03/01/2014

Best of 2013: Blog Round-Up




Happy New Year,
kittens! Wishing you all a fabulously fashionable 2014 and thank you all again
for your support in 2013 – I couldn’t have done it without you!


Now, I know that I’ve already done a Year In Outfits blog post, but I thought I
would make it an annual tradition to do a yearly roundup post. So, whilst 2012
was definitely a year of personal change, I can safely say that 2013 was the
year of the blog. So many amazing opportunities happened in the blogosphere,
showing credit to the fact that bloggers are now getting more recognition than
ever – with readerships now outnumbering all of the British women’s magazines
put together (that’s a fact, I definitely read it somewhere…)
Continuing with that
thought, my highlight of 2013 had to be the blog awards categories, such as
winning House of Fraser’s Best Fashion Blog Award, being nominated for awards
in the Company Blog Awards, UK Blog Awards and Vintage Blog Awards. The
overwhelming high point, however, was attending the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards2013 in association with Next.

When I got the message
to say I had been shortlisted for a Cosmopolitan Blog Award for Best NewFashion Blog (in the top 8 out of over 43,000 entries) I almost screamed at my
desk. Thank you all so, so much for nominating me in the first place and then,
in the second round, continuing to show your support and vote for me.
Regardless of those sceptical of “blog awards”, it is still a huge achievement
for bloggers to be celebrated in their own right by arguablely the world’s most
famous women’s magazine – Cosmopolitan. Heck, I grew up reading it religiously
and it was a dream come true.

My second highlight of
2013 had to be working with VOGUE themselves for #VFNO, British Vogue’s first Fashion
Night Out outside of London, in Manchester. Words can’t explain my excitement
at being invited to afternoon tea by British Vogue to be one of their bloggers
(along with Sarah, Gwen and Claire) in the run-up to the night and be invited
to the exclusive opening party at Hugo Boss.

Everything else VogueFashion Night Out 2013 was amazing, too. From popping in and out of high street
brands (Manchester Arndale, Bank, Fossil, Boux Avenue, Monsoon Accessorize,
etc) to designer stores such as Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, House of Fraser,
Ted Baker, French Connection it was a whirlwind. Particularly, meeting and
working with high-end brands that I would never in my wildest dreams have
imagined – such as Mulberry and Armani – is too much for my little brain to
handle and is so humbling. 

Inbetween the plethora of events, openings, meetings
and parties on the day, the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel also invited me to
create this film (which was also shown on the news!) with Selfridges and Lucy Rance, (who is pretty much my blogging idol and just as lovely in real life as
she is over the internet). The date of the 10th October will always
stay with me as being one of the best days of my life, as Manchester truly
showed the fashion world what our historical cotton industrial city had to
offer.

More widely, the
opportunities that my blog had brought have been immense, such as invites to
London Fashion Week and London Fashion Weekend, as well as continuing to work
closely as an Official Influential Blogger for Manchester Fashion Week
throughout the year and continuing into 2014. I was also lucky enough to be the
official blogger for Birmingham’s first International Fashion Week 2013 after
attending university in the city, and even ran and hosted their Street StyleSearch Competition.
I’m trying to keep
this short and sweet but realise I’m failing! I don’t want at all to sound as
though I am bragging, I just want to thank everyone for everything for this
year and I am scared of missing people out – sorry! I’m so thankful for the
news and events I’ve been able to report on this year, too. Although hard to
pick as I’ve been kept very busy every week this year, my top events of the
year have to be hosted by Harvey Nichols, Get The Label, Vivienne Westwood Swimwear365, Khiel’s and Look Fantastic (phew! That’s enough!). Speaking of which, my favourite
events are the blogger specific ones where I get to catch up with my new
friends…

Most importantly, the
relationships I’ve built through the blogosphere network have been priceless. As
well as networking with brands that I couldn’t ever imagine would be interested
in me or even knew I existed, the PR, press and bloggers that I’ve met have
been the best part. The friends I’ve made from this huge network of fellow
bloggers that I ignorantly had no idea existed pre-LilyKitten.com, who are
constantly so supportive, helpful and friendly, especially in and around
Manchester. The beauty of knowing other bloggers is to be constantly connected
all over the world by mutual interests, especially in the fashion and beauty
world, and the amazing blogger events that I’ve been humbled to be invited to
and meet far more successful bloggers than myself has been so inspiring. To
meet bloggers I aspire to – both virtually and in real life – has been an
honour.

Thank you all once
again for your support throughout 2013, I couldn’t have done it without you. New
Year’s Resolutions? Aside from aiming to write blog posts twice weekly, I’m
hoping to put more time and effort into my Youtube videos and get back to some
more presenting, which I really love, rather than just Outfit videos. I also have
some personal goals for LilyKitten.com which I hope to achieve in 2014 –
putting some business opportunities in place, perhaps a website overhaul, some
design tweaks – but overall, my resolutions are to continue to expand and love
my blog without taking the fun out of it. It can be hugely hard to juggle
blogging with a full time job, but I’m proud of the progress I’ve made in such
a short amount of time and the achievements which have popped up through
determination and hard work.

Thanks once again for reading and your continuous support. I’m planing to do a Best of 2013 series over the past week or so, would anyone like to see it? Here’s to making 2014 a good year and wishing you all my love for the new year… x

Please feel free to vote for me in the UK Blog Awards – thank you.

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24 responses to “Best of 2013: Blog Round-Up”

  1. Amazing year for you, let's hope you can top that this year :)

    xx

    http://www.forevermissvanity.com

  2. wow it really has been an amazing year for you! well done

  3. Wow, what a fabulous year. I hope you have an equally fantastic 2014!

  4. Amanda Walsh says:

    What a fab year well done on winning House of Fraser’s Best Fashion Blog Award, hope 2014 is just as good x

  5. AMAZING!! Hugely inspirational. Keep it up, hope 2014 can continue on an upwards curve for you. Congratulations. :-)

  6. Colette B says:

    What an awesome year! x

  7. Hannah Green says:

    Wow you have acheived so much and had lots of good times. I hope you equally have so much fun this year. Lovely to find local bloggers xx

    • Lily says:

      Aw thank you Hannah, lovely of you to say. And yes, I love meeting local bloggers, hopefully see you out and about this year :) x

  8. hurny2009 says:

    Wow you had an amazing year!! I hope it carries on into this year xx

  9. Wow, what an amazing year. Wishing you even more success for 2014! x

  10. Wow 2013 was an exciting year for you! Here's to an even better 2014!

  11. Looks like 2013 treated you well. I wish you all the best and better this year!!! xo

  12. Nisha Patel says:

    Sounds like you had an amazing year.. I hope 2014 brings you even more success and happiness! x

    HOW I WEAR..

  13. Wow, I've just come across your blog on the Manchester FB page. Blimey what a whirlwind year! Can't wait to read more!

  14. Well done, Lily Kitten is amazing and you should be very proud of all your ahrd work and dedication – Manchester's most successful blogger! Hip hip HOORAY!!

    xXx

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Meet The Creator

Full time I'm an ambitious Head of Marketing and Communications in the luxury industry. Part time, I'm an enthusiastic British Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle blogger and YouTuber from Manchester, UK. This blog has been my outlet for the past 7+ years, and as a longstanding, Award-winning blogger I take the most enjoyment from creating content I truly love and believe in. All authentic. Always.

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