Amber orange cocktail dress with bow. Goodwill: $3.50.
When it comes to dresses, I am a sucker. While it’s not practical for most of us to wear dresses everyday (nor would many of us want to), I do wear dresses and skirts whenever possible. I truly believe that dresses and skirts, as articles of clothing designed specifically for women, are a way to physically celebrate our love for our own bodies and our femininity. When I was younger, I never used to wear dresses (willingly), and when my mother made me wear one for some reception or ceremony or whatever, I’m sure I grumbled enough to exhaust her patience. Bless her heart!
The problem was that I felt uncomfortable in dresses and skirts. With the exception of my 6th grade graduation dress (a gorgeous green floor-length dress with embroidered flowers on the bust, and a voluminous, “poofy”, shimmery skirt), my young mind thought all of my dresses were boring and ugly. They were so plain and so…itchy. At twelve years old, ballgowns were the way to go. Period. End of story. A dress had to be long, flowy, voluminous, sparkly and hey, if you had a tiara and long white gloves to wear with it, all the better! Now, I picture wearing this Cinderella costume to a work party, and I cringe. This is not the Victorian era.
Back in the early 1900’s, gals were donning the whole get-up to go waltzing, to go to a friend’s house, to go on a carriage ride, etc. Today, we break out these formal dresses that fulfill every one of my twelve-year-old self’s ball gown fantasies, but the occasions to wear those arise so seldom for most of us. Today, cocktail dresses are the answer to wardrobe maladies for many many social occasions.
Cocktail dresses can be versatile with the right accessories, such as jewelry, bag, and shoes that accompany it. I also love love LOVE the versatility of cocktail dresses when paired with the right jacket. When I find a cocktail dress, I ask myself a few questions:
a) Can I picture myself wearing it more than once? b) Do the color and cut flatter my skin tone and body? c) Is the fabric of good quality? d) CAN I ACCESSORIZE WITH IT?
When I look at cocktail dresses, I look for something that is subtly elegant. I only own one cocktail dress with patterns on it, because my own aesthetic appreciates the fabric and the cut and the subtle style choices like buttons more. I love simple elegance in cocktail dresses; it allows for appreciation of the finer details. Now, this is not necessarily the case for casual dresses like summer dresses or tunic dresses that you might wear with a pair of sandals to the beach with a friend. Cocktail dresses demand more attention and refinement, more polish than T-shirt dresses.
“Deep Sea”/ Navy blue cocktail dress. Goodwill: $6.99.
Black, 3/4 sleeve blazer. Goodwill: $4.99.
One thing I love about tossing a jacket over your cocktail dress is the variety of looks you can achieve. I have jackets in different colors, styles, and for different seasons, but a black blazer is a MUST for any woman’s wardrobe. Seriously, go get one. If I can find a London Fog trench that fits me perfectly for $10 at a thrift store in PA, you can find an excellent black blazer that flatters your figure and style. With blazers, though, don’t be afraid to get them tailored.
The photos in this post are ones I took of friends for a project in college. I got all of the clothes from goodwill, and their payment for modelling for me for hours was that they got to keep the clothes. The two pictures above show the different attitude and style you can achieve with choice of jacket. Here’s another example:
Black, wide strap cocktail dress with red pleather jacket, Goodwill. Dress: $6.99. Jacket: $3.99.
A black cocktail dress is a MUST. In fact, it doesn’t hurt to have two or three in different cuts and fabrics. This red jacket has a hilarious story behind it: I was looking in goodwill for something “fiery and sexy” for this part of the project, but I ended up finding this jacket in the boy’s sweaters. But the jacket fit my friend perfectly, even in the shoulders. The sleeves looked intentionally 3/4 length. Seriously, this was a stroke of luck! I love that she looks so “hard-ass yet sexy” in the photo, while wearing a 10-yr old boy’s Michael Jackson jacket.
But the conclusion of this post is that cocktail dresses are awesome, and can make the base of a fabulous outfit for a social occasion of many varieties, so long as it’s paired with the proper accessories. Cocktail dresses should be of good quality and be classy and classic in some way. Timeless dresses should not be underrated. You can find these dresses at thrift stores, but if it’s not going to fulfill the criteria, leave it on the rack for someone else to find and treasure.
That is all.
Lots of Love, and Happy Hunting!
shopclassgirl 