Suzanne, Kallie & Me

 The design of the dress perfectly summed up her personality and the fit flattered her in all the right places. You can't tell but won't be surprised to know she wore boots with her dress, which is quintessentially Kallie.

It's strange to think that one dress + shoe combo can say so much about someone's personality but, as you'll see in a later post regarding my friend Beth's wedding, this combo tells you everything you need to know about the bride.

Blue seems to be a very common color to wear to a wedding. As you can see, Suzanne was also wearing blue (totally unplanned matching), the dress in the background of the picture of us three has blue, in the dancing picture (above) you see another blue dress (and some white ones aside from Kallie... talk about taboo!!). Maybe it has to do with the wedding saying, "something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue"? Starting the married couple with good luck?

For the wedding, I paired my dress with a pair of navy wedges. I knew the reception would be outdoors so I didn't want to wear heels. I've gotten so much use out of these shoes they were definitely worth every penny (on sale)! I pulled the top half of my hair back so the details on the neckline and earrings could be appreciated.

I love everything about this dress, to the point where I have to refrain from wearing it so I don't overwear it. The only negative is the small loop hole in the back with a button to aide in putting the dress on and taking it off, etc. Fun fact, I totally forgot to button it when I was at the wedding! Whoops. Hopefully my hair covered it! It can be a little hard to button depending on your shoulder width and bust volume. Because of that, I recommend doing your hair before putting on the dress because it can be a little tricky otherwise.

Delicate cut outs around the arms & create a peter pan collar

The fit is incredibly flattering. The dress is structured enough to move with you but it won't cling and show everything you've got. The elastic band tapers in to your waist to give a separation of bust and body, which is always important. The accordian-style pleating in the skirt is one of my favorite things about the dress. It's a nice rendition to what could have otherwise been a plain blue dress. My favorite part of the dress is the cut out pseudo-peter pan collar. It takes the dress up another notch. Little details like that that take a dress from "it's cute" to "I have to have it."

The dress looks great from a distance and even better up close. 

Navy is not season specific, so if you're looking for a piece of clothing that you can wear all the time any time, pick something navy!
It's all in what you pair it with! Brighter colors work in the warm weather and tights and boots carry it in the cold. Having a cap sleeve helps, too. If the dress was sleeveless it'd be more difficult to wear in the colder weather. It's seen as taboo even though cap sleeves don't do much to protect from the cold!

I took it up another notch and paired the dress with patterned tights. I had on a pair of solid black (with a shimmer) on one leg and the patterned tights on the other and the patterned looked way better. Something about patterned cut out tights keeps the look young and fun rather than dull and old (no disrespect). I mean, my mom wears solid tights. She often tells me, "I wish I could pull that off" or, "You're able to pull that off because you're young" so I'm going to wear patterned tights while I can!

The pictures with tights were taken before Christmas,  so don't hate on the Christmas bulbs in the background ;)

I bought earrings and a necklace specifically for this dress to wear to Kallie's wedding. The necklace didn't look right so it didn't make the final cut, but I definitely have been wearing it with other outfits! Each time I wear the dress I can't help but wear the earrings with it because they match perfectly (you can slightly see them in the picture of the cut outs). I plan to do a post on them at a later date — so keep an eye out!

I'm obsessed with the LC Lauren Conrad line at Kohl's. She once again knocked it out of the park with this dress. She knows what works, what looks good, and how to put it a step above the clothes on the other racks.

I didn't realize I needed a dress that went from season to season until I had one. The majority of the dresses in my closet are sleeveless, spaghetti strap, or a summer color, deeming them unable to wear when the temps drop. When I purchased this dress in September I wasn't thinking long term, but boy has it really worked out for me!