Miss Hampshire

Last night I attended the Miss England semi-finals in Kelham Hall, Newark, Nottinghamshire, and what a night it was.

(Before I get into it I have to say I am so proud I managed to get to the venue at all. I had a cancelled train and when I finally rocked up to Newark I found the main road closed off as there was a fire in the town centre. I hope everyone is okay from it, and big thanks to Alex Miss Forest & Fens for my lift to Kelham Hall, and to Miss Basingstoke and her Mum for the ride and lodgings back!).

Let’s be honest – getting through the Miss England semi-finals is tough. 50-60 amazing contestants vying for ten spots who all in my opinion were great enough for the national stage. I didn’t envy the judges one bit last night!

The contestants first took to the stage in their amazing eco-wear creations which is always a favourite round of mine. This round really allows contestants to show their personalities, passions and causes and this year the semi-finalists outfits were incredible. There were some truly unique outfits as well as some great numbers demonstrating support for a number of charities including the British Legion and Breast Cancer UK.

With the contestants already taking part in a closed door interview beforehand and a country themed photoshoot earlier in the day, they now took to the stage one last time in evening wear. They were all so serene and elegant it was a real joy to watch.

Sitting beside me were a number of grand finalists who have already qualified for the national finals. We all had good friends competing so the girls on stage had some serious support from us all at the back of the room. It was great to meet new faces and catch up with the girls from last year.

I bought a raffle balloon from reigning Miss Leicestershire Holly Desai which unfortunately slipped out of my hand so I’ll never know if I was a winner! Stephanie Hill, Miss South Yorkshire performed a number of beautiful songs – her voice is stunning and she is just born to be a star. Both of these young ladies remind me of real Disney princesses – Jasmine and Elsa perhaps!?

Reigning Mr England Jordan Williams jetted in from Gibraltar where he had been judging their national competition. He sung a number of modern and classic songs and as usual had the whole audience in rapture!
A number of Mr England contestants were also attendance competing for the Top Model title. This went to Robert Dawe who I have met before and he does know how to rock a catwalk so well done to him and all the other Mr England finalists for putting on a great show for us.

Okay so now…. The results!

(Also big thanks to Mary and Angie for allowing us girlies to crown and sash the top 10. The two girls I ended up crowning are two of my absolute favourite friends, both Charlottes, in Miss England so you really made me the happiest girl, as I was so happy for them!)

Miss Popularity -  Charlotte Rudham, Miss Charity Queen
Miss Charity -  Rose Marnie, Wildcard BWAP Winner
Miss Publicity Queen – Sophie Smith, Miss Cheltenham (she won Come Dine With Me!)

Judges choices….

Miss Brighton Angel Collins
Miss Somerset Emily Saunders
Miss Bolton Laura Collins
Miss Rickmansworth Charlotte White
Miss Sandhurst Francesca Hull
Miss Skegness Olivia Green
Miss Norwich & District Cheraleigh Van Zanten

Well done all the contestants it is such a tough competition but please keep coming back and trying as you can only gain more experiences. Thank you to Angie, Rachel, Linford, Mark, Mary, Andrea, Diane, Lisa, Karina, Kerry, Kirsty, Andrew, Kev, Simon, Paul and anyone else I missed as the Miss England team just pull it off every time! (I’m very sorry if I did miss anyone I got in at 2.30AM yaaaaaaaawwwwwwn)

Looking forward to seeing my new buddies and the qualifying top 10 at the finals which is very very soon now!

P.S Thank you Sophie for lending me your dress! I had so many compliments!

P.P.S Big thanks to the Periscope team Lewie and Liv for pulling off live broadcasts of the show. Can't wait for the finals coverage either!

We also compete to make the best eco-friendly outfit in a Miss Eco fashion show. This outfit can be sourced from recycled materials, borrowed from a relative or bought from a charity shop.

