Right… that was fun! I attended the UK Blog Awards 2017. Not because I thought I could win. All I have is a modest Dutch blog although I write in (pidgin) English. No, it was because two of my blogger friends in the UK were nominated: Catherine of Not Dressed as Lamb and Nikki of Midlife Chic. They were cheered on by most of the members of the Over40Collective. This group of women promotes fashion and style of women over 40. Only the seventh member of this Collective, Lizzy, couldn’t be there because it was her son’s birthday and she has her priorities right. I met all of them (and more bloggers) in May last year at the 3040 Blogger Meet, remember? That was fun too!
First let me introduce you to the bunch you see in the top photo with me grinning like an idiot on the left. They are all gorgeous, but I know they all have their individual body styling issues. Don’t be deceived by this glamour, they are normal women. Women who know how to style themselves well. I was wearing my tuxedo suit (more pictures of the suit in this post from 2013. The trousers have a line of sequins at the sides). The Paris necklace did a fine job, this time worn in a row of three.
Below: top row first, then bottom row and from left to right:
Annette The Lady of Style, Catherine Not Dressed as Lamb and Michelle Michelle Tyler
Michelle The Barefaced Chic, Nikki Midlife Chic and Lisa The Sequinist
And the last one of the Over40Collective (not at the awards but celebrating her son’s birthday): Lizzy of What Lizzy Loves.
I thought I ought to mention her too. It must have been hard enough for her to miss this.
Below: Mr MC (Nikki’s husband), Michelle and Nikki. As they arrived we had a little chat. Nikki was wearing a faux fur jacket on her blue velvet jumpsuit.
Below: Annette and Lisa arriving. Big hugs and kisses. And no, Annette wasn’t flushed, just bad photography on my part.
Below: Annette wore a little bolero on her dress. Lisa’s flower dress is see-through but with a dress underneath it.
Below: Michelle, Catherine and Nikki. Not only were they dressed like professional catwalk models, they were also smart in wearing colourful clutches. I didn’t….. must invest in these.
Below: Michelle (Tyler). I adored this dress as well. See.. another bright clutch and orange shoes. They add even more interest to this already beautiful dress.
Below: Annette had taken her bolero off, looking so elegant. With perfect accessories, as always. Sorry for the blurry photo.
Below: Lisa, Andrew (Michelle (B)’s husband and Michelle (B – of Barefaced Chic). Lisa loves bling, hence the necklace. She loves this bling so much, she decided to sell them in her online shop.
Below: Catherine’s husband Keith was also present to take photos (haven’t got a photo of him, but you can see him on his own blog: Silver Londoner). That didn’t mean Catherine left it all up to him to take pictures. She is a professional photographer (taught it as well) and makes perfect shots. Here she is taking a photo of Annette.
Below: in anticipation….
The event was big, with lots of guests and many categories. Fashion was ours of course.
Then…. drumroll… the 8 finalists of the category Fashion were shown and… Nikki came Second !! Woohoo. (I got this picture below of Michelle (B)’s video on her blog).
Below: oh yes Nikki was very pleased and rather shy about it.
What Catherine hadn’t expected, as she has been nominated twice before, happened this year. She was the winner of the UK Blog Award 2017, category Fashion. What a night!!
Below: a very short video of the proud moment when Catherine picked up her award.
Below: afterwards there was a group photo. Which I photobombed haha. No, not really, they were kind enough to ask me to join. (Credits photo: Michelle of The Barefaced Chic, or rather her husband.)
It was a memorable night and I had lots of fun with the girls. The next morning Catherine, Annette, Lisa and Michelle (R) met for brunch but I cannot show you any photos of that. They were all terrible. The brunch was heartwarming though. Afterwards I walked with Annette through Notting Hill Gardens and had lunch with her before flying back.
If you want to see more pictures of the UK Blog Award 2017 you should click on the links below. They will bring you to the posts of some of the others.
- Midlife Chic (towards the end of the post you will see an absolutely ridiculous photo of me in a plastic poncho. Yes, at the Awards. You will laugh.)
- The Barefaced Chic
- Not Dressed as Lamb
- The Lady of Style
More about my London stay next week. Would you like to keep up with my weekly posts? Then you can sign up here to receive an email every time I publish a new post.
Greetje
As always, Greetje, you make us feel as if we are there with you with your fun commentary.
What a bunch of great looking women. Who says women peak in their twenties?? All the women you pictured looked stylish and confident brought on, as we know, by experience and perspective that the young don’t have.
I’m glad you were able to enjoy each others’ company!
