As the coronavirus lockdown continues, many of us are looking for new ways to keep ourselves entertained during our evenings at home, especially at the weekend. Evenings we might have previously spent drinking at the pub or eating with friends are now spent hosting virtual pub quizzes or playing online escape rooms.

Although most of us have probably spent the last month or so sans-makeup, dressing up for the evening – whether that’s by putting on makeup, wearing nice clothes or simply changing out of our pyjamas – is a fun way to differentiate the week from the weekends during lockdown.

And no person has quite nailed this approach than author and journalist Bella Mackie, who spent her Friday evening donning her wedding dress – for a good cause.

Taking part in breast cancer charity CoppaFeel’s #formalfridays challenge, which asks people to dress up for the evening, donate £5 to the charity and tag five friends to do the same, Mackie took to Instagram to share the moment with her followers.

“#formalfriday in my fucking wedding dress,” she wrote. “Donating to @coppafeelpeople and not breathing out or sitting down.”

Mackie’s husband Greg James also shared a photo of her wedding dress adventure, revealing that she’d not only got dressed up and donated money to charity, but that she’d also made dinner in the gown.

“Bella’s #formalfriday consisted of her making dinner in her wedding dress,” James wrote. “All hail the queen.”

Besides the fact donning your fanciest outfit and getting all dressed up is a great way to pass an evening in lockdown (we’ve definitely reached the “why not?” stage now), taking part in #formalfridays is also a great way to raise money for charity.

Mackie isn’t the only celebrity to have taken part in the challenge so far – names including Fearne Cotton, Frankie Bridge and Angela Scanlon have dressed up for the cause.  

If you’re an avid Stylist fan, you’ll know it’s not always possible to find an issue of our magazine. Often they’re gone before you head into work (they disappear fast!), or you live in a part of the UK where you can’t get your hands on a copy. Add to this the fact that millions of us are not commuting right now, and we wanted to ensure you don’t miss out on the magazine any longer.

Which is why we’re delighted to let you know that Stylist magazine is now available in a digital format, both for Apple and Android users, allowing you to download the full magazine directly to your smartphone or tablet, wherever you may be.

Pricing for our digital magazine starts at just 99p for a single issue, or £21.99 for a full year’s subscription –that’s less than 50p a week! Simply click on the link to activate your Stylist app download from either the Apple store or Google Play and enjoy!

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