So I was super excited to present Southampton City Council’s Upcycled Fashion Show as part of National Recycle Week to promote clothing reuse and recycling, so I could get some ideas for my Miss Eco outfit which I will wear at the Miss England finals in August.

Loretta, Southampton City Council’s Recycling Officer, organised a fantastic show with Gale who introduced me. The models were also so professional – and particularly the children who taught me a thing or two about catwalking!

There were 43 looks in total which was amazing to see that sheer amount of recycled items in one hour. One collection that really stood out was by Mille Butler-Hiorns, A Masters student from the Winchester School of Art, Millie created three outfits from repurposing old denim clothing in her wardrobe.

Tamara from Rosewood Free School finished the show in a lovely blue floral skirt and flower appliqué top. She was an absolute inspiration and afterwards we had a picture and I arranged to visit her school, which provides education and care for children with profound and multiple learning difficulties. I also promised her I would get her a crown so I will get hunting for a spare soon!

The full album from the event is located here.

Thank you to David Freeman for the photos and being supportive as usual. Best sponsor ever! Also thanks to my Step mum and Dad for coming along and watching me present.  Since I was a kid I have wanted to be a T.V. anchor so as soon as a get a mike in my hand I am in my element!

Thank you to Loretta, Gale and all the volunteers for putting on a great show and for my flowers, and a massive well done to all the amazing models; Tamara, Karen, Sue, Fiona, Amber, Kesha, Jilly, Elsie, Saskia, Opkar, Francesca, Cara, Isaac, Ruby, Jason, Viv, Millie, Sophie, Shobna, Becky, Christyne, Lucy and Veronika.

David is now officially my sponsor for the Miss England finals so I am very excited to be working with him and I hope to do him and his amazing photography skills proud. The Miss England competition is so tough this year and it is incredibly difficult to even pick out a top 15, so I am glad I have a sponsor with words of wisdom who can help me improve – and who has also photographed many former Miss England’s!

We first went to Furzey Gardens, which is a haven of tranquillity set in Minstead, in the heart of the New Forest. These beautiful gardens feature award winning public gardens and thirty or so fairy doors which you can explore! There were so many different colours and types of flowers so it was a great background for some of the floral outfits I brought with me.

Shooting three looks here was brilliant fun and the weather was perfect for the shoot.

We then headed down to Milford on Sea for a beach shoot. Now, normally I like Milford as it is such a picturesque little beach, but unfortunately by the time we got there it was blowing a gale and while we did get some good pictures, the wind kind of ruined my hair, makeup and my hat barely survived the fiasco. David remained super professional and still encouraged me to get some more good photos but I think I may need to reshoot some beach fashion ones in calmer winds!

Thank you for a great day David and thank you to my boyfriend Ian for being our lighting assistant for the day!

Suppliers of fabulous wedding gowns, special occasion and evening wear, Mon Cheri Europe allowed some of the Miss England finalists to pick out their evening gowns and have a few photos in the beautiful dresses – and I was very honoured to one of the select few.

I walked in and was greeted by two rails of beautiful gowns in an array of colours, styles, sparkles and cuts. The variety was ridiculously good and every girl had a struggle to pick just one I think. I was torn between three dresses but eventually I came to a decision. I tried to go for something a little different but within my comfort zone so I would feel confident and myself, but have ramped it up a notch.

The staff at Mon Cheri were so lovely and helpful – they gave honest advice which was great and we also had Miss England and Miss U.K. 2014 (4th at Miss World) Carina Tyrrell there to give us some ideas on what suited us. I am so glad she was there as I kind of fell in love with a certain gown, but she was honest (and right) about it not being ‘me.’ As soon as I got home and showed my family the pictures they 100% backed Carina’s opinion on that dress, and loved the one I went with.

