OOtD: Graceful Green (so this is a day late…)

In case I haven’t already made it obvious, I love dresses. Dresses are so easy to put on and almost always make you look more presentable in any situation. I had the pleasure of having costume design class at the Cleveland Museum of Art yesterday, as we were working on renderings of paintings to work on proportions and how clothing falls on bodies. This photo was taken by a very sharply-dressed Asian woman who was visiting with her young son and elderly mother for the first time. Too cute.

The thing I like most about this dress is that it is very movable, and much like the skirt from the previous post, has a billowy and pleated upper layer, and a stable, black underskirt. For a figure like mine, emphasis on the waist is key. The loose bodice area and sweetheart neckline creates the illusion of a fuller bust (which doesn’t bother me one bit!) It’s so important to take your body type into account when buying dresses. For instance, most strapless dresses do nothing for me because I have a smaller bust area, whereas the same dress on my roommate Sasha would be gorgeous and show off her ample assets. The right shape in a dress can make you look sexy and more mature, or sweet and playful. It all depends.

I love pops of color mixed with black in all of my outfits, so the green here becomes a sultry emerald. The dress looks even prettier with the lace straps, and the sheer lace back which shows just enough skin to spark the imagination. Lace has become a wonderful trend within the past few years, and I love it because lace is so inclusive of an edgy but feminine style. I think that understanding how fabric can be utilized and how it falls on the body is really important for projecting a certain image of yourself, if you so desire.

I’ll be dedicating a whole post to this, but I don’t go anywhere now without my Tommy Hilfiger purse. The coral color looks good with pretty much anything, and with a versatile strap, it transitions for anywhere necessary. I appreciate how the logos on the bag are not too gaudy or distracting, but add a pleasant print and texture over the exterior. The purse was fairly inexpensive too, completely a lucky find. I love love love this purse so much.

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I’m so excited that the blog is taking off. I really want to branch out and include useful content, and display other styles besides mine. I am always inspired by someone who has a very cohesive and defined personal style. I should be talking to her later, but my sorority sister Emily has one of the classiest, preppy wardrobes I’ve seen in a long time. I swear she should be a Kate Spade model; she knows how to take regular clothes and make every outfit fabulous. Whether it’s tossing on a strand of pearls, or pairing her pastel outfit with a bold ultramarine blue bag, Emily is effortlessly chic and inspires me to look at fashion from a different angle.

Do you have any friends or family whose style differs from yours but still manages to awe you? Drop me a comment, I love to hear about other peoples’ inspirations. Stay hip, everyone.