Like so many of my post titles, I suspect or at least I hope this one is a little misleading. While my first project with Monica Vinader may have come to an end, with any luck it’s just the start of much more to come. First and foremost, I’d like to say a huge, huge, HUGE thank you to all of you lovely lot who entered the “Make It Your Own” competition and/or joined me at Monica Vinader’s South Molton Street boutique last week. I’m not going to lie, I was seriously nervous about hosting an event for the fash pack’s favourite jewellery brand but much to my relief and thanks to everyone who came along, it was a wonderful evening on every level.

So, after months of meetings, phone calls and emails, two blog posts and God knows how many tweets, instagrams and Facebook posts, the final and most important part of my collaboration with Monica Vinader finally arrived last Thursday. As I teetered my high heeled way down Bond Street at around 4pm, I was shaking like a leaf. I don’t know whether you ever hosted a party as a teenager but my memories of doing so mainly revolve around panicking that no one was going to turn up. Well hosting a soiree with a major label is much the same, only the stakes are higher. Wearing my favourite Whistles cocktail dress and so many jewels I felt positively regal, I anxiously waited by my gorgeous Ladurée macaroon Eiffel tower (thank you MV team!) as the clock struck 5pm, then ten past, and still no one arrived. Thankfully by half past the place had filled up and my urge to lock myself in the loo and weep swiftly subsided.

Much as I adore getting my style on, I was slightly apprehensive about inflicting it on unsuspecting attendees who no doubt had perfectly good ideas about what rocks to rock already. After all, there are few things more maddening than being patronised, especially when it comes to something as personal as jewellery. Plus, there was always the risk that said customer was just there for the free champers and wouldn’t be thrilled about some chick in a fancy frock trying to dress them in diamonds. Evidently, luck really was on my side that evening and when, after one or two confidence boosting glasses of champagne, I got styling people seemed (or at least pretended) to appreciate it.

If ever there were any doubt that I have very specific (and perhaps predictable) tastes, my event with Monica Vinader dispelled them forever. As you all know, I have a major weakness for all things shiny and green so naturally tried to get everyone in Siren pendants and cocktail rings. Unsurprisingly I ended up going home with a nugget ring in Green Onyx for myself… I just couldn’t resist it.

Before I get even more carried away retelling the events of the evening, I MUST fill you in on our “Make It Your Own” competition winner! As you probably remember from my previous posts, Monica Vinader and I challenged you to tell us what you’d have engraved on your own Ava bracelet and why, whoever’s choice I most adored would receive a Create Your Own necklace worth up to £250 and the aforementioned arm candy. So, without further ado (and I do heart a bit of “ado”) the winner is…*drum roll*.. HELEN STEVENS with her entry…

“I would surprise my friend who is going through a really tough time by giving her Ava with ‘stars’ engraved. We were approached by a complete stranger a few months ago in New York who told her not to worry because all her stars were aligned and everything would sort itself out – hopefully this would keep her smiling and remind her that everything will turn out just great”

Thank you again to everyone who got involved and all the lovely readers I got to meet last week, and of course Monica Vinader! If you didn’t make it along to last thursday’s style-a-thon, or simply feel like indulging in another customisation session, then I highly recommend taking the Create Your Own page, not exactly conducive to concentration but full of pretty things.

Love Ella. X

Ps) #LaPetiteMV

Given that I was hosting my Monica Vinader event on Thursday and have precisely no self restraint whatsoever, attending the Warehouse Summer Party the previous evening was a fairly high risk move. But then, it sounded like so much fun I physically couldn’t help myself. Once I’d slipped into my little sparkly number there was no going back and even the fact that the event was being held all the way over in Hoxton couldn’t deter me. Spoiler alert, I didn’t end up dancing until dawn and was tucked up in bed by the respectable hour of 11.30pm (maybe I’m getting sensible in my old age?!) but this bash was certainly fab while it, or rather I, lasted.

As my fellow Londoners will be bitterly well aware, most of last week was unseasonably cold and I was more than a little reluctant to make the tube-plus-walk journey to East London wearing a playsuit better suited to Ibiza than rainy Hoxton. Luckily my bookers at Select Model Management were also attending the bash so I managed to wangle a ride in their chauffer driven Mercedes, a far mor glamourous way to enter than shivering my way over from the station. Despite arriving a mere matter of minutes after 7pm, the minimalist chic venue was already pretty packed with familiar faces including Julia Sarr-Jamois, Millie Mackintosh and Dionne Bromfield sipping Lychee confections, snacking on macaroons and chatting with Warehouse’s lovely Directors Paula and Caroline (below).

After wangling myself a glass of wine (tasty cocktails = mega hangover) one of the drop-dead-GORGEOUS roller skating waiters presenting me with a glass ball containing my invitation to try of Warehouse’s “Style Me If You Can” campaign, launching this autumn. You all know how partial I am to a spot of styling so naturally I leapt at the opportunity to put together a look although. The whole idea is that you choose your ensemble and it arrives 90 minutes later, which much to my delight, and for some unknown reason surprise, it did making me very glad I’d picked a certain A-line leather skirt. Next, I was ushered outside to do a short interview for Warehouse TV, something I was slightly nervous about given what happened when I did one for Village Bicycle last Summer. Thankfully they didn’t ask anything I could potentially misconstrue and it all seemed to go pretty well.

My official “work” duties done and dusted for the night, I grabbed a Moscow Mule (yep, gave in to the cocktails) and set about mincing, mingling and generally having a good time. My music taste generally revolves around pop-tastic RnB so with a playlist ranging from Mariah and TLC to Dr Dre and Rhianna, I was absolutely in my element that evening. But of course, no fash bash would be complete without a hotter-than-hot performer. On this occasion, the task fell to A*M*E who treated us to a dance perfect rendition of her hit single Need U (100%).

We drank, we danced and we, ok I, managed to get home at a vaguely sensible hour… All in all, a result!

Love Ella. X