What was extra nice about the day was meeting old and new faces competing in the semi-finals and finals of Miss England. I got to catch up with Maria Miss Coventry, Holly Miss Leicestershire, Giorgia Miss Northamptonshire and Stephanie Miss South Yorkshire, and got to meet Miss Briony-Mai Cornwall, Brianna Miss Devon, Miss Brianna Ipswich & District, Cheraleigh Miss Norwich & District, Jade Miss Surrey and Rachel Miss Middlesex. There was such a good camaraderie between us all and their advice was brilliant. We helped each other into the dresses and gave honest feedback. There was no clawing or cat fighting over any dresses - everyone there was a real girl’s girl and I really enjoyed spending my day alongside such inspirational young women.

I’m tempted to go back and pick out another to wear to the semi-finals now ha ha! I would 100% recommend visiting the shop and wearing Tony Bowls/ Mon Cheri – definitely my favourite dress I’ve ever worn.

Thank you so much to Mon Cheri, Kev Wise, Carina, Angie and the gang at the Miss England office and Paula my organiser for gifting me this beautiful dress. Can’t wait to wear it now! X

P.S. The dress I got is not in any pictures. It is a secret to be revealed at the finals on the 13-14th August!

On Saturday I joined Elizabeth Caush, business support office at Portsmouth Library and author of ‘The Blanket Book’ at the Knitting in the Park event she had organised in Victoria Park, Portsmouth, Hampshire.

The gathering was to mark the international World Wide Knit in Public Day.

I was maybe a bit ambitious when I turned up a complete novice expecting to be able to knit a teddy bear straight away. However, it only took around 15 minutes for me to start to understand the basics, and once you get into a rhythm, it becomes second nature.

I learnt two types of knitting – garter stitch and the knit stitch. At the moment my bear looks more like a blanket for a worm-type creature, but I promised the ladies that attended that I will finish it and take a picture for them.

While I really enjoyed learning a new hobby, what I enjoyed more was meeting up with such an eclectic group of women. They had so many stories to share, and so many talents to show me – their knitting was so unbelievably good! They all taught me a few things and I am very grateful they helped me as their knitting items were a bit intimidating for a novice!

I’m going to be carrying on my new skill and will incorporate it somehow into my ecological fashion wear outfit I am making for the Miss England Eco Fashion Show in August.

Thanks to Elizabeth and the gang for having me!

x

P.S. Portsmouth News visited us and covered the event.

I have a unique opportunity for one business. It isn’t often you receive a spokesperson for your brand for a full year, with national and international exposure, with the potential to reach new clients and business contacts.

Becoming a contestant sponsor for Miss England offers that.

Why be my sponsor?

Yearlong spokesperson

I can support your brand fully through attending events and exhibitions, handing out supportive documents and physical information at my Hampshire events and throughout the national finals, as well as write blogs on your behalf – including your logo and information on all my publicity work.

Local presence

I have been featured in local newspapers, magazines as well as on local T.V. stations and radio. I can include your logo and details every time I submit press releases, appear on the media and will verbally mention your business through my own local presence.

Online presence

Using my blog with its 10,000+ views worldwide as well as supportive social media pages

I can extend the reach of your brand to a unique, yet large and growing audience around the globe. The national finals of Miss England will also be broadcast online this year, so that is another opportunity for your brand.

Programme exposure

Your logo and brand name will appear in the programme on the night of the finals. This will be given to a select but influential group of contestant supporters, international and national judges, as well as other sponsors. You therefore will have the opportunity to build clientèle amongst other supporters and potentially expose your brand to the judges – some of which in the past have been celebrities.

Charitable affiliation

Your support to me lends support to the charities I am working with, who are:

I have appeared in the Southern Daily Echo, the Mid Hants Observer, the Basingstoke Gazette, Portsmouth News, New Milton Advertiser & Lymington Times and Your Health Hampshire through my charity work. Your brand name will be included alongside all my charity work as my sponsor which is incredibly beneficial to companies looking for more corporate responsibility and sustainability opportunities.

If you are interested, please email larissa_19_90@hotmail.co.uk

Sponsorship costs £239.00.

Thank you for reading!