The Joy of a Little Black Dress

 

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Dress: Aje cotton

Belt: TK Maxx woven stretch, faux tortoiseshell

Heels: Kitten D'Amour vegan leather

Cuff: Wallace Bishop silver

Bangle Stack: New Farm Antique Centre horn

Bangle Stack: Gift, vintage Mexican silver

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If you have ever read any of the fashion magazines, you'll know how often they wax lyrical about the virtues of the Little Black Dress & its classic nature, its versatility, its capacity to act as a blank slate... As a stylist, I agreed with the sentiment in theory (you know, taking into account cost per wear etc) but was still pretty much utterly obsessed with all manner of print, pattern & bright colour - until I saw this dream number from Aussie designer Aje, that is. This black cotton dress with its extreme puff sleeves, shirred bodice detailing, exposed back zipper & tiered & layered midi skirt is what dreams are made of! It's classic, timeless in black, super soft to wear & will work for SO many different occasions. I've worn it to a "dressy" affair before but this time, I've styled it up with more casual accessories for a morning spent attending an Antique Doll & Bear Show with my mother, cinching in the waist with a black & cream woven stretch belt with faux tortoiseshell buckle that I picked up from my local TK Maxx store & adding a pair of black vegan leather dual buckle heels from vintage-inspired Kitten D'Amour for a touch of gravitas & a modicum of height on my five foot frame. When it came to jewellery, I chose some special pieces - a brushed silver cuff from Wallace Bishop, stack of very thin horn bangles from New Farm Antique Centre & finally, a stack of seven vintage Mexican silver bangles that were gifted to me by some dear friends to complete the look.

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