Freelance fashion stylist, events manager, PR consultant and author of www.mynewbestfriends.co.uk Karena Sedgwick gives us her life in dresses!

You first ever dress was: The dress I remember the most as a child was a pink bridesmaid’s frilly handmade satin ensemble, you got to love the 80s! I looked a little like Bo-Peep and insisted on having the pink dress, the other 6 bridesmaids were the other 6 colours of a rainbow. I felt like such a princess.

Your oldest dress: The oldest dress i have is a Jaeger vintage nautical striped pencil dress, I love it and it was such a bargain at £2 from a second hand thrift store! I wish I experimented more with vintage, my best friend has a great eye for a vintage bargain we should shop together more!

Your most expensive dress: I love a bit of Erdem, the silk feels amazing on my skin and it fits like a glove. Its worth about £1000. I usually hire or borrow expensive dresses for events; it keeps my bank manager a lot happier!

The dress that has seen the most dance floors: It’s got to be the LBD. I picked up a sexy sequinned LaRock LBD in the Barneys sale whilst at New York Fashion week a couple of years ago; it’s my fail safe lucky dress!

Your favourite dress: My favourite has got to be the floor-length, one shoulder vintage gown given as a present by the gorgeous owner of Love Is Boutique, Tunbridge Wells. I would wear it every day if I could! It’s absolutely decadent.

What was the last event you wore a dress to and what did you wear? It was a Fashion show with Fashion TV and I wore a bandeau mini dress that I picked up in Glasgow Urban Outfitters in the sale for £10 in every colour, so easy to wear, versatile and easy to accesorize. I like to mix high-street and designer and couldn’t resist matching with a pair of Choo’s and some fabulous bling!

Mini or Maxi? With the sun shining finally coming out to play, I love to dig out a maxi dress. There are some amazing designs on the high-street right now. I have my eye on so many! I would love to have the legs to wear a mini but I’m really self-conscious about my pins!

Who are your red carpet idols? Who always gets it right? Scarlett Johansson and Elle MacPherson, so classically beautiful and always look a million dollars.

What is your most memorable dress moment? When I was 21, a boyfriend took me to Amberley Castle for New Year’s Eve. We had a suite for the evening and on the foot of the bed was a gift with my name written on it. I pulled out the most stunning knee length backless, embellished evening dress, by Karen Millen. I wore it with silver D&G sandals, a vintage diamond cuff bracelet and earrings and although the temperature was minus 3 outside when we were standing on the drawbridge of the castle at midnight watching fireworks, I felt so amazing in the dress and so overwhelmed with the perfect evening, I didn’t even notice I had turned blue with goose bumps. I will probs never wear the dress again but it will always sit in my wardrobe and make me smile when I see it.

Which dress would be top of your Girl Meets Dress lust list? How could I possibly choose one, there are so many I would love to wear. For my next Black tie event, I will definitely hire the Ruth Tarvydas Limelight dress but I am a huge fan of your Fendi and Halston Heritage pieces.

As someone who always has a new event to attend – how would Girl Meets Dress designer dress hire complement your life? It simply makes life so easy, and designer fashion so accessible to those who do not have the budget to splash out thousands on a dress you would probably only wear once. It’s such a great initiative and for girls on the go, saves a lot of time and effort. I love it!

Über Stylish Fashionista & Author of the  ‘What I Wore Today’ blog Talks Dresses & Lust Lists….

You first ever dress was: Oooh I couldn’t really say, as a child I used to be dressed in hand-me-downs from an American friend of the family and they were always very ‘different’. It probably fueled my desire to have clothes that stood out.

Your oldest dress: I wear a few of my Mother’s dresses from the 70s, including the dress one of her bridesmaids wore. Some of my most ‘on trend’ dresses this season are nearly 40 years old! 

Your most expensive dress: A very special Burberry dress. It was the first LBD I ever bought.