And indeed, I thought that our group looked better than the younger ones. Of course there were exceptions, but in general, we were a good looking bunch. Which is very nice when you are over 40 (in my case over 60 haha).
Lovely documentary of the event. Congratulations to the winners. And to all the good friends — the best part. Everyone looks gorgeous, too. 🙂
I thought the same: everyone looked gorgeous. My husband thought I was underdressed. Compared to the others I agree, but I never have such events and wasn’t prepared to spend money on a dress that I can never wear again. My “tuxedo suit” had to do.
Ah Greetje I’d almost forgotten about that photograph of you in the plastic poncho – you made me laugh so much! It was a truly wonderful evening, made all the more special because I got to see you again 🙂
Lovely post.
Michelle xxx
Thanks Michelle. What can I say? Likewise!! You all made me feel so welcome. Thank you so much. And if you are ever in Amsterdam, please let me know.
That was such a special night, Greetje, and I’m so happy you were able to come for it! It is always great fun to read your take on your adventures, so this time it was doubly nice having been there for it too. I’m glad you didn’t post photos from The Morning After; they were absolutely dreadful.
I’m already looking forward to the next time you are here or that I come to your neck of the woods.
Also, I have to just correct you that your blog is HARDLY ‘pidgin English’. As is often the case, many people who speak English as a second language speak it better than those of us who speak it as a first one. You are a super example of that. xxx
Oh but I know my English is absolutely not perfect. I really need a native speaker to edit my writing. Just haven’t found such a fool yet. “Fool” as in “I will do it every week for nothing, sure… why not?”.
As you have roots in Amsterdam, there is a good chance of you coming over one day. Don’t forgot to contact me then. And yes, those Morning After photos were really bad, weren’t they? One or two of us looked good in a picture but then the rest didn’t. It varied who looked bad and who looked good. I should virtually cut them up and glue them together haha.
I thoroughly enjoyed my evening and morning with you lot. As we say in The Netherlands: “It was like a hot bath”. (I love to literally translate these sayings haha.)
Loved your roundup and photos. Hope there is a blogger meet up this year. I would love to meet you.
Gail
Thanks Gail. I don’t know of any blogger meet up this year. I was supposed to go to New York but the “funding” is a bit of a problem. Sigh.
What a brilliant post Greetje. It must have been a great experience to share with all of these lovely ladies. Your photos are fab and really capture the dazzle and fun of the evening. Blogging is a wonderful way to make and cement friendships and with every time you meet up, this must be a real joy. Thanks so much for sharing this special event.
Anna x
http://www.annasislandstyle.com
It was the opportunity to meet the girls again whom I got to know IRL last year which tempted me to go. Even more than being at the awards. And yes it was a lovely experience. Yay for blogging and the fun relationships which it provides.
A wonderful review of an exciting night for all. So happy that you could attend! Everyone looked stunning! I love your trousers with sequins, Greetje. Thanks for sharing the joy!
The girls were very welcoming. And what a joy they won!!
glad to see all those Fabulous Ladies (including you!) so elegantly dressed and having fun alltogether!, that’s the best part of blogging, for sure!
So much fabulousness!
besos
I totally agree. The interaction with readers and the blogger meetings are such great things about blogging.
Everyone looks stylish and beautiful! A great event and an occasion to meet friends…London is a very interesting city!
Congratulations to Catherine! !
Yes, it was a memorable and stylish evening with great results. Turin and Amsterdam are great cities too. Also to meet friends haha.
I LOVE this post. Your photos are stunning, even the ones you felt were flawed – they weren’t. They are so of-the-moment and I like that, moving with the rush of the evening. And the winning moment footage is priceless.
I’m glad you could join the group. AND, I’m so happy you didn’t have the same handbag as everyone else!! Hurray! Don’t get one! Hahaha. My favourite photo is the one of you laughing. You look fantastic, as does everyone else there. Thanks for the coverage.
I was a bit disappointed with myself that I had not brought my bright blue clutch. With a black and white outfit you can add any colour. At least I made you happy with my black evening bag ☺️.
I was amazed how good my hair looked in these pictures. I have two photos from the beginning of the evening, AFTER I had just done it up again in the toilet, and they looked terrible. I tell you, my hair is leading its own life and has a mind of its own.
You didn’t click through to the blog of Midlife Chic, did you? You would have loved that photo of me in a plastic poncho. (Link with that text, fairly at the bottom of my post).
Yes, I did see the rain poncho! That is a FANTASTIC photo!! Hahaha. I checked everyone’s write-up – it was such a big event, for the over-40 crowd especially. I’m happy for Catherine.
