How to Wear Metallics

It's early morning in the city with the chill just slightly in the air and the maple trees are already putting on their autumn hues. This is such a calm and quiet time of day, especially here where in just a few short hours the buildings and sidewalks will be teeming with activity. I'm not exactly the most adventurous fashionista in the world.  In fact I've spent most of my life being rather reluctant to try new things, but blogging makes my experiments fun and dare I say a little educational too and FemmeLuxe takes the anxiety out of trying new things because I can count on their ability to make curve friendly fashion and luxe dresses from little White Dresses to Mesh Dresses they've never steered me wrong. 

Since collaborating with FemmeLuxe I have become much more “adventurous” and one of the most fun things about trying new things has been the way that I can share what I learn with you, my dear fellow fashion lovers, in the form of tips and style how-to articles.

You've probably read about some of my fashion pursuits. I spent several years searching for the perfect ivory cotton dress, and then there was the summer spent looking for the perfect swimsuit for my shape. I was obsessed with finding the perfect fox sweater for at least the better part of two years, and plaid skirts and novelty prints are a pursuit I've never abandoned. Lately I've been crushing on fabrics like velvet and metallic dresses.

Some of my fashion crushes come and go, others become lasting staples in my wardrobe either way I always learn something along the way. In the past year we've covered lots of great topics from jumpsuits to corset tops and one shoulders. A couple of months ago I touched on the topic of adding shiny metallics to accessorize your look and I loved the effect. I definitely think this is a style that is here to stay in my fashion repertoire, so for today's post I thought I would take it to the next level with a metallic dress and some tips for wearing metallics.

For this post, I'm wearing the SilverMetallic One Shoulder Midi Dress - Viola from FemmeLuxeFinery. This midi dress is so sleek and sexy; I am so pleased with it. I've blogged about several of FemmeLuxe's metallicdresses and the reason quite simply is that these dresses are great at accentuating the narrowest part of the waist creating a great silhouette plus they have that extra pop thanks to the shiny veneer. The ruching on this Viola dress is really nice for creating visual interest in both the shine of the fabric and the very subtle black vertical lines running through it but also in the ruching at the sides which also serves to camouflage trouble areas.

Tip 1. Break it up. Head to toe metallics isn't exactly a fashion faux pas, in fact it can look quite couture, but wearing the same tone head to toe will likely make you look like a robot from a 1950s B movie. Unless you're heading to a costume party, that's probably not the look you want to rock. If classic sci-fi she-bot isn't your goal, be sure to break things up by mixing your metals or limiting yourself to just the one metallic piece. I used gold accessories with this silver dress and black heels to create some visual diversity.

Tip 2. Focus the Shine. Metallic colors are quite eye catching, but too much bling can be blinding. Tone down the shine by choosing a few small jewelry pieces to accent a matte item or, as I've done for this outfit, you can accessorize with matte pieces. The Viola dress has all the shine while the jewelry is matte gold and heels are made of a non shiny fabric so they don't detract from the focal point which is the midi dress and those accessories also don't overwhelm the eye by competing with the Viola dress. A matte blazer or wrap would also accent this dress well.

No regrets about this experiment; I love the look of this metallic dress and I know I'm going to keep this fashion crush going. Metallic dresses are definitely going to be a permanent fixture in my wardrobe.

Shopping Info: SilverMetallic One Shoulder Midi Dress – Viola from FemmeLuxeFinery.co.uk