When in Rome

I'm feeling a bit of post-Tribute fatigue (and real life fatigue) at the minute so I think it's always best to take a good look at some of the older things in your wardrobe to see if it can breathe some inspiration into your newer pieces.

 

I've had this Versace inspired LE dress for a good while - it came in one of the covid mini releases last year and I must admit, that as I was styling it, I didn't immediately identify that it was Versace (shame on me). It's a gorgeous twist on a classic though, and while I started playing with layering, I settled on slightly covering the cut out rather than obliterating it. I like a good cutout, but it's not especially great for multiple wears.

 

The description itself calls this Roman inspired and the gold accessories I've chosen reflect this - gold earrings with classical nudes, the iconic Versace braclets from the recent tribute as a clasp for the bag (see I'm clearly not totally hopeless!) and some gold belting to highlight the waist under the boxy jacket. The contrast of the formless jacket and form-fitting dress might not do it for everyone, but it definitely does it for me. 

 

Featuring:

Roman Inspired Dress • Limited Edition

White Crisp One Side Blazer • Millionaire Mansion Fashion

Statement Earrings • Epiphany

HotBuys Gold Chain of Chains Choker • Rio

Red Carpet Golden Belt • Special Offer

Purse Gold • Inspired by Zuhair Murad Tribute

Arm Bracelet Right (worn as a bag clasp) • Inspired by Versace Tribute

White Mimmi Heel • Vinyl

Le Petit Hippocampe

If I could, I think I'd wear Max Mara everyday. And this coat is no exception. Why wouldn't you want to be bedecked in little seahorses?

 

A coat with such soft, pretty detail needed to be complimented by a simple, but hard base - these sharply pleated leather trousers and boots provide an excellent backbone for it all. Also, these trousers are long enough that you can float your boots a bit lower on your doll to give a longer leg. While gorgeous, a coat like this can cut you off at a slightly unappealing mid-calf.

 

It's all got a sense of humour though right? So naturally, handbag earring and an ironic beret to top it all off.

 

Featuring:

Seahorses Coat • Pearls

Satin BodCon Dress • Fallen Angel

LE Ather Slim Suit Pants • It Girls

French Cap • It Girls

Purse Earrings • Wild Candy

Fendi Inspired Lunettes • Fendi Tribute

Rose Underarm Bag • Decades

Leather Boots • Fallen Angel
 

Sour Patch

I think lime green might actually be my favourite colour? 

 

 

For a freebie, this coat really is fab and this is already it's second outing since I started posting here again. Off the shoulder fur is very glamourous, but the bright colour is quirky and interesting.

 

I've decided to pair it off with neutral pink boots and simply accessories so that the bag can be the stand out. Don't you just love floating your handbag in a vague attempt to make it look like a hand might be there? I sure do! I'd love it if we could have some more detachable hands for just this purpose...

 

Featuring:

Green Satin Dress • Royalty

Green Faux Fur Coat • Special Offer 

Chain Earrings • Vinyl

Stacked Necklace • Epiphany

Pink Purse • Inspired by Versace Tribute

Beige Boots • Royalty

I N S P I R E D B Y E L I E S A A B | Styled Outfits

I was so impressed with the Elie Saab tribute and really went a little crazy with buying pieces from the collection - I bought a lot! I styled up five of the pieces in my review post and now it's time to style up the rest:

First up is the Leather Mini Dress which I think is definitely one of my top picks from this release. It was so fun to style and super easy to find pieces to work with it. I just loved how these shoes looked, while the colour isn't a perfect match, I think the shoes are far enough away from the dress to make it work. With the gold bow on the shoes this was perfect to add some lighter tones including the gold earrings and then some yellow pieces, I really love this little crossbody, it's so cute with the dress I think^ Next is the Printed Top which is a fabulous Summer piece to style - similarly to my styling with it's co-ord piece I've opted for the colours of the print, this skirt is great with it! As are the sunglasses, just fantastic! There's a lot of black in the print so I don't think adding both black shoes and a bag is too dark for the styling, the balance seems just right. And finally in this set are the Crystal Top and the Wide Belt With Rope together - I wasn't initially going to style the belt again however it seemed like a good fit with the overall outfit. I wanted to pick a colour from the top for the rest of the clothing in the look and I tried a few green options before deciding on this red skirt, I think it's the perfect vibrant pairing =D The skirt adds a lot so I kept the accessories simple in black, they're sleek pieces which complement the styling very nicely.

Next up are a co-ord set that I've styled separately although very similarly! First is the Black Holo Top which I think is such a fun piece, I love the futuristic vibes to it and I think it will make a great layering piece under open blazers and jackets, but for this first styling I've kept it on show. The blue tones are a perfect match with these trousers, I really love these two pieces together and will repeat the pairing for sure. Yellows and reds will also work well with this top as there are little flashes of those colours too and I will definitely try those out. I kept the rest of the look pretty fitting with the top by adding a lot of black pieces, love the sheen on this belt with the sheen of the top and also these black delicate sandals^ Then are the Striped Holo Pants (which I'm convinced is a skirt!) which I also really liked working with, again this will look good with the same colours as the top, I was just really feeling the blue for this one too! I think this top is super fun with its long sleeves against the maxi length of the trousers. I was feeling a little stuck with the accessories, in the end I picked some simple black pieces and I think they work, but there's maybe a little something missing in this styling - looking forward to wearing this piece again and giving it another go =)

