I'm ready to frost myself in cherry colored ruffles and lace for the sweetest holiday of the year. For my base, I've selected the delectable DownEast Lost in Love Dress.
Crisscross panels frame a sweetheart neckline in a wrinkle free, wash and wear jersey knit.
You can win your own DownEast Dressin time for a date with your Valentine, here's how:
Either: Go to DownEast Basics, inspect their dress offerings, and leave a comment on this post identifying your preferred Valentine's uniform.
And/Or: Become a DownEast Basics fan on facebook and leave a confirming comment on this Cardigan Empire post.
The winner of the Valentine's Dress Giveaway will be selected on Friday, February 5th.
Definitive dates call for a gourmet ensemble. Something layered with interest, infused with style, peppered with the unexpected.
Such a day is Thanksgiving, a day in which my ridiculously ample blessings require generous gratitude from my person. And in order to convey my bountiful internal thanks, I need to make full use of articulate outer fittings. Below is a step by step recipe should you have appreciation to express as well.
Ingredient 1: Simple, sophisticated basics Like butter and salt, a fine underpinning and a clean-lined knee length skirt are necessities for every sartorial pantry. Appropriate foundaions for every age, occasion, and season.
These ModBod basics are priced affordably enough that one can procure them in multiple colors. The stretch in both ensure a flattering fit and keep shy body ranges (shoulders & knees) out of view. Ingredient 2: An ambrosial blouse Something that speaks of nutmeg and cinnamon. Earthy, warm, and redolent. I chose a delicate tie-neck silk, just enough to add interest but not so much that it overwhelms.Procurement Point: (This illustrated model is no longer available, but these alternatives are) ModBod Anna Ruffle Neck Top Victoria's Secret Silk Georgette Tie-Front Floral Blouse
Step 3: A textured jacket With a feminine nod at Sherlock Holmes, this nubby wool cape makes cozy chic. Step 4: Apply Accessories You can see a small smattering of my accessory choices photographed above, but my full dream list is available at Sensibly Styled.
Here is another application in cranberry & licorice.
Beneath the perfect upper figured dress is a perfect fitting bra. Once your Easter Eggs are properly nested, the frocking is easy.
1. In our first basket of fashion treaties, we have the grass green with tulips shining underglinting sunlight. Northern endowed ladies should opt for medium rise scoop and v necklines. Blanketing the entire nest will only offer a prodigiously overwhelming set of curves. Instead, try the collar lines of the Underwood Shirtdress, which breaks your offering into smaller, visually digestible bites. While the long sleeves of the Through-The-Clouds Jacket draw attention down to the hip and the cropped jacket length brings further emphasis to the empire waistline.
2. In our second basket, the springy smocking through the bodice of the Confetti Whirl Dress won't leave your cups to overflow into the underarms or collarbones. The high empire waistline will draw attention to your narrowest torso width. The sleeve-line of the Karst Edge Cardiganagain brings interest to the hips while the high button closure narrows in right under the bust.
Good Friday and Happy Easter!
If you already have your customized look book & want more outfitting ideas, book a 60 minute virtual shopping session to compile a portfolio of wardrobe options, at excessively competitive wages.
Like a game of dot to dot, all the dress must accomplish is follow the lines of your equitably contoured hourglass figure.
1. Easter outfitting would certainly be deficient without at least the suggestion of millinery. The cherry a top the creamy vanilla lines of the Paisley jacquard Dress, dramatized by the Victorian collared With-A-Flourish Shirt Dress complete with waist belt to cinch in on your little waist.
2. There's no occasion for puffed sleeves, full skirts, or other illusions. Couple a fitted bodice with a pencil skirt and you're ready to go. In this case to a fairy tale tropical escape with your Maidens Braid Cardi and Inagua Dress.
The Upper Figured Princess will emerge from the shadows tomorrow.
If you already have your customized look book & want more outfitting ideas, book a 60 minute virtual shopping session to compile a portfolio of wardrobe options, at excessively competitive wages.
There are two equally successful roads for the linear figure.
1. On the first road, no frill is spared in favor of a flirtatiously felicitation. Elegance is candied in the organdy hewn Musing Moon Dress It is then topped with three layers of crocheted delectation on the Boyer Cream Cardigan.
2. On the second road, we opt for soft, submissive, supple shapes. The angles of the linear figure are softened beneath the yin shapes of the M.S.S.P. Printed Dress and Sand & Sea Bolero
Lady Hourglass, prepare to take center stage tomorrow.
If you already have your customized look book & want more outfitting ideas, book a 60 minute virtual shopping session to compile a portfolio of wardrobe options, at excessively competitive wages.
A fitted bodice floating over an a-line skirt - appropriately shining and shadowing the lovely lower figure. Cardigan Empire recommendations ensue:
1. Bright, saturated, and full of life The Sweet-As-Pie Dress creates a perfectly modern Easter. Instead of a traditional floral, dots of graphic appliques embellish a perfectly pear silhouette, complete with strategically placed colorblocking at the waist and hem. Enclosing the shoulders is a layer of cheerful crocheted cephalopods swimming around the edges of the Octopus Warp.