Seen the most dancefloors: I have a terrible habit of not wearing the same dress out dancing more than a few times (which is why I’m a fan of GMD!) but the dress I have worn the most is probably a cheapie cheap Zara dress. It fits as though it was perfectly tailored to my curves, but it’s dark, insanely cheap and can be shoved in the washing machine so I never have to panic about spilling drinks on it.

Favourite dress: A stunning emerald green silk halterneck maxi dress by Belle & Bunty.

What was the last event you wore a dress to and what did you wear? I hosted an event at Mango’s flagship UK store with Stylist Magazine last week, I wore a gorgeous camel and red colour block dress.

Mini or Maxi? Both! I wear a lot of maxi dresses, I’m 5ft11 with shoes on so I don’t have to worry about drowning under a maxi dress. But I’m learning to love mini dresses too, as long as I can wear tights – I hate my legs!

Who are your red carpet idols? Who always gets it right? I’m in love with Hailee Steinfeld, there are no words for how much I love her. Either she’s a very stylish 14 year old or she has a very talented stylist! Both her Oscar and BAFTA dresses this year were my favourite red carpet gowns of awards season. Penelope Cruz is another firm favourite.

What is your most memorable dress moment? Oooh I couldn’t possibly divulge that, but it involved a black lace mini dress and a rather nice young man.

Which dress would be top of your Girl Meets Dress lust list? I am a huge fan of Christopher Kane, he’s always incredibly sweet to work with and he is sickeningly talented. I love this accordian silk dress . 

As someone who always has a new event to attend – how would Girl Meets Dress complement your life? I always like to wear something new, it’s a bad habit but I know I’m not the only girl like it! GMD not only solves the dress hire issue, it also enables girls to wear dresses which might otherwise be prohibitively expensive. I don’t want to spend hundreds of pounds on a dress I feel like I can only wear to an event once, so I’d rather pay a fraction of the price to have it for one weekend. The GMD collection is so well curated too, I’ve discovered dresses I’d have never have come across otherwise.

Laetitia Wajnapel – Blogger and Freelance Editorial & Social Media consultant

Laetitia is a Parisian Journalist now living in London. In 2007 she started MademoiselleRobot.com,
a Fashion & Lifestyle blog. Laetitia has been featured in UK and international publications such as
The Telegraph, The Times, Grazia and Vogue.com and now works as a freelance editorial &
social media consultant for fashion brands.

What is your most favourite dress you’ve ever worn?
I have a few dresses I can wear over and over because they are so versatile. My absolute favourite dress is a vintage Belleville Sassoon silk dress with hearts all over it. It is really beautiful and the most flattering dress I own.

What was the last event you wore a dress to and what did you wear?
I wear a lot of dresses, but the last event I wore a dress to was a Halloween party at a friend’s house. The dress was a black velvet mini with a pearl embellished Peter Pan collar (pictured)

Which dress would be top of your Girl Meets Dress lust list?
Probably this Luella dress, simply because I really wanted to buy it when it was in store, but I missed it!
http://hire.girlmeetsdress.com/products/panelled-mix-dress

Mini or Maxi?
Definitely Mini, although I have been experimenting with Maxi a little in the Summer.

Who are your red carpet idols? Who always gets it right?
Zooey Deschanel has the style I most relate to, but I also love Maggie Gyllenhaal and Chloe Sevigny.

As someone who always has a new event to attend – how does Girl Meets Dress complement your life?
It is fun to be able to borrow a dress for an event, a bit like raiding a super cool girl’s closet before a party in high school! I can’t really afford to buy a new dress for every event I attend and I only have a limited wardrobe so being able to borrow something for a couple of days is ideal really!

What is your most memorable dress moment?
It has to be my wedding dress – cream and black silk Luella from her last collection. Between the time I walked into the shop and bought it, there can’t have been more than 5mn. It is stunning.

Laetitia’s links:
http://www.mademoisellerobot.com/