The Little Red Dress
"when in doubt, wear red" - Bill Blass
Anybody who knows me personally, will know I love the colour red, so while I may be a little biased on the subject, I do think the little red dress is one of the most important members of a ladies wardrobe family. While researching for this blog I stumbled across a few interesting facts about the colour red that I'd never heard of before. I'm the type of person who over thinks everything, so while trying to figure out if liking the colour red was just something I was born to do, or whether it had been somehow brainwashed into me by some kind of modern subliminal messaging (i found no proof of the latter) I found these fun facts about red that I had no idea of. Did you know that seeing the colour red can make your heart beat faster? or that the colour red is most associated with power and passion when used in logo's for large corporate brands? or that red is the most emotionally intense colour and attracts the most attention out of all the primary colours? I'm not entirely sure who comes up with these "facts"or entirely how true they are but apparently that's what's up when it comes to red, and it got me thinking about places that would be the best to wear the colour red keeping these facts in mind. There are lots of places that would be a perfect place for red to make its own fashion statement for you, a big meeting at work, job interview, even to buy a car or a house that you may have to negotiate a price on (obviously you wouldn't chose the little red dress for these places, but a nice button up red shirt with a high waisted skirt, stockings & heels might be something to keep in mind!) I'm going to talk about my favourite place to wear red, in the form of a little red dress and that is out on a hot date with my man! Who doesn't want to get their other halves heart beating faster just at the mere sight of them hey? Representing power and passion a little red dress shows that a lovely lady like yourself has confidence and courage, a lady who isn't afraid to stand out in the crowd and with red being the most attention grabbing colour, he wont be able to keep his eyes off you all night, perfect! Make sure you keep in mind your best features when picking your little red dress, pick a design that draws attention to what you like best about yourself, I personally have three little red dresses in my rotation, the below being one of my absolute favourites!
I've chosen quite a fitted design by Jessica Louise (check out shopjessicalouise.com for cute designs) I'm all about designs and pattern, so the little pinup girl pattern all over the dress was perfect for me. I personally hate my arms at the top, I don't do much in the way of exercise, so they're so un toned and I like cover them up where possible, I love dresses with a little capped sleeve for this reason, sometimes they look terrible on the hanger, so if you see one in the store and aren't sure, just try it on! This dress is also quite short, so I find that the cap sleeve balances it out. 
I've complimented this dress with one of my favourite accessories, my Daisy Headband. My friend who I met via instagram (@babywhiskeyy - check out her page!) makes adorable one of a kind headbands, and I was lucky enough to receive two of them! I find red can be quite hard to accessorise, as its such a bold colour it doesn't need much at all, I've chosen this very feminine headband to accompany the dress, I didn't think the colours would match at first but when I tried it on I loved it! I feel like it brings a softer feel to the outfit.
Experimenting is the most important part of fashion I think, nothing in fashion is set in stone and you cant be "wrong" with your fashion choices, there is no wrong answer, just keep it simple and don't combine too many colours into one outfit! I usually stick to the rule; three colours + a neutral (black, white, beige or brown) I love clothes so much that I can have the tendency to get carried away and have to take a few things off before I leave the house to avoid looking like a colourful walking clothes rack!
Here are a couple of little red dresses that caught me eye on the wonderful world wide web!
Date Dress - Jessica Louise - I have this one too, same shape but different pattern to the one I'm wearing above
ASOS - Red Balloon Dress
ASOS - Cute Daisy Lace Dress - **ON SPECIAL** (mines on its way hehe)
The Little Red Dress - Variations
Sometimes, and I'm sure we all know the feeling! My purse strings are tied shut by bills and rent and all the joys that coming with being a grown up, so I like to get the most out of my clothes by teaming them with pieces that give the outfit a whole new feel. I like to spend a little bit more money on key pieces, dresses that I cant live without, handbags, shoes etc but I do also like to pick up cheap pieces from around the place that can be teamed with other members of my wardrobe family. Although I will include where I got my items of clothing from where I can, this blog is also for inspiration and ideas and I will be using some of the clothes that I already own as reference that may not be available any more.
