the new look: the new formal.

when i start thinking about what i’d wear to a more dressy party, usually the first thing i’d reach for is a cocktail dress, whether in a bold color or a lbd or lwd with a pair of showstopping heels. the problem with that is it gets predictable, so what are the alternatives? i bought this banana republic monogram skirt back in the day (5-6 years ago?) when the collection was launched, and have probably worn it twice….because how much can you wear a floor length silk charmeuse skirt with a train?

enter a party i went to a few weeks ago that was on a chilly night, and wearing a short dress wasn’t in the cards. i thought about wearing black pants for a “le smoking” look, when i passed by this skirt. i dressed it down with a cashmere cardigan and spaghetti strap tank, while the leather jacket, lace booties, and statement clutch gave it a bit of edge (and kept from veering too much into charlotte york territory). how do you break out of your comfort zone for evening dressing?

acne studios jacket, j. crew cardigan, gap tank, banana republic monogram skirt (old, similar and more below), elizabeth and james booties (similar), tom ford sunglasses, chanel bag, forever 21 earrings, alex mika ring, céline (similar), jewelmint (similar), eddie borgo bracelets

photos by lydia hudgens

!function(d,s,id){var e, p = /^http:/.test(d.location) ? ‘http’ : ‘https’;if(!d.getElementById(id)) {e = d.createElement(s);e.id = id;e.src = p + ‘://’ + ‘d27mzdfpkg2pgg.cloudfront.net’ + ‘/js/shopthepost.js’;d.body.appendChild(e);}if(typeof window.__stp === ‘object’) if(d.readyState === ‘complete’) {window.__stp.init();}}(document, ‘script’, ‘shopthepost-script’);

Turn on your JavaScript to view content