Black and Blank ... With a Twist!

If you search the "Black and Blank" tag on this blog, you'll see that the color I most commonly pair with black is pink. Usually a strong magenta.

Today's outfit is no exception, but what is exceptional about it is the new way I've chosen to wear the dress.

Backstory first: I didn't even really want the dress, but when I saw it was 198 dollars originally, marked down to $4.99, I couldn't resist (can we say "shopping addiction," anyone?). I figured I could get at least a few uses out of it to get my money's worth.

But when it arrived, I could see it was the worst 198 dollars I'd never spent. I think it was supposed to be one of those dresses where the skirt part fits tightly and then the top part blouses out (like this one, for example), but I'm not a fan of that style, and it was too big to fit tightly anyway. On top of that, the built-in bra was far too small, causing the neckline to dip down dangerously low.

My first move was to remove the elastic from the shelf bra (woohoo, free elastic for future projects!) so that it wouldn't be constantly pulling down. I let the bra fabric stay.



Here's how it looked after the elastic had been removed from all but two last anchors: the bottoms of the straps.

The straps were also too long, so I took about an inch and a half from each, looped it around, and sewed it down inside the back of the dress. Oops, that made the straps a tiny bit too short, but I figure they're so skinny, they'll stretch under the weight of the dress (they did).

With that, my alterations were done, but there was still the major problem of the dress being straight and shapeless. My solution was to give the whole skirt a quarter-twist.

Now, all of a sudden, there's definition at the waist, plus a whole load of texture! The twist required frequent readjustment throughout the day, but I think the added eye appeal was worth it.

I also let the pink pop with my pink Lucite heeled shoes, and showed some restraint by keeping the pink necklace small and the pink earrings smaller, finally covering it all up (it was for work after all), with a black shrug.