So, if you read the prior post, you know I'm loving Nina Dobrev's looks at Comic Con 2012, particularly the gold mini sequined ditty by Farah Khan she rocked with cobalt blue Brian Atwood heels.
I put together a group of affordable sequin mini dresses earlier this week to try and recreate this expensive look for less. Surprisingly, this type of dress, because of the obvious amount of work that would go into the sequin and bead work, is hard to find in an affordable (under $250) style that's just spot on. So I made do, finding dresses which evoked the most important elements, the shape and cut as well as the sequins and hopefully a pattern of some sort.
The winning dress I ultimately picked is this Miss Selfridge sequin dress below! It's not gold but does go well with the blue, open-toe Steve Madden pumps and gold clutch. I love the pattern on this dress too! The nude lines are actually the part of the dress which is not layered with sequins. Unfortunately this dress is not covered with sequins along the back, but the pattern and style are still really cute! Another close second was this Tahari ASL dress, which would actually look great with the gold clutch but, because of the colors, would probably have worked better with a green or coral open-toe pump. Finally, the third runner up was this sequin cocktail dress, available at Nelly.com. I love the sequin work pattern and it even has a cute keyhole in the back! The great thing is because this dress is quite short (even more so than the one Nina is wearing I think) and has a sexy cut out in the back, it isn't fitted so tight, so that helps offset it from being a total hoochie dress.
The hoochie factor is definitely something to avoid for when you get older because, while you can get away with hoochie styles when your in your teens and 20's and look completely young and fabulous, when you hit 30, something inside says "avoid the hooch!" as a signal to us to avoid that trap of looking like we are chasing our youth (bad) versus looking youthful (good). That's one of the best things I've heard via TLC's What Not to Wear. Whether you like it or not, the younger you try to look with your clothes when you get older, the older you actually look (i.e. older persons wearing teenage styles like sweatpants with words across the butt). By contrast, dressing a bit more age appropriate and taking care of your health, skin and hair actually does make one look more youthful! I've actually seen close family and friends age with style and grace but still look like they are so much younger! Let's face it, those of us who are in their 30's or older will never look like we are in our late teens again, but there's nothing to be ashamed of by aging and doing it with great style and ease. That inspires younger women to also follow suit when they get older. So while a sequin mini dress may not be within reach, the older we get, finding a similar style to coordinate with your age, (i.e. knee length if you're not comfortable with mid-thigh length anymore) goes a long way! Personally, I think people can ride the mini-skirt and short-shorts wave a bit longer than some other youthful styles! But that's just me! Know what you're comfortable with and what you think would be appropriate and go for it!
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