There are two occassions that come round each year that I peel off my second skin for (a.k.a jeans) and don a dress: Birthdays and Christmas. In fact I have a bit of a tradition with Birthdays that I treat myself to a new dress each year. I picture one day going through a trunk of them showing my grandchildren what ‘Ma used to wear to the discos and them being mortified at how darn short the dresses back from my Uni years were. Christmas parties are obviously a more traditional affair, so there are no butt-skimmers here – we’re doing classy daaarling. Hanging up in my wardrobe I have three dresses that even a ‘non-dress loving gal’ like myself doesn’t feel like a noob in, so I thought I’d share.
First up there is the ASOS Shift Dress in Leather that I mentioned in my ‘Winter Style Staples’ video. It sounds awful. But it’s one of those ‘don’t judge until it’s on you’ pieces; it’s cut well, skims and highlights in all the right places and being leather I feel that it’s not too overtly girlie. When I’ve worn it out I’ve paired it with tights, a cropped jacket and some chunky heeled boots that keeps everything comfortable but chic.
Moving away from the LBD’s is another piece I picked up recently – the Whistles Dress in Metallic Jacquard. I always find creamy tones hard to pull off, but the silver weave that runs through the fabric keeps it from looking too crisp and has festive written all over it. You know I love Whistles, but their dresses are just on another level. Beautifully tailored, never frumpy, always modern, they make me feel like a proper lady whenever I slip them on. Heads up: buy a size smaller than you usually do, it runs big.
Another Whistles pick is the Clemence Dress that I actually wore to my Christmas Party recently. If I had to pick a favourite of the three then this would be it. With a zip that goes all the way down the back, when I did it up it was one of those ‘the one‘ moments. It’s fitted, but without being too clingy and has a slightly metallic effect to the fabric with the odd bit of leather detailing. The perfect LBD? I think so.
Need a shoe solution? Clutch confused? What jewels to dredge out? All these questions will be answered at lunchtime. BRB.
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