This week’s offering of Every Day Style is not so much an Every Day look.

Rather, it’s an outfit I wore to a 40th birthday celebration last weekend, on a very warm Melbourne night.

I love parties at this time of year. Getting dressed is easy – all you need is a pretty frock, a pair of shoes and some colourful accessories. I added a fake tan and washed my hair and voila, I was good to go!

I love a balmy summer night. It is refreshing for us Melbournites to not have to factor in a co-ordinating jacket, coat or shrug and to ditch the hosiery. We can only really do this for a couple of months each year. This is why I like to make hay while the sun shines and go out as often as possible in summer.

Back to the party. The theme was James Bond 007, which fortunately lent itself to plenty of options for the ladies (Bond girls) although interestingly, no one took up the challenge of wearing Halle Berry’s famous orange swimsuit.

The lads came in various get ups including 007 bathrobes, scuba gear, a few dapper gentlemen in suits and even Gold Finger (sporting a gold finger). Mr SnS looked a treat in his Sean Connery inspired Safari Suit circa 1965 although there is something a little Dr Evil about him too, don’t you think?

(Thanks to our babysitter Maree for taking this snap of the two of us on my iPhone).

What am I wearing?

I am wearing some of my favourite pick ups from the Boxing Day sales.

I am wearing the “Stung By a Bee” dress from Alannah Hill in size 12. I couldn’t believe my luck when I chanced upon it at my local David Jones in early January. It was reduced by a whopping 60% to $129 ($200 off the original price).

There are still great frocks on sale at Alannah Hill, some reduced by as much as 60%. If you check the online store regularly, you might find further reductions or new stock added to the sale.

I am getting my money’s worth from this Mimco hybrid clutch which was reduced by 50%. I wore it to another 40th a few weeks ago. For the same style but in new season colours, see here. Mimco often heavily reduce stock in their mid year sales.

I am getting some serious mileage from my pink wedges (Marsy wedges in fuchsia by Mollini), having worn them to another do last week.

As I usually wear silver jewellery but thought gold would look better with this dress, I took the cheap and cheerful route with my jewellery. My earrings (one of three pairs for $7.99) and bangles (set of three, $14.99) are all from Diva (all current stock). The ring is from Sportsgirl from at least a decade ago.

Why did it work?

This frock was fancy and fun for a 40th, but cool and comfortable enough for a hot night.

My shoes were soooo comfortable. I literally danced for at least 5 hours, enough cardio to last me a while.  These shoes, with their suede and low wedge, took the heat in their stride, with no rubbing or discomfort. Some of my buddies kicked their shoes off and went bare foot or cracked out the Havianas they’d packed!

Have you been to a dress up birthday recently? What was the theme? Do you have a pair of dancing shoes?