Accessorising High Street Dresses - Monsoon

Or, as I like to think of it: Blinging up your Bargains!

As more and more high street shops are adding bridal collections to their repertoire, I thought it might be an idea to look at how to accessorise them. So i've spent some time (far too much time actually!) researching, and over the coming weeks will bring you what I consider to be four of the best high street bridal dresses along with some suggestions of jewellery and hair accessories to complement.

The first shop that sprang to mind was Monsoon (www.monsoon.co.uk). I love Monsoon dresses, and have owned a few myself over the years. This is my favourite from their current bridal collection: The Valley Mesh Dress, priced at £225.

I love the vintage feel that this dress has, and the detailing on the shoulders is just gorgeous. Team it with a side headband that has an equally vintage feel to it, such as "Selene" from our Goddess collection, and a pair of bridal earrings that combine sumptious pearls and crystals for a softly sparkling effect.

I haven't included a necklace as i'm not really sure the dress needs one, there is already so much detail around the neckline. However if pushed, I would suggest going with either a pendant or a Y shaped necklace, something that will drop beautifully into that deep V-neckline. The Vintage Glamour bridal necklace below is a good example:

I spent a long time researching shoes for this dress, and actually couldn't find what I was looking for.  I wanted something with heavy pearl and diamante beading to echo that shoulder detail, but nothing seemed quite right.  So in the end i've gone with these gorgeous peep toes, called "Crush" from Pink by Paradox.

Feel free to leave us a comment below, and follow our blog to receive notification of our next post, which will be looking at accessories suitable for another high street wedding dress!

High street wedding dress:  Monsoon (www.monsoon.co.uk)

Bridal Shoes:  Pink by Paradox (www.paradoxlondon.com) 

Bridal Jewellery and Headband:  Starstruck Designs (www.starstruck-designs.co.uk)

Happy New Year!

Well its an obvious one, but Happy New Year sparkly fans! Hope you've all had a lovely Christmas and New Year - we certainly have in the Starstruck household. Christmas was hectic with both our familes here, and Mr Starstruck and I hosting for the first time ever (scary!), but everything went well. The children loved their pressies, the adults loved the food, and the wine went down a treat too!

So now its back to work, and as I do like to hit the ground running, i've booked a wedding exhibition for this weekend! Oh yes - on Sunday 9th January, we will be exhibiting at the Bentley Hotel in South Hykeham, Lincoln, from 10.30am to 4pm.



I can't remember the last time I did an exhibition so the nerves are starting up a little bit, but with it being this weekend I really don't have time to think about it too much!

I think we'll be advertising some kind of fabby offer on the day, i've not decided what yet....what would you like to see? A substantial discount on your order? A competition where 1 person wins a tiara? I'm going to have to have a good think about this!

Other news is that we have a brand new collection in the making, inspired by a commission that came in just after Christmas. Based on the idea of lace, pearls, buttons and the obligatory sparkle, the collection will contain a range of hair accessories and tiaras.



I've got most of these bits and pieces on the way, with a range of others as well and as soon as they are here i'll be adding new designs as soon as they are ready.

And here is the first piece: A little lace hairclip, with a sprinkling of sparkles.



That's it for now...time to get tea for the kiddies, and then I can sit down and finish adding all the new jewellery to the website. Dullsville evening ahead, but someone's gotta do it!!

That whole vintage asymmetric thing...

Over the last few years i've seen new trends start, and take a good strong hold within the bridal industry. Particularly the vintage, and "vintage inspired" look. Glittering diamante, sumptious pearls, and good strong nods towards the early part of the last century are found at weddings all over the place right now. At the forefront of this, has to be the amazing Kirstie, from Flo and Percy





The asymmetric look has been desireable for many years, and works fantastically well with the vintage trend. So....what do you get when a self-confessed magpie decides to combine both of these aspects? You get a 20 piece asymmetric headband collection, that's what! And the three photos below are just a taster of what you will find in our new collection of bridal side tiaras:





Oh.My.God. How excited am I to finally be able to say that!? Some of the componants that have been used in this collection have been in my possesion for quite literally AGES! I have been so keen to put together this collection, and now finally I have the time to do so.

As much as I loved owning a bridal shop, I can't help but be so grateful now to have the time to design new collections. I've been working on this one for a while and am so, SO excited to finally be able to open the stage curtains and reveal it in all its glory!

And is the vintage trend around to stay? Who knows? But I think its certainly going to be a favourite with brides for a while yet!