Dress ideas please - YouLookFab Forum

So after reading all about day dresses here I have been on the search. No luck yet, but I did find a nice, though slightly more dressy dress last week. One of the events we have coming up is a wedding - the dress is black and white, is that ok?

Before I would have only worn this type of dress with black and white accessories, but I think it would look nice with some colour accents. The problem is that I'm still learning how to put things together so it looks like it was done on purpose as opposed to grabbing the wrong thing out of the closet in the dark. How many pieces in the colour should there be to pull it together and on the flip side, how many would be overdoing it? I would love your suggestions!

I took a few photos of the dress - one on its own, one with a white cardi and black shoes, and three with a raspberry cardi (a recent purchase, yay!) and different pairs of shoes. It's hard to tell because I'm standing on carpet, but the first black shoes have about a 3/4" heel.

http://s266.photobucket.com/al.....ozd/dress/
Password: youlookfab

17 years ago

Sarah

(website)

Veteran

I like the dress best with the berry colored sweater and the black criss cross sandals.
Maybe try some orange beads? Ever since Angie posted about that color combination, I've really been attracted to it.

Lannie

Active Member

Definitely go with the berry cardigan. Are those white shoes flats?

christie

Ola, I don't think that dress looks too dressy at all for a day dress. I would wear that out and about, most definitely. I love it.

To dress it down, wear flat sandals (like capri type sandals), or strappy heels/wedge sandals to dress it up.

I'm not a huge fan of the white cardigan, and the raspberry cardigan is beautiful, but (if you plan to shop some more) a bright cardigan might be more summery. You could always try a wrap, as well. My favorite color combo this summer is white, black, and lime or bright green (I don't usually do white and black, so it is new to me). You might want to see if something like that would look good. The green would really pop!

Also, I think yellow and red or yellow and bright blue would go well and would be a pretty classic combo. Or try a bright/hot pink. With black and white as the base, you could do just about anything.

If that were my dress, and I were going to wear it to a wedding, I might pick a bright colored wrap (pashmina style or lighter if it is warm), and add a pearl/fake pearl, chunky necklace. I think a cardigan makes it look more casual.

Angie

Fashion Stylist

Yay! Ola in a dress!

Ditto Christie. You took the words right out of my mouth. That’s a casual cotton day dress and great with casual shoes. This is not a dressy dress. I have to run, but I’ll chime in again later.

Ola

Hmm... orange and pink. I'm not sure if I'm ready for two colours. I will see if I have anything orange to try though before I pass judgment.

Yes, the white shoes are flats.

I wanted to add that I do plan to buy some accessories to complete the look, I just need to figure out what. In addition to doing the berry I thought green might be another nice look. I'm glad you think so too Christie! Would red be too obvious? The wedding is not until October so it won't be summertime anymore, but I do hope I'll get a chance to wear it before then!

BTW, what do you think of getting a different belt to go with it? I will definitely look for a wrap, thanks for that idea! Guess by now you can tell I tend to go a lot more casual than most of you, right?

An October wedding, Ola. That changes the mix. What temperatures are you expecting then? Is it a day, or evening wedding? That’s a very Summery dress - which looks super by the way.

Antje

That's a super dress! It looks lovely on you. I think you can dress it up or down.
Have you considered wearing shoes in a color other than black or white? Red, yellow, green, cobalt blue, fuchia... all would look super. I'd pick a color different from the cardigan (e.g. green if you go with the berry cardi, or turquoise if you go with a red cardi etc., and then pick up the shoe color in your necklace or earrings.) Or maybe silver shoes, if you don't like the bright shoe idea.

The wedding is at 11:00 if I recall correctly. I didn't think about the temperature but I just looked it up and for the past few years that day has been between 13-18 degrees Celsius.

Thanks Antje for the colour suggestions! Two colours is a lot for me (I'm Miss Beige normally, lol) but since it has been suggested so many times I will try to picture it. I have considered different shoes, just not sure what type/colour and since shoes tend to be a spendy accessory I would probably only get one pair.

Do you still think this dress is right for the wedding, Ola?

It sounds like it's not. I think the chances of me buying another dress are slim, so I will either wear it anyway or do a skirt/top combo instead. Thanks for your help.

The dress is great, Ola. You should just wear it around (tomorrow!). You will find that you eventually get over any discomfort (not physical, but mental) of wearing a dress very quickly. I find them to be quite an addiction.

Dani

Ola, that's such a great dress! I echo Christie, I would definitely wear it around. I just wanted to mention that I thought it looked very nice on you

HannahMichelle

Cute dress! A black and white base gives you all kinds of color options to play with...I would definitely have fun with some bright & bold shades of the colors everyone has suggested - keeps things fresh and modern. Angie did a post on yellow with b&w, which I love...

http://youlookfab.com/2008/04/.....e-brights/

I'm not real sure on the number of different colors you can combine in one outfit (that's a good question), but I think matching color intensity is key. I recently put together an outfit of a white skirt & fushia top with a b&w polka dot scarf and green shoes, plus my yellow bag. I think the bag was pushing it, (I would've preferred white), but since the colors were the same saturation it seemed to work.

Can I clone you, Christie?

Ola, you look fantastic is that dress. Wear it as a day dress with the cranberry cardi and see how you go. Enjoy your out of box experience!

Hannah, the outfit you’ve described sounds uber fun and cheerful.

Nicole

Ola, you look lovely in that dress. I agree that it may be too summery for October though.

While I love the idea of adding some color to the outfit (yellow is my current fave with black and white), I think there is a simplistic elegance to keeping it just black and white. So long as you accesorize with more black and white--obvious black and white pieces. Like a black and white headband, or a beaded necklace in alternating black and white beads. Then I'd add a pop of color with the shoes. I know it's probably not the popular opinion, we do tend to be color brave around here. But if done correctly, the lack of color can be striking in it's own right.

Thank you all for the compliments. They really help with trying something outside of the comfort zone.

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