I have been really looking forward to writing & sharing this blog post with you all – all about my day collaborating with Handpick – a brand new dress shopping App.
So, because I have so many things to discuss today, such as why I am holding the biggest red ballon in the world, I am going to split this post into two sections. Firstly, I will tell you all a bit more about Handpick, the amazing app, and my gal-pal & the most photogenic babe ever Bella (the big red balloon – yes, it she has a name). Every angle is always her good side. The positives of being a circle.
Then I will tell you all about my day shooting with Bella, filming a little campaign video and some behind the scenes goss – because it was just too fun and such a great experience. (We started off shooting in an EMPTY Royal Albert Hall – how fucking totally amazing is that)
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| This is Bella – hi Bella. |
So, first things first, let me introduce you to the Handpick app.
Now, I don’t know about you, but if I have any sort of new occassion/party/interview/any other excuse, I am going to want to buy a new dress to make myself feel a LOT better. (I am assuming that most of you reading this have the same mentality as me).
I very rarely have time to go dress shopping because it takes me HOURS, marching around all the high-street shops, getting overly sweaty and grumpy. Now, I absolutely love shopping when I can browse or if I’m not looking for anything in particular so I can spend all day trying everything on in Urban Outfitters… however I find it so stressful, frustrating & tiring if I am looking for a specific item and I only have a certain amount of time, and I just can’t find what I’m looking for.
Therefore, I always end up buying my dresses online.
But even this has its major downfalls and annoyances. I find it hard to specify exactly what I am looking for online – if I wanted a posh black maxi dress, I end up having to scroll though 2834 dresses on ASOS, that are just not what I was looking for/ not formal enough etc. It could be hours before I can find something similar to what I had pictured in my head. And I would never, ever attempt this on my phone- always on my laptop – as otherwise I could be there for days.
This is where Handpick comes in.. to make our lives just so much better.
Handpick helps you find the perfect dress for any occasion, by searching for it using key words.
Basically, you are able to select the actual style that you are thinking of to describe your dream dress, such as formal but feminine or festive and casual, and it will filter through hundreds of dresses, from big designers and major brands to small boutiques and niche designers (reducing you chances of turning up in the same dress as someone else) to find that dress. Plus you can filter by colour and price range.
It all started after the founder, Joshua Mora, was frustrated after an afternoon hunting with his girlfriend for the perfect summery dress that wasn’t floral. I think many boyfriends can relate to this. However, whilst most men would swear off dress shopping for life, Josh decided to do something about it and Handpick was born. It is going to make my shopping life a hell of a lot easier.
And it is an app. So you can be in a cafe, or in bed or on the bus on the way home from an unsuccessful shopping trip and have had you perfect dress ordered by the time you get home!
I was lucky enough to be included in their campaign video – have a watch below so you can see exactly how the app works and how easy and fab it is.
One of my favourite features is that you can make and share lists of your favourite dresses with your amigos. The amount of emails and screenshots and Facebook messages that I have with my friends and sisters, about which dress I should wear to what, and the ‘do you think I should order this or is it too grannyish/slutty (those are my most common extremes), is ridiculous. This app will cut all that faff out by letting you scroll through each others choices & favourite’s in one place.
SO. That was the app. Now let me tell you about the day I spent with Bella. Handpick started an Instagram Campaign where they took Bella, the big red balloon, to famous landmarks all around London (check the photos out on the hashtag #BellaExplores) hence why I am holding the balloon in every photo – and I was asked to be one of the bloggers to take part. *party popper confetti emoji* *balloon emoji* *balloon emoji* *balloon emoji*
Our first destination was none other than The Royal Albert Hall. Yes, that is right, I had the Royal Albert Hall all to myself to take some photos with Bella. It was already lit for a concert that evening, and half way through our shoot, the orchestra started filing in for a rehearsal. It was amazingly surreal and I loved every second of it. Especially standing there in my amazing AMAZING Jarlo dress listening to a few seconds of them blasting out Christmas songs – heaven. I wish we could of stayed for the entire rehearsal.
It was so dark up in the balcony that the photos didn’t turn out that well – but it was just so amazing to be up there I thought I would include them in this post anyway. Kinda of awkward standing at the front of the balcony looking out over the entire stage whilst the orchestra walked in and wondered why I was so early and so dressed up for the performance that didn’t start for 8hours. With a balloon.
After The Royal Albert Hall, we hopping in a cab over to Forest on the Roof. It is the most beautiful pop up restaurant on the roof of Selfridges. I have been here once with my best friend for dinner, so I was so excited to get back there in day time and see it in actual daylight. They have transformed the entire restaurant in to a forest – they even had bird sound effects – overkill? I think not.
Stay tuned as I will be writing up a review post of the restaurant in a few days – but definitely try and get a table before the end of the festive period! Food and atmosphere is AMAZEBALLS.
For this shoot, I wore my gorgeous, beautiful new Needle & Thread dress which makes me feel like a floaty butterfly ballerina princess. The best combination.
I had so much fun shooting in the entrance hall of the restaurant forest. I literally felt like I was walking through a fairytale, fairy-lights weird but fabulous daydream – holding a big red balloon whilst people stared at me like I was insane.
I had the best time with Handpick and I really recommend downloading the app and signing up to their website. Ooh ALSO – the official release date isn’t until Thursday 17th but all early signups can win 2 VIP tickets to see the Nutcracker on Ice at The Royal Albert Hall. That will be utterly amazing. I actually didn’t want to share that bit of info with you so that I could have a better chance of winning them myself – as I REALLY want to go.
Thanks so much for reading and go and download the app and let me know what you think!
If you win the VIP tickets to The Nutcracker on Ice then please please please take me with you!
Lots of love
xx
This post was written in collaboration with the very fabulous Handpick app. And Bella of course. BIG thank you to the Royal Albert Hall for having us!!