i'm a party and party and p-p-party..

^sparkly collar detail!

dress: matalan*

clutch: accessories direct*

heels: primark

I've mentioned in the past that I'm not the greatest fan of Christmas. Parties in the festive season leading up to the aforementioned dreaded C-word, however? Count me in!

I must admit that my party wardrobe has been looking a little sparse lately - sparkly dresses are all well and good, but haven't quite made it to the top of the shopping list since losing a few dress sizes. So when those friendly folks at Matalan contacted me asking if I could style up one of the party dresses from their new collection, obviously I jumped at the chance.

The first thing you may notice about the dress I went for? It's black, which isn't a colour I often go for. But I thought this would be a good opportunity to push some boundaries. Well, that and the fact that the magpie in me couldn't resist that embellished peter pan collar...I'd been a little worried about the length to begin with, fearing it would be too short, but I think the fact that it's long-sleeved draws attention away from that a little? I'd be comfortable enough with the length to leave the house like this, which given my confidence levels lately is saying something!

In terms of actually "styling it up", I didn't have to do a lot. The collar draws enough attention to itself, without the need for any extra jewels, so I threw on some sparkly shoes suitable for dancing all night and grabbed a black clutch bag (plenty big enough to hold all of the essentials) in an attempt at the matchy-matchy.

This is the sort of thing I'd wear to the office Xmas do. For a night out with the girls, I'm wondering about adding some colourful shoes and a contrasting bag instead - what do you think? How would you style this dress?