Last night was my first blogger holiday party of the season, so I knew I wanted to wear something super special that expressed my punky-meets-girly personality! Enter the lips dress and a leather jacket.
Want to a know a secret?! This dress is a major imitation of an Alice + Olivia dress. I found it on Chic Wish, a Hong Kong-based online retailer where I go to find super-trends at super-low prices. The quality is not great – I’ll be very up front about that – but most trends last as long as the garment, so for $30, why the hell not have a little fun and wear a dress covered in lips?!
All the other items, you’ve probably seen before, but for old blogs’ sake, here is WHY I WORE IT:
For starters, the black tights were a given from the very beginning. It was cold outside, and I liked the contrast of the black against the white and red of the skirt.
I chose the black t-shirt not only to match those tights, but mainly because the dress needed to be taken down a notch – the party started early at 6pm, so too fancy would’ve been over the top for me. Also, I love the way collared tops look peeking out over t-shirts – especially this one since the collar had lips on it and the red bodice flashed against the black of the tee.
I’ll be honest though, the zipper on this dress turned funky really fast so in order to wear it, I had to put a t-shirt over it to cover up the broken zipper! On it’s own over the dress, I didn’t love it. But when I added the leather jacket, it both amped up the punky vibe that I was going for and also sealed the look. Since the collar popped out over the jacket, I realized I could wear the jacket as part of the outfit, rather than just as outerwear. I didn’t take it off all night.
The booties are my favorite of the moment and have gold buckles which matched the gold zipper of the leather jacket and the gold clasp on the black clutch I brought – which was made out of crocodile-embossed leather, just like the panels on the booties!
The jewelry I chose was also black and gold, and the two chunky cuffs are the ones I always go to when I want to be a bit rockstar-ish. The same goes for my hairstyle. I wore it up to add length to my body and to be playful, casual and a little messy.
In other words, everything I chose was a contrast to the prissy dress. Except the lipstick. I went straight for bright tomato red to match the red of the dress perfectly and to mimic the lips myself!
And because it’s cold here in Chicago – below is a flashback to warmer days, lighter hair and open-toed shoes. Here is how the dress looks in summer and on it’s own.
XOXO,
Belle
Photo Credit: Joni Kat Anderson Photographics