I knew you’d like it ?.
I enjoyed your covering of the event very much! Almost as if I was there??? it must have been very exciting to be there!
It was exciting to see whether they would win. After that was in the bag (?) we just had fun. And chatted. And the next day talk talk talk again. Very nice.
Greetje,
What a fabulous event and extraordinary looking group of women! Congrats to Catherine and Nikki too, for second place. I love Anna’s embroidered dress, and Catherine’s dress, cut out, and exposed at just the right places. Excellent coverage of this event. I almost feel like I was there!
You look very elegant and chic in your tuxedo jacket , ( I love the cream with black trim) and great patterned trousers.
Loved the short video.
You all looked like you wee having such fun! Inspirational feature , Greetje!
xx, Elle
http://www.theellediaries.com/blog/
Ah thank you Elle. Ron said it was sort of all right, but he couldn’t get excited over this post and doubted whether my readers would like it. Statistics will tell!
Catherine normally, never has a cleavage. I was very surprised to see her in that dress. Which was magnificent on her. And the woman in the embroidered dress is Lisa.
This looks like you had great fun. I love that you wore pants and not a long gown.
Oh I would have liked to wear an evening gown, especially when I saw how good the others looked. But it is a bad investment for me. So the suit and the necklace had to do. Had I thought it through a bit better, I would have brought a bright blue clutch. Pity.
Greetje, I think you looked lovely, elegant and sophisticated, your smiles are absolutely radiant, there is also nothing wrong with your english, your blog is my very favourite, so honest and it always makes me smile.
You would get my vote anytime.
Carol, my dear, what a lovely compliments. It is because of comments like these I love to blog. No, that is not true haha. Don’t get me wrong, such a comment is the icing on the cake and very, very much appreciated. But I blog because I love everything about the proces. From buying clothes (heh heh), to coming up with an outfit, the photos, the selecting, cropping, making text and the social media around it. I hope I can keep you entertained for a long time.
Great summery of the event. It must have been lots of fun. So fab that 2 40+ bloggers took the top prizes in the fashion category!
And I can tell you.. this over 40 bunch looked a lot better than most of the younger ones. With exceptions of course. However in general….
We got champaign (prosecco?) as we arrived but unfortunately there was none after the ceremony. When you want it the most. i suppose the organisers wanted a bit more profit…
As always Greetje, you’ve provided a virtual reality feel to this little tour of the event. How lovely to have access with just a brief flight and the desire to meet up with like minded European women of the blogging world.
I think you are actually stand out as quite sophisticated in your tuxedo look with Parisienne jewelry! Great job all around Greetje! I really enjoyed getting your point of view on the festivities.
Ron thought I was underdressed. I felt a bit underdressed when I saw the ladies in those marvellous dresses. But not much. And I don’t have such parties very often (none at all actually), so an evening gown is a bad investment. I think the Paris necklace saved me.
And yes, it is only an hour by plane (and another hour by train) to get to the heart of London. The long wait and custom queues make it a long(er) trip. And I was very pleased they wanted me around as they are a group who meets very regularly.
I wish there were more events where I live that requires dressing up. You are a glamorous group, and it’s wonderful that Catherine received an award!
In my neck of the wood there aren’t many dressing up parties either. Which is why I didn’t buy a special dress but used my “tuxedo suit”. Ron said I was underdressed, but I thought my Paris necklace helped (grin).
How wonderful you were able te be there Greetje. You all look so powerful and glamorous!
I thought the same when I saw the picture of us all together. I already noticed during the evening how good the over40 bunch looked compared to the younger ones. ??
How fabulous that you got to attend Greetje!! I’m assuming you had to be invited, so what a kick in the pants!!!
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
No… you didn’t have to be invited, you just had to buy a ticket haha.
I was reluctant to go as I didn’t want to crash their party. But they came back to me saying they would love to have me there. And indeed they made me feel very welcome. It was a great night and we had a lovely brunch the next morning too only those photos were sooo bad.
All of you are so beautiful and elegant. I especially like your look, Greetje, which is very French (or if you prefer, European).
All of you are so beautiful and elegant. I especially like your look, Greetje, which is very French (or if you prefer, European).
What a brilliant post Greetje. It must have been a great experience to share with all of these lovely ladies. Your photos are fab and really capture the dazzle and fun of the evening. Blogging is a wonderful way to make and cement friendships and with every time you meet up, this must be a real joy. Thanks so much for sharing this special event.
Anna x
http://www.annasislandstyle.com
It was the opportunity to meet the girls again whom I got to know IRL last year which tempted me to go. Even more than being at the awards. And yes it was a lovely experience. Yay for blogging and the fun relationships which it provides.
