Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Two-Cents Tuesday

Anyone who reads this blog knows by now that I’m obsessed with dresses. Give me a dress and I can make it work, give me a closet full of skirts and tops to choose from and I fail miserably. I have found through experience that many my friends shy away from dresses because they initially cost more. While this is true, if you purchase a versatile dress, you can wear it no matter what the event or occasion. While the dress may be expensive, you can easily pair it with inexpensive cardigans, vintage accessories and cute shoes and look like a million bucks. With so many lovelies to choose from this season, I’m going to feature my favorites, along with my two-cents every Tuesday in hopes that I can inspire other people to give dresses a try.

Unfortunately net-a-porter doesn’t give the length measurements on its website so keep in mind that when you are looking at these pictures that these dresses are shown on a form that is a size 6 and 5’11 or 5’12 tall. Depending on how tall you are, the dress may hit much lower on your leg.

Dress 1 – Marc by Marc Jacobs Habotai ruffle-front dress. The colour of this dress {Parisian Blue} is absolutely breathtaking. The dress itself, while it appears to be dressy, can be worn casually with a quick change of the shoe, the addition of a t-shirt or tank, and a pair of flats. Overall the ruffles keep the neckline proper and also add emphasis to your upper body which is great if you are a slight pear shape. The waist is a self tie which means you could swap out the sash for a structured belt to give it a completely different look. Depending on the length, this dress would look fantastic paired with gold accessories and sandals/flats for the office. If the dress sits more than an inch or two above the knee, you’d have to leave this in the closet for weekend and occasion wear only - but don’t let that scare you! This is a perfect dress to wear for a spring/summer/fall wedding / on vacation with a tank top or over your bathing suit if you are out and about / for a casual stroll to the market and brunch with your family & friends / or, my personal favourite, and as the colour suggests, in Paris strolling along the Seine.

Dress 2 – Juicy Couture Strawberry Print Mini Dress. Make sure you enlarge this picture to see the full details {yolk, front pleat, belt, eyelet detail} of this dress. This is a perfect addition to any vintage-lovers closet – and unlike vintage, you can reasonably guarantee this version will fit! While this dress does have a belt, it is still relatively unstructured {yolk neckline / front pleat} making me question whether it is best suited to someone who is quite slender, or petite. That said, I urge everyone to try things that are maybe a little outside their comfort zone before they rule them out completely {thanks TLC’s What Not To Wear!} This dress is more seasonal and less dressy than #1, and the pattern makes it more memorable. That said, it works equally as well for work attire with a jacket and heels as it does with a jean jacket and flats for the weekend. Again there is no measurement given so the same rule applies when it comes to length.

*The style of sandals paired with dress #1 would work equally as well for both dresses and make for easy walking on the weekends or to the office. I have something similar to these are on my radar come summer.

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