“My 5-year-old has better dresses than me”: the best runners-up in our Debenhams beach dress competition

OK folks, we have a confession. It’s been such a manic few weeks here at the Fashion & Style Directory, we completely lost track of the fact that we had promised to feature some of the best runners-up to Patricia Bond’s witty winning entry in our recent Debenhams beach dress competition. We’re very sorry 🙁

However, there were so many brilliant entries finishing off the statement “I’d love this Debenhams beach dress because…”, it would be a great waste not to share some more of them with you – especially as the gorgeous black floral twist-front jersey beach dress that was the object of the competition is still available to buy – in just a few remaining sizes – as part of the Debenhams Beach Collection (assuming, of course, that you haven’t snapped one up already).

So, without further ado, here are some of the cleverest, funniest and most heartwarming runner-up entries from among the 150 that we received. Keep reading, and see if we’ve mentioned yours!

Turning to verse

Our excellent winning entry was a poem, of course, and there were plenty more of you who decided to entertain us through rhyme.

On Twitter, Ray did a sterling job of fitting a poem into less than 140 characters:

I love this @Debenhams beach dress cause it’s cool, cute & impossible to crease – what more do I need from a dress for the beach.

Another fine effort arrived courtesy of Millizilli:

I’d love this @Debenhams beach dress… Perfect for packing, one for my list – stylishly elegant with a twist!

Among those who entered via the website or Facebook, word count wasn’t a constraint, and we had quite a few eyecatching poetic efforts, including this one from Kim Styles:

I’d love to win this Debenhams Black Floral Beach Dress – because
I cannot resist
That black floral twist.
An outfit to impress!
Such a beautiful dress!
So I will beseech
On a sandy hot beach
I’ll be looking fine
And that dress will be mine!

Meanwhile, the dress’s lightly padded cups provided inspiration for Avs’ poetic entry:

It’s pretty, it’s cute, but by far
It’s a bonus you don’t need a bra
And I have a spare hanger it would cheer
After decluttering/recycling my gear.

In the footsteps of Richard Whiteley

Just as verse is a staple of any tiebreaker competition, you’re always guaranteed to attract some clever wordplay as well.

Rose P suggested that “The Debenhams beach dress would shore suit me” (a pun that we unashamedly borrowed for our own headline), while Moira Tampsett drolly remarked that “I’d like to win this gorgeous beach dress from Debenhams because it’s not Deb’s it’s mine!”

Miriam’s dry “I’d love this Debenhams beach dress because all of the best dressed beaches are wearing it” also very much appealed to our sense of humour.

The guys have a go

While the vast majority of entries were (as you’d rather expect) from the ladies, we were impressed to see quite a few gentlemen attempting to win the beach dress for their better halves.

Adrian Clarke cheekily argued that “I’d love this Debenhams beach dress because my wife says how sexy and sleek it is but expects me to pay for it!”, while Richard Hill definitely deserved an ‘awww’ for his “I’d love this Debenhams beach dress because my wife has fell in love with it so I am trying to win it for her xx.”

Ben Thompson also portrayed himself as quite the catch, tweeting that “I’d love this @Debenhams beach dress because it’s lovely and I could give it to my girlfriend as a gift.” Bless!

No such luck on the man front for Emily Jones, though, who revealed – tongue in cheek, we think – that “I’d love this Debenhams beach dress because my husband has banned me from shopping so I have zero summer clothes! Save me from a summer in knitwear!”

Life stories

One particularly nice thing was the number of women who used the competition as an opportunity to share inspirational stories – or just some fascinating insights into their lives!

So, we loved Lianne Wightman’s admission that “I’d love this Debenhams beach dress because I am not a dress kinda girl but I adore this and it would be the first time as an adult that I have worn a dress!”, Jacqueline Roberts’ “I’d love to win this Debenhams beach dress because I have just lost 2 stone and feel fabulous”, and Gemma Chantler’s “I’d love this Debenhams beach dress because I am doing really well on my diet and this is a perfect incentive to continue x.”

Tamalyn also had good news to share, telling us that “I’d love this @Debenhams beach dress because it would look fab on my new bod! I lost 11 Ibs & a dress size since keeping fit.” Good for you, Jacqueline, Gemma and Tamalyn!

