Deconstructing the Dress

Well, the snow has pretty much melted and while I'll miss that glorious glow of fluffy snow covering everything, the woods have returned to their winter loveliness and still make for a great photo backdrop, plus it's about 20 degrees warmer than it was in the snow and that gives me a little more incentive to leave the fireside so early in the morning.  The clouds have cleared away and the morning sunlight is already coming up over the crest of the hillside.  It's going to be a lovely day and this lighting is just right for pics.  I put together this little outfit as a fun and flirty look for an evening out with friends or perhaps a special event, but as I admired the final product, something occurred to me that I wanted to share with you today.

Very often when I do my outfit photos all you, the reader, see is the finished product of a sometimes long and always very thoughtful process.  All of my considerations and trial and error occur at home or in my mind, so I thought for today's post I do a little outfit deconstruction.  In this way I can take you through the process I use in putting an outfit together to help you better create your own looks at home.  So, let's get started. 

For today's velvet crush post I am wearing the Pink Glitter Velvet Strappy Mini Dress - Beau which comes from my collaboration partner, FemmeLuxe.  FemmeLuxe has such a great selection of clothing, I like their Slinky Dresses and Glitter Crop Tops, and I am so pleased they have added a great assortment of velvet dresses this season so that I can carry on with my velvet crush series well into the new year.  Not only is this Beau dress a lovely velvet dress, but it is such a great shade of bubble gum pink and it has that great little added effect of silver glitter throughout.  This would be such a great dress for Valentine's Day; already I'm in love!

 

The next part of my process is to determine which colors to accent with.  Because the Beau dress is such a strong statement color, I chose basic black for all my add-ons starting with strappy black flats to keep the look a little more casual.  Right away I wanted to add chunky black statement jewelry.   Normally accessories should be last, but when it's right, it's right.  Then I added a belt at the narrowest part of my waist.  

Now, we could stop the look right there and it would look great, but just for that little extra something let's see what it looks like with a crop cardigan.

Notice how the cardigan and the belt are in the same line creating that very strong waistline and giving me more of an hourglass shape.  This really only comes with a crop cardigan like this.  The Beau dress is a mini dress, but it's also a bodycon dress, and while I often like to pair form fitting items with flowy ones, I didn't want to lose the shape that the dress is creating by covering it under a drapey wrap. 

 

Without the cardigan (or a jacket of some kind)  it's still a great outfit.  It's cute and colorful.  And.......

 

Without the belt it's still a great outfit, but put them together and it is a stand-out kind of outfit.  Some things are made to go together and belts and crop cardis are a match made in heaven.

And last but certainly not least, it's time to chose just the right bag to go with it.  A simple black clutch would be perfect, but a novelty bag would be so much fun, so I decided to go with this Betsey Johnson phone purse (yes, the phone really does work as a blue tooth headset, but it's not exactly ideal in this hands-free world).  I've had this bag for nearly three years and I just have not found the right outfit with which to accessorize it.  As I was standing back, looking at all that my closet had to offer, it occurred to me that it was finally this bag's time to shine.

So, this outfit is complete.  I love everything about it, in particular this gorgeous Beau dress  and I have really loved doing this outfit deconstruction post, so look for more posts like this in the months to come.

Shopping Info:Pink Glitter Velvet Strappy Mini Dress - Beau from FemmeLuxeFinery.co.uk, Dream of the Crop Cardigan from ModCloth, Flats from Charlotte Russe, Betsey Johnson Bag