Here are some variations to the little red dress that I particularly favour;
The Sparkly Over Crop
I love glitter. I don't know if that just comes with being a girl, of if I was the tooth fairy in my past life, but I'm utterly obsessed with all that sparkles and shines! The sparkly over crop is a staple for me (for obvious reasons)!
I like to keep a neutral colour running throughout my entire outfit, I've used black in this outfit obviously, as it was already incorporated in the accents of the dress I didn't have much of a choice. I find colour coordination of one colour throughout allows you to be bolder with your other colour choices.
I got this sparkly over crop for a little store in Sydney about two years ago, and I cant remember for the life of me what it was called! It was just a little boutique in China town. I always visit China Town when I travel anywhere, they have the most amazing little clothes stores if you look around, sometimes the sizes are tiny but they usually have lots of great little-nic nacs and cheap things to buy as well.
I couldn't find many sequined crops online to include a link for, the ones on Urban Outfitters & ASOS are quite expensive, but keep your eye out for smaller boutique's for interesting pieces like this.
Tip!; ebay.com.au - keyword sequin jacket
The Sequined Jacket
I got this sequined jacket second hand from a an old box of clothing my friends mum was going to throw away, it has no tag or label so I have no idea who its by or how old it is but I absolutely love it. Even with skinny jeans, boots + white tank, its just so cute!
I also have a particular love for dogs and anything dog related. I bought this bag for $50 from Dangerfield in Perth. Novelty bags are amazing.
I've got my eye on a couple of sequined jackets online at the moment, check them out;
The Iconic - Rocket Queen Jacket - OMG this is amazing. I want!
Revolve Clothing - Black Sequined Jacket
Tip!; Try www.ebay.com.au / www.etsy.com for novelty sorts of handbags, etsy has some amazing ones! Try dachshund bag or dachshund handbag as a search!
The Faux Fur Vest
I love faux fur. It's soft and it's warm and it's fluffy, who doesn't love all of those things? There are always tonnes of fur vests around coming up to winter. I got this one from ones of my favourite little boutique stores in Perth called Cheap & Chic, it's a little store full of clothes imported from Asia and there are so many clothes in there, I'm always stuck in there for hours! Check it out if your in Perth, the sizes are quite small, probably up to a size 12 Australian is stocked.
I'm also a firm believer that hats make an outfit! I rarely leave the house without something on my head, whether it be a headband, flower, fascinator or just a little clip, I just think head wear makes an outfit. This hat was a little gift from my mummy whist we we out shopping one day a few weeks ago, its from Myer and was $50 and I'm completely smitten with it.
The Iconic have lots of fur vests in a range of prices at the moment (check out www.theiconic.com) my favourite is included below, along with a couple of others I found that looked pretty nifty!
The Iconic - Faux Fur Vest - It's a little expensive, but timeless!
Forever 21 - Faux Fur Vest -on special for $23!!
Yes Style - Faux Fur Coat - $55 (do yourself a favour and browse this site! it's awesome and always quick delivery.)
Tip!; My best advice to find these type of vests is to browse around on polyvore.com - key search word fur vest
The Fitted Leather Jacket
 |
My fitted leather look jacket is my favourite piece through winter, I got mine from Dotti last year, I'm currently searching for my jacket for this year (I'll let you know how I go!). I find with a jacket like this that would probably cost a lot to be tailored, I find it best not to order a jacket like this online but go into some shops and try on some different designs. That's just me though! I find it best just to go to the city with a set budget for my jacket and try on as many as I can before I decide.
In this photo I'm also using my everyday bag. Just a simple black Calvin Klein Hudson Signature Satchel, I think they retail at about $148 but you can find them cheaper online for $110 onwards. I use this bag for work, its perfect sized and fits everything I need for the day in it, including my makeup bag, hairspray and cardigan. One of my major pet peeves are tiny handbags!
Tip!; For handbags like mine go to macys.com and look through all of the amazing bags! Also polyvore.com is great for finding handbag sources.
