Another day of LA Fashion Week, another reason to dress UP! I am gradually succumbing to fall and, you know, wearing clothes for a change. The thing that hooked me and is beginning to change my grinch-like destain for the season are all the marvelous fabrics and textures that we wear in the cold. Enter: The Velvet Minidress.
This thing, to be honest, was actually shorter in real life because it rode up like no other. If you’ve ever been victim to a creeping hemline, you know what I mean. Walk walk walk. Stop. Shimmy shimmy. Anyone see? Ok. Walk walk walk. Ugh. Shimmy shimmy … and repeat. In a lot of the photos that Kim and I took, it had actually rode up so much that the fabric had doubled over my belt, which was not a cute look. The oncoming traffic seemed to enjoy it, though. And we do like to spread joy here at stigmendes.com, right? Haha.
It may be short, but it’s velvet and has long sleeves, you know, in case you get cold.
OK, a velvet minidress with long sleeves isn’t going to keep you warm in autumn, but this is LA! It was a brisk 72 degrees when we took these photos at 6 pm.
Here’s where I don’t have all the answers about cool-weather dressing. I hate bulky clothing, but love rich fabrics – so this velvet number was just the right amount of “bulk” that I find acceptable on my frame. Since the weather was pleasant, I was able to indulge in my imaginary autumn landscape that never drops below 70 degrees.
However, if you live in an actually cold part of the world, I would have little idea on how to advise you, other than suggest that you wear your relatively paltry clothing (in thickness, not in style, duh), bring tip for your valet, and pray for appropriate indoor heating.
That is probably the worst advice ever. If you live in the cold, how do you dress for a night out? Seriously. I want to know.
A Note on Styling
The dress is doing the bulk of the work in this outfit, and I think that’s true with most velvet dresses, especially if they have a pattern. This one not only is velvet and patterned, but has ruching to boot – so accessories are minimal and sleek.
The neckline on this dress is actually quite high. I took my ride-or-die fashion tape and taped the “V” down to balance the silhouette. The higher V added heaviness to the chest and did nothing to lengthen my shape. Never be afraid to tape and pin your clothes – it can work miracles.
Makeup and Hair
We don’t cover a ton of makeup on the blog, but just a note on what I did here: I wanted to emphasize the autumnal yellow in the dress, so I chose fall-colored shadows and layered them from light to dark, starting with yellow at the inner corner of the eye.
I knew it was a hit when the glorious Joanne Kim, an LA-based makeup artist I met that night (and amazing human, just FYI) complimented me. She seemed sincere, guys. Could it be that they years of my sister and aunt teaching me how to do makeup have finally paid off?
For hair: It just needed to get out of the way so the focus would land on the dress and its texture. I shellacked it down with hairspray, tied it in a low bun, and called it a night. Easy peasy.
And … I can’t help but share this photo that Kim took of me painting my nails on the sidewalk. I let them dry in the Lyft on the way to the venue, haha! That’s how little free time I had in LA, to be honest!
I could hear Tim Gunn shouting “MAKE IT WORKKKK” and by the Fear of God, I did. I was even early to the venue that night!
If you’d like to see more LAFW outfits, check out this, this, and this post and let me know what you think!
love,
Stig.