And lastly for some accessories! First is the Pearl Clutch, I loved this piece on first sight and I loved styling it up too^ I found this very easy to style, I knew I wanted gold tones and this dress was one of the first things I tried out from my wardrobe. Beyond that I didn't really know what else to add to the look, but as soon as I tried these boots I loved the look^ The black jacket balances the boots well and I don't think the contrast in colours is too much, I really love this a lot. Next is the Chain Pendant which is such a nice simple yet elegant necklace to add to my collection. I decided to keep the outfit very simple so the design of the necklace can stand out and I think it's been a success, the chain really pops well against the bright white of the shirt and trousers. Stuck with simple accessories too, but really love the use of this little bag, the design and the chain are great in the look =) And last but not least, the Tassel Necklace which I really loved immediately upon seeing it in the store. I tried quite a few different times to style this but got stuck with it a few times, in the end I'm pleased with the look I've gone for though and I think it looks fab against the golden design of this shirt and trouser set. With the convenient belt positioning on the trousers I think the tassel stands out well. The print on the clothing really adds a lot of detail so I kept the accessories simple in gold - I love this styling a lot and will definitely pair this necklace with these clothes again^

Pièce de Resistance

 I think I've peaked. Whoops. 

 

I always snoop through Mr. releases because something fantastic always falls out - this time it's this Balmain coat. On it's own it's pretty great - all those deep blues and greens are like an oil slick. But of course I couldn't leave well alone. 

 

It started with those massive Schiaparelli earrings and then I just...lost control from there. But whether it was divine possession or madness, I'll be keeping this look for a while. I feel like a Grande Dame on the way to the Opera, but it's like...a cool opera where they let you wear leather trousers and no bra. 

 

Featuring:

Oversized Plush Coat • Mr.

Staring Earrings (worn as embroidery) • Inspired by Schiaparelli Tribute

Bird Brooch (x 2 worn as embroidery) • Limited Edition

Lanvin Inspired Palm Earrings (rotated, worn as embroidery) • Limited Edition

Metal Leaf Earrings (worn as embroidery) • PPQ of Mayfair

Gold Chain Necklace (worn as a clasp) • PPQ of Mayfair

Triple Tassle Necklace (worn as a clasp) • Callie's Picks

Sleeveless Organza Dress Black • Inspired by Prada Tribute

Slouchy Leather Pants • Inspired by Off-White Tribute

Gold Earrings • Inspired by Schiaparelli Tribute

One Line Heels • Vinyl

Incognito Mode

She's incognito, but also drawing as much attention as possible...And it's this raspberry pink's fault.

 

It's such a tasty colour! And the little cutout details towards the waist. And the square neck. It's proper Barbie's-now-a-trophy-wife stuff and I live for it. 

I could have just left it the way it was, but there's something very appealing about a loud dress fighting for attention with yet more accessories. Can't choose a handbag? Do both. Already wearing a hat? Tie it down with a scarf. The nice thing about this Versace hat-scarf combo is that you can mix it with another cap if you want. There's a time and a place for obnoxiously visible branding, but it just wasn't here. 

And of course it's Versace, so I had to dig out my old favourite Versus Versace sequin cardigan. It's a foundational piece in my wardrobe really (if you can believe it) because it introduces colour all over the place and doesn't immediately read as 'sparkly'. The blue and yellow are picked up in the scarf and somehow we're all pulled together, ready to drive everyone crazy as we jangle through the airport.

Featuring:

Hot Pink Dress • Pretty 'n' Love

Pink Sequin Cardigan • Versus Versace Tribute

Shawl Hat • Inspired by Versace Tribute 

Classic Cap with Piercing • Evil Panda

Hot Buys Mini Aviator Sunglasses • Original Future

Chain Coin Necklace • Vinyl

Painter Bag • Tingeling Couture

Blue Purse • Inspired by Versace Tribute

Rocker Heel in Pink • Inspired by Roberta Einer Tribute

Iris Van Linebacker

It's big shoulders time! Courtesy of the Iris Van Herpen tribute.

 

 

I absolutely love Iris Van Herpen IRL, but one of the things that is so iconic about the designs is how they don't really translate to other places. You can't do IVH on the cheap, nor can you *really* do IVH to nip to the shops (unless you're really extra). The same can sort of be said for the tribute itself, and as Kirsten pointed out in her round-up, we all seem pretty unanimous that each piece costs a lot for not a lot of versatility.

I picked up this orchid-y blue number with the intent of trying to wear it not-just-as-a-dress. I'm not sure how successful I've been, except in maybe making my doll look like she could take up the front row of a very fashionable scrum. 

I do love the colours I've pulled together though. Another formative fashion experience for me was the colour pairing chapters from Trinny and Susanna's What Not to Wear Books (you may not have heard of these outside of the UK although Trinny has an extremely chaotic TikTok - and maybe don't look them up either ha, they were pretty unnecessarily harsh to poor unsuspecting women). There was one particular look that put navy blue with lime green and I was just so sold on that. This was in....2002 maybe?..and I still can't shake it now.  

Perhaps I'll try this dress again in a few weeks - that'll be the real test - can I style it without lime green!

Featuring:

Blue Ombre Dress • Inspired by Iris Van Herpen Tribute

Prada Inspired Neon Fringe Dress (rotated and worn as a neckpiece) • Inