So I fully intended for this to be a personal style post. We had a dinner party to go to and got dressed to the nines for it. Unfortunately I was still putting my jewelry on as we pulled into the party, so there wasn’t much time to take a photo. My bag was half necessities, half rejected jewelry. I was at a loss about what to write for this post, then it dawned on me: just recreate it like a do for so many outfits I post here. Many of the pieces I wore were vintage so I’d be hunting down similar items, anyway. It’s not the ideal post, but I hope you like it. 🙂

THE BASICS

I already talked about this dress here, and I finally got the chance to wear it. I had a some difficulties with my backless bra, but I got it figured out and was able to wear it without any extra flashing. Speaking of flashing, the material is so thin; I used a thin bodycon skirt from H&M to prevent the party from getting a show of my booty. It also helped smooth everything out. Strappy black sandals kept the look from being too stuffy. I really didn’t have time to pick out a bag, I have a couple other options that would have worked, but my black and white messenger-like bag was out and easy and went well with the look. If I had more time I might have opted for a sparkly black clutch with a chain strap, but I digress. The bag wasn’t on me most of the time anyway.

THE JEWELRY

To accessorize the look, I used a long vintage layered pearl necklace. I safety pinned the necklace to the collar in the front, using a clip on earring to hide the clasp, off center (see the first photo to get an idea of how I did it). The necklace was so long that I decided to tie it at the bottom to shorten it and add more detail. I didn’t have a gold cuff so I layered five gold and gold and pearl bracelets to create a cuff-like look. I chose simple earrings to finish it off.

HAIR & MAKE-UP

I wish I could say that I’m super talented in the beauty department, but I’m just not. I do try, though. Since I wanted to spend more time on my hair, I went with a make-up technique I knew well. A simple smokey eye is pretty easy for me and it always looks great. My mom is a Mary Kay consultant, so Mary Kay products are my go-to. I’ve linked the products, but if you wish to purchase any through her, send me an email. I’m the techy one and I haven’t gotten around to setting up her online ordering. I plan on getting it set up over break, if possible. The Covergirl lipstick was the exact shade as the dress and really helped to pull the look together. This was my first attempt at a real updo. I can do a plain bun, but I wanted it to look more fancy. The key to any nice updo is volume, lots of it – and I lose volume so quickly. I blow dried my hair upside down and used a volumizing mousse to give my thin hair texture, then I curled and teased to add even more texture and volume before following the tutorial I found on one of my favorite blogs, The Small Things Blog. It didn’t come out perfect, but it wasn’t bad for my first try.