1. Normally I prohibit the use of Black at Easter, but the Wild Bush Rose Shirtdress's pairing of ebony and ivory feels fresh rather than mournful. I love how the pattern of the skirt rises above the self belt, drawing even more attention to the comparatively tiny waist.
Tomorrow we'll be frocking Linear Ladies.
If you already have your customized look book & want more outfitting ideas, book a 60 minute virtual shopping session to compile a portfolio of wardrobe options, at excessively competitive wages.
When I had not yet crowned 48 inches, my mother used to sew kindred dresses for me and my three sisters. My signature color was cherried red, and it was invariably paired with a white hat and gloves. In essence, I felt delightfully bonny. And you should feel bonny on Easter too. For if anything Easter is a celebration of fresh starts and eternal hope. Presented below are Cardigan Empire's choices for your Easter occasion.
Cardigan Empire recommends two dress silhouettes for the middle figure.
1. First, the shift dress. It cascades over soft central lines without a defined waist. Showing only its own sharp architecture, but still revealing lovely limbs.
For services, we can layer under or over the shift.
The long sleeves of the patterned top will draw attention down to your comparatively narrow hips.
Or use the jacket, tying the self belt in the back to create shape with out drawing attention to your midsection.
2. The second option is the empire waist. The empire waist highlights the narrowest part of your torso, underneath the bust, while the skirt swishes like a cloud around your soft delicious center.
To keep the look sweet and demure, we layer over and under. Raising the neckline with a lace trimmed cami feels deliberate rather than a compromise between modesty and fashion. The analogously hued Sweet Orange Cardigan will brighten the cheeks of a wide range of complexions.
We'll be back tomorrow with Easter Frocks for the lower figure.
If you already have your customized look book & want more outfitting ideas, book a 60 minute virtual shopping session to compile a portfolio of wardrobe options, at excessively competitive wages.
Happy New Year. It isn't actually Friday, but in honor of the first day of 2009, please enjoy this special edition. And consider how spectacular you are going to look next New Year's Eve.
Roll out the crimson carpet. Special you is going to a special event: a wedding, a gala to protect inner city garden gnomes, the premier of your personal made for TV movie. Your handshake is firm, your step is jaunty, but what my lovely friend will you use to robe your intimacies? Come and we will count up the formality spectrum, examining the prim & propriety of formalwear.
Dress to the Sevens - You've never dipped below a five in your existence. (Except maybe right after they extracted your wisdom teeth and you couldn't help from dribbling masticated debris while powering White Snake monster ballads.) Therefore, it really isn't unreasonable to rise to a fully, fabulous seven on a daily basis. Beauty and confidence should not be reserved for special occasions. Your clothing should fit and flatter diurnally.
Dress to the Eights - Cocktail There is a dimension beyond Sunday Best, preceding Black Tie. It is the middle ground between casual and formal. It lies between the pit of social faux pas and the summit of elegance and grace. It is an area which we call the Cocktail Zone.* What was once considered merely a little black dress has now expanded into a diverse habitat for abbreviated dresses and smart separates. One can reach the Cocktail Zone through the artful application of accessories and a tendency towards dapper. Many a social invitation (weddings, fundraisers, work festivities) speaks openly of this fashion Brigadoon, but below is live footage of the illusive locale.
A rundown of Jill's suiting follows:
All the jewerly in Jill's ensemble was crafted by her own skilled phalanges, as a stand-in for her one-of-a-kind creations, might I suggest the quixotic Six Wing Hoops & Autumn Everlasting Necklace The Looking Back Cardigan punctuates both your entrance and exit while keeping you cozy and covered. Pray believe us, there is nothing worse than seeing your great auntie's decolage. Modesty keeps everyone comfortable.Buttonblossom Dress inky elegance transcends into a smoky scattering of abstract floral. For evening events keep your garb dark perchance even sparkly; daytime gives place for lighter hues and heavier fabric weight. The length and sheen of this selection abides evening tradition, but a special occasion is certainly not an invitation to abandon your signature style. Skip the pretentious uniform, and dress to your own personal prime. La Regale Satin Pleated Bow Clutch because the prettiest frocks rarely have pockets.
Dress to the Nines - Black Tie Should the illustriousisses betrothe you the opportunity to take vestment to the nines, canter in without abandon. Adopt diamonds, fur, opera gloves should it suits you. Allow the rest of your circle to live vicariously through your glamorous exploits.
Below is a special bonus Fitting Room Friday. This clip showcases the bleeding edge of formalwear.
Unfortunately, Jason's Jump Suit is an original vintage piece that dares not be replicated.
1 hundred 98 cents = your own mix & match fashion look book cheat sheet.
Procure your own empire constitution. Your personalized fashion look book includes your own mix and match rules of conduct and much more.
*I personally do not drink cocktails**, but I like this name much better than semi-formal, which is a drab, frumpy term.
**Okay, there was that one time with the unlabeled punch bowl when I was really thirsty. But beyond those three mistaken ounces, true abstinenence.
In the meantime, feel free to pick up your own Downeast Basics Dress for under $25. 