This is the reason we blog, right? To make new friends. What a wonderful event, and I’m so thrilled you took the opportunity to attend and be among some other great women, like yourself. I’m going to head over and check out their links, I can’t pass up seeing you in the poncho.
Oh you’ll have a laugh, seeing me in a plastic poncho. Recorded by Nikki’s husband. With friends like that who needs… haha. Just joking.
This is the reason we blog, right? To make new friends. What a wonderful event, and I’m so thrilled you took the opportunity to attend and be among some other great women, like yourself. I’m going to head over and check out their links, I can’t pass up seeing you in the poncho.
Oh you’ll have a laugh, seeing me in a plastic poncho. Recorded by Nikki’s husband. With friends like that who needs… haha. Just joking.
A wonderful review of an exciting night for all. So happy that you could attend! Everyone looked stunning! I love your trousers with sequins, Greetje. Thanks for sharing the joy!
The girls were very welcoming. And what a joy they won!!
glad to see all those Fabulous Ladies (including you!) so elegantly dressed and having fun alltogether!, that’s the best part of blogging, for sure!
So much fabulousness!
besos
I totally agree. The interaction with readers and the blogger meetings are such great things about blogging.
Everyone looks stylish and beautiful! A great event and an occasion to meet friends…London is a very interesting city!
Congratulations to Catherine! !
Yes, it was a memorable and stylish evening with great results. Turin and Amsterdam are great cities too. Also to meet friends haha.
Greetje,
What a fabulous event and extraordinary looking group of women! Congrats to Catherine and Nikki too, for second place. I love Anna’s embroidered dress, and Catherine’s dress, cut out, and exposed at just the right places. Excellent coverage of this event. I almost feel like I was there!
You look very elegant and chic in your tuxedo jacket , ( I love the cream with black trim) and great patterned trousers.
Loved the short video.
You all looked like you wee having such fun! Inspirational feature , Greetje!
xx, Elle
http://www.theellediaries.com/blog/
Ah thank you Elle. Ron said it was sort of all right, but he couldn’t get excited over this post and doubted whether my readers would like it. Statistics will tell!
Catherine normally, never has a cleavage. I was very surprised to see her in that dress. Which was magnificent on her. And the woman in the embroidered dress is Lisa.
I LOVE this post. Your photos are stunning, even the ones you felt were flawed – they weren’t. They are so of-the-moment and I like that, moving with the rush of the evening. And the winning moment footage is priceless.
I’m glad you could join the group. AND, I’m so happy you didn’t have the same handbag as everyone else!! Hurray! Don’t get one! Hahaha. My favourite photo is the one of you laughing. You look fantastic, as does everyone else there. Thanks for the coverage.
I was a bit disappointed with myself that I had not brought my bright blue clutch. With a black and white outfit you can add any colour. At least I made you happy with my black evening bag ☺️.
I was amazed how good my hair looked in these pictures. I have two photos from the beginning of the evening, AFTER I had just done it up again in the toilet, and they looked terrible. I tell you, my hair is leading its own life and has a mind of its own.
You didn’t click through to the blog of Midlife Chic, did you? You would have loved that photo of me in a plastic poncho. (Link with that text, fairly at the bottom of my post).
Yes, I did see the rain poncho! That is a FANTASTIC photo!! Hahaha. I checked everyone’s write-up – it was such a big event, for the over-40 crowd especially. I’m happy for Catherine.
I knew you’d like it ?.
Greetje, I think you looked lovely, elegant and sophisticated, your smiles are absolutely radiant, there is also nothing wrong with your english, your blog is my very favourite, so honest and it always makes me smile.
You would get my vote anytime.
Carol, my dear, what a lovely compliments. It is because of comments like these I love to blog. No, that is not true haha. Don’t get me wrong, such a comment is the icing on the cake and very, very much appreciated. But I blog because I love everything about the proces. From buying clothes (heh heh), to coming up with an outfit, the photos, the selecting, cropping, making text and the social media around it. I hope I can keep you entertained for a long time.
This looks like you had great fun. I love that you wore pants and not a long gown.
Oh I would have liked to wear an evening gown, especially when I saw how good the others looked. But it is a bad investment for me. So the suit and the necklace had to do. Had I thought it through a bit better, I would have brought a bright blue clutch. Pity.
I enjoyed your covering of the event very much! Almost as if I was there??? it must have been very exciting to be there!
It was exciting to see whether they would win. After that was in the bag (?) we just had fun. And chatted. And the next day talk talk talk again. Very nice.
