' The car was the BMW series 7 and as we were being chauffeured around London, I felt extremely lucky. An amazing opportunity, and a journey I will never forget!

This was it. We had been dropped off back at the venue, and as we were told where to go, the nerves and excitement took over! We had walked into the venue, and I could feel the atmosphere. All of the women looked chic and glamorous, whilst all of the men were looking groomed and dapper! There was free-flowing prosecco, canapés, flashes going off, and we had even been approached for a video interview! The doors then opened for us to take our seats, and as we sat down, I suddenly felt extremely nervous. A speech was given by Odeon who were one of the huge sponsors of the night, followed by a speech by Gemma Newton, founder of the UK Blog Awards.

Kate Russell was the host for the night and in each category there were two 'highly commended' blogs, and then the ultimate winner. The 'Fashion + Beauty' category came up and as I clutched onto Amy and Caitlin's hands in anticipation, I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest! My name didn't get read out as one of the highly commended blogs, so in my head, I thought 'Oh God, there's still a chance I could win!!' Alas, my blog didn't get read out. Never mind, there's always the 'Lifestyle' category! As the two highly commended blogs got read out, my blog didn't get a mention, so I prepared myself once again! However, unfortunately, my blog didn't get called out again.

I don't want to sit here, and be dishonest and say that I didn't feel disappointed or gutted, because I did. Now, please, don't get me wrong, I felt so lucky and honoured to have even been nominated, let alone twice! But, there was still a part of me that would have liked to have won. This, however didn't dampen my mood and the night was unforgettable! I met some fellow bloggers, received a goody bag, and had one of the best nights with my friends! The following day, myself, Amy and Caitlin, walked around London. We took in all of the sights, had a bite to eat at The Wharf Cafe, and then went shopping. As we were heading to catch our train, Caitlin had got trapped between the tube barriers, thus resulting in a bout of hysterical laughter. (Sorry Caitlin!)

Overall, the UK Blog Awards was magical. I am truly grateful to everybody who voted for me, without the votes I would never have been able to have gone, let alone be up for two awards! I would also like to thank the UK Blog Awards for all of the opportunities, their Twitter chats, meeting new bloggers and being able to win the Debenhams competition! The whole experience has opened up so many doors for me, and I will never forget this. If you're a fellow blogger, then I thoroughly recommend you put yourself forward for next year's awards. You won't regret it!

Thank you.

AUTUMN WITH DEBENHAMS

I'M ON DEBENHAMS.COM

UK BLOG AWARDS 2016

WEDDING DAY STYLE