Some of our entrants also had an eye on the guys – and who can blame them! Portia Mattinson revealed that “I would love to win this gorgeous dress because I’ve recently started to date again (eeekkk!) and this dress is perfect for looking fabulous and fun on dates x”, while Natalie Crossan told us that “It’d be the eye catching piece of the puzzle that I’m missing to get the attention of the guy I’ve eyed up!” We’re expecting all the latest gossip from you, ladies 😉

Among those of you who are mums, there were also some very persuasive and inspiring arguments. Mary Ballard came up with her own hashtag for “I’d love this Debenhams beach dress because my 5 year old has better dresses than me & I need your help #FashionRemedyForAMummy”, while Michelle Rutter Hughes revealed that “I’d Love this beach summer dress because I’m currently going through a yummy mummy make over, attempting to go from frumpy to confident x.”

Self-deprecation… and confidence

No competition would be complete without a good splash of British self-deprecation, and your entries certainly delivered on that front.

We particularly enjoyed Bethan Sayers’ “I’d love this Debenhams beach dress because I’ve just caught sight of my profile picture – the need for a style revamp is clear!” (not true at all, by the way), and Iona Cornish’s sweet “I’d love this Debenhams beach dress because it’s gorgeous and the style would hide a multitude of sins.”

For others, in contrast, it was attitude all the way! Esther Clarke teased us with “I’d love this Debenhams beach dress because it will show off my toned arms and all the boy will go woahhhh!”, while who could argue with Antonia Richardson’s “I’d love this Debenhams beach dress because it’s classic and elegant like me” or Jacqui’s “I’d love this @Debenhams beach dress because it’s the summer, it’s sassy and I’m hot! x.”

Style advice

We were thrilled that some of you were already thinking ahead to how you’d wear the dress, and coming up with some great accessorising tips.

Laura Ireland was spot on when she said that “I’d love this @Debenhams beach dress as it’s great for a summery day and can be dressed up with a bolero for the evening”, while Gillian Turner turned her attention to the all-important question of shoes:

I’d love this Debenhams beach dress because it is so versatile, can be worn anywhere, dressed up or dressed down. Heels or flats will work, chunky jewellery or delicate pieces… I love it!!

As for Priscilla Dandelion Hamilton, we think she should get herself a job with Debenhams on the back of her brilliant – and very accurate – sales pitch:

I’d love this Debenhams beach dress because it’s simple and very appropriate for the beach, it’s designed to fit all beautiful sizes and although it says it’s a beach dress I would wear this in the day and night, just wear it with a black blazer, or vibrant pink/blue blazer with some colourful heels and you are good to go, so two dresses in one for £32 (a stylish bargain!)

Making us smile

There were also plenty of droll entries that raised a smile here in the Fashion & Style Directory office.

Liv said what everyone else was thinking when she commented that “I’d love to win this lovely @Debenhams beach dress because there’s only one thing I love more than a dress… A free dress ;)”, while Lisa Williams was unique in thinking about the feelings of the dress rather than the wearer, telling us that “I’d love this @Debenhams beach dress because its perfectly pretty & I promise it a free holiday with me to Spain.” That’s certainly one way of looking at it!

Meanwhile, Katie Walden Hall joked that if she didn’t win the Debenhams beach dress she may have nothing to wear at all:

I’d love this @Debenhams beach dress because there’s a nudist area at my holiday resort and I don’t want to get confused!!

And if all else fails, of course, you can always submit an entry that stands out for being, well, a bit different. Given that we’re not really insect fans, we don’t think we want to go and visit wherever Poppyxscarlet93 is from (we do assume that it’s the wasps, and not Poppy, doing the chasing!):

I’d love this @debenhams dress because it will look pretty and shapely as I run away from wasps chasing my icecreams. xD

Having said that, we think we may still prefer Poppy’s town to the rather terrifying place where Kathryn’s from:

I’d love this Debenhams beach dress because the other day I was out fighting zombies and I got a ton of blood on my favourite dress. As I’m sure you know, blood is extremely difficult to get out of clothes and I wasn’t able to save the dress -sob sob- I would love a new zombie fighting (beach) dress. Thank you very much.

Play to the audience

Finally, credit where it’s due to Shirley Leah Harpley for playing to the audience with her simple take on why she’d love to win the dress – “Because it shouts FASHION & STYLE!” We liked that one, naturally.

So, thank you again everyone for being so creative and enthusiastic with your entries – we really loved reading them all.

And the good news is that you may not have to wait very long before we give you another chance to win – so make sure you keep an eye on our website, Twitter and Facebook to ensure that you don’t miss the announcement when it comes!