As always Greetje, you’ve provided a virtual reality feel to this little tour of the event. How lovely to have access with just a brief flight and the desire to meet up with like minded European women of the blogging world.
I think you are actually stand out as quite sophisticated in your tuxedo look with Parisienne jewelry! Great job all around Greetje! I really enjoyed getting your point of view on the festivities.
Ron thought I was underdressed. I felt a bit underdressed when I saw the ladies in those marvellous dresses. But not much. And I don’t have such parties very often (none at all actually), so an evening gown is a bad investment. I think the Paris necklace saved me.
And yes, it is only an hour by plane (and another hour by train) to get to the heart of London. The long wait and custom queues make it a long(er) trip. And I was very pleased they wanted me around as they are a group who meets very regularly.
How wonderful you were able te be there Greetje. You all look so powerful and glamorous!
I thought the same when I saw the picture of us all together. I already noticed during the evening how good the over40 bunch looked compared to the younger ones. ??
I wish there were more events where I live that requires dressing up. You are a glamorous group, and it’s wonderful that Catherine received an award!
In my neck of the wood there aren’t many dressing up parties either. Which is why I didn’t buy a special dress but used my “tuxedo suit”. Ron said I was underdressed, but I thought my Paris necklace helped (grin).
How fabulous that you got to attend Greetje!! I’m assuming you had to be invited, so what a kick in the pants!!!
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
No… you didn’t have to be invited, you just had to buy a ticket haha.
I was reluctant to go as I didn’t want to crash their party. But they came back to me saying they would love to have me there. And indeed they made me feel very welcome. It was a great night and we had a lovely brunch the next morning too only those photos were sooo bad.
As always, Greetje, you make us feel as if we are there with you with your fun commentary.
What a bunch of great looking women. Who says women peak in their twenties?? All the women you pictured looked stylish and confident brought on, as we know, by experience and perspective that the young don’t have.
I’m glad you were able to enjoy each others’ company!
And indeed, I thought that our group looked better than the younger ones. Of course there were exceptions, but in general, we were a good looking bunch. Which is very nice when you are over 40 (in my case over 60 haha).
Great summery of the event. It must have been lots of fun. So fab that 2 40+ bloggers took the top prizes in the fashion category!
And I can tell you.. this over 40 bunch looked a lot better than most of the younger ones. With exceptions of course. However in general….
We got champaign (prosecco?) as we arrived but unfortunately there was none after the ceremony. When you want it the most. i suppose the organisers wanted a bit more profit…
That was such a special night, Greetje, and I’m so happy you were able to come for it! It is always great fun to read your take on your adventures, so this time it was doubly nice having been there for it too. I’m glad you didn’t post photos from The Morning After; they were absolutely dreadful.
I’m already looking forward to the next time you are here or that I come to your neck of the woods.
Also, I have to just correct you that your blog is HARDLY ‘pidgin English’. As is often the case, many people who speak English as a second language speak it better than those of us who speak it as a first one. You are a super example of that. xxx
Oh but I know my English is absolutely not perfect. I really need a native speaker to edit my writing. Just haven’t found such a fool yet. “Fool” as in “I will do it every week for nothing, sure… why not?”.
As you have roots in Amsterdam, there is a good chance of you coming over one day. Don’t forgot to contact me then. And yes, those Morning After photos were really bad, weren’t they? One or two of us looked good in a picture but then the rest didn’t. It varied who looked bad and who looked good. I should virtually cut them up and glue them together haha.
I thoroughly enjoyed my evening and morning with you lot. As we say in The Netherlands: “It was like a hot bath”. (I love to literally translate these sayings haha.)
Lovely documentary of the event. Congratulations to the winners. And to all the good friends — the best part. Everyone looks gorgeous, too. 🙂
I thought the same: everyone looked gorgeous. My husband thought I was underdressed. Compared to the others I agree, but I never have such events and wasn’t prepared to spend money on a dress that I can never wear again. My “tuxedo suit” had to do.
Loved your roundup and photos. Hope there is a blogger meet up this year. I would love to meet you.
Gail
Thanks Gail. I don’t know of any blogger meet up this year. I was supposed to go to New York but the “funding” is a bit of a problem. Sigh.
Ah Greetje I’d almost forgotten about that photograph of you in the plastic poncho – you made me laugh so much! It was a truly wonderful evening, made all the more special because I got to see you again 🙂
Lovely post.
Michelle xxx
Thanks Michelle. What can I say? Likewise!! You all made me feel so welcome. Thank you so much. And if you are ever in Amsterdam, please let me know.