All Dressed Up in Black and Blue

  About a month ago, Ally at Shybiker wrote a post on a dress that turned her bad day around. It was the first time I'd read of someone else keeping items in her wardrobe of no practical value because their beauty made her happy.

  I live a highly casual and very budgeted life as a returning student, but I have several items that make me feel magical that I keep in my closet. Since reading Ally's post, I've wanted to do one about my own mood-changing dress, in a kind of solidarity or a virtual cocktail party.  If we have nowhere to wear our prettiest things, we'll wear them inside together on our style blogs. :D

  I found this Elie Tahari dress at a thrift boutique for $18. I hesitated because again, student! Any occasion that would warrant this type of dress would cost money I did not have. Heck, I wasn't sure I had the 18 beans to splurge on something utterly frivolous.

  Trying on the dress, however, was like getting a punch of endorphins to the brain. The dress made me feel like a goddess of sexy and nighttime and class.  I love the color of the blue satin sheath and the overlayer of black lace. I love how it's clingy and has that hint of boudoir nighttime wear without going into lingerie/trashy territory.

  I paired it with a necklace I got at a Styles for Less closing sale for $6.50, again because it was very pretty though I had no practical use for it. Then I put on the sparkliest shoes I own, a pair of Matisse sandals with pewter flowers and rhinestones:

  A former coworker once described the sandals as 'Slave Leia for my feet.' I like the super reasonable wedge height. Even though they do not come in wide width, there's only a toe strap, so my little toes can hang off the edge and not get crushed. I require formal shoes be comfortable enough for me to stand for hours in them, and these absolutely fit the bill, while being sparkly to boot. *thumbs up*

  Thanks to Ally for the idea and opportunity to do this, though it took much longer than I expected because of my semester of URGHawiohga;wekah. I'd love to hear about your special closet items, too!

Dress: Elie Tahari (thrifted)

Necklace: Styles for Less (old)

Shoes: Matisse (DSW, old)