This year Brownies all over the UK have been celebrating The Big Brownie Birthday as they reach 100 years old. I can remember celebrating Brownie’s 75th Birthday by taking part in a huge “Gang Show” so I was delighted that Rebecca had the opportunity to celebrate their Centenary.
On Friday night she attended a Big Brownie Ball with her fellow Brownies in Pembrokeshire. All the Brownie’s I saw looked absolutely beautiful in their gorgeous dresses.
Here, we share Rebecca’s Big Brownie Ball outfit. This style could also be useful for any Summer parties, proms or weddings coming up.
The Dress
We spent ages looking online at dresses. I loved the frilly, frothy Monsoon dresses. Rebecca wanted a long length turquoise dress. We found it very hard to find long dresses for young girls so we opened up our options.
Eventually we decided to have a look in the dresses instore at our local retail park. We went to Debenhams, which had a lovely selection online but not many instore and then Marks and Spencers.
We had seen this Yellow Pure Cotton Floral Dress (£24- £26) online and it hadn’t caught our eye. However, seeing it in M&S store, it really stood out and we liked how yellow makes a refreshing change for a girl’s party dress.
It featured a Silver Bow Waistband so we decided to accessorise around this feature.
It also has a lovely yellow petticoat to give the dress fullness – this type of frill never fails to make you feel like a princess as you twirl around in it.
The Cover Up
As we expected it was so warm that this Cover Up was not needed but we had to have something ready “just in case”.
We chose this Next Party Cardigan (£10 – £16) in Champagne. Tesco and Asda do similar shrugs too. It had a sparkly finish which matched the silver well. We noticed Next had a lovely selection of Party Dresses too.
The Bag
Christmas time is the best time to be looking for a Sparkly Going out bag but luckily we found a Silver Sequin Bag in Peacocks (£5). It was an across body bag which meant Rebecca could keep her hands free for dancing and she was less likely to lose it.
Accessories
Rebecca wore her favourite Glow Beads Bracelet (£12), a floral necklace and ring set from M$S and hair accessories from Tesco.
She also had Silver nails which we painted the night before.
The Shoes
Rebecca wore Silver F&F Patent Bow Pumps (£5- £6). We also saw lovely Glitter Pumps at Debenhams.
Getting Ready
I always find the school run a bit stressful (having four kids and only two currently on the same base can lead to logistical nightmares!) so adding onto this the task of turning a school girl into a Princess was not going to be easy.
I tried to get everyone home as soon as possible. I gave everyone a snack. I chose a light snack of cucumber sandwiches and strawberries as I knew Rebecca would be really excited.
We had some cake too! Cake is always needed when there’s a party to go to! I felt a bit like Mammy when she is making Scarlett O’ Hara eat before she goes to the Ball in Gone With the Wind (although the cakes also remind me of The March sisters snacking on pretty cakes after the ball in Little Women.)
Then it was time to get ready! Once her dress and accessories were on I just gave her a small pony tail with a slightly backcombed “bump” and curled sections of her hair.
She had an amazing time. When I picked her up she looked so happy and most importantly had felt comfortable in herself all night. She did lose her new cardigan but she came home happy and in once piece so I have no worries about a piece of lost clothing.
This dress will make also look lovely with Yellow SunJellies Shoes and a cute bag on the beach on a Summer’s Day.
I’m glad she will be able to wear it lots of times again and bring back all the lovely memories of the Big Brownie Ball.
The only thing that didn’t go so well was I forgot to charge my Camera battery! I had planned to take lots of lovely shots for the family but had to make do with Camera phone ones instead! At least the subject still looks gorgeous! xxx
