What To Wear To A New Year's Eve Party | An Embellished Cocktail Dress

Bastyan Arin cocktail dress with deep V back

This is the third in my series of What To Wear To A Christmas Party posts - and as 2014 is just three weeks away, I thought I'd show a glamorous look suitable for a New Year's Eve cocktail party!

I was contacted by London based brand Bastyan to choose and style a dress for a festive party - they sell beautifully tailored, structured pieces that are all about ageless style and quality. I chose the form-fitting Arin embellished deep V back dress in Oyster grey - and it fits like a glove. It has the most beautiful diamanté, bead and chain embellished low cut back; I was a bit worried it would be too low, but it was in fact perfect (there's no way I'm a girl who can go without a bra, as you can probably tell from these photos)! There's also a clever concealed zip at the back of the hem which makes the dress a whole lot easier to walk in (I kept it zipped up for the photo shoot).

So as the star of the show was that embellished deep V back, I kept the jewellery simple - crystal drop earrings and a few bracelets - and I wore my studded black heels to echo the back detail of the dress. There are lots of box clutches in the shops right now, and my black and white horse print clutch is the perfect contrast to the grey of the dress without detracting any attention from it. The look was just crying out for some black and white photos as I felt more than a little red carpet-ready wearing it - the Arin dress would be more than worthy of an event like that (you'd have to practice the "looking over your shoulder" pose for the paps)! This is the perfect time of year to splash out on a really special dress if you're able to, so go for a classic style that has some sort of interesting detail to it. I think I've found my outfit for the post Christmas party I've recently been invited to...!

Grey cocktail dress, black & white print clutch

[I have to mention: With a dress like this you must wear Spanx. Unless you're an Olympic gymnast, there is no way you can wear a light-coloured, fitted dress without smoothing underwear. Bodycon dresses are unforgiving and you want all the attention on your beautiful dress, not your wobbly bits. I may be quite fit and reasonably in shape, but before I'd put on my magic knickers my reflection was not very kind to me - gravity takes its toll after the age of 40, no matter how fit or slim you are! So shapewear is not for "sucking it all in"; it's designed to create a smooth silhouette. Always, always get the ones that come halfway down your thighs - like these Spanx - or you'll still end up with VPL. Without them the back of your dress will still get a lot of attention, but for all the wrong reasons!]

Shop my look! I've picked out some of the most beautiful party dresses from Bastyan (including mine in the middle!) and a gorgeous selection of box clutches as mine's sadly no longer available...

Dress: c/o Bastyan, Bag: c/o French Connection, Heels: New Look (old), Earrings: Unknown (similar - US shipping; similar - UK shipping), Bauble ring: Debenhams, Fingertip ring (set): Asos, Bracelets: H&M / Debenhams / New Look, Watch: Debenhams (similar), Nails: Nails Inc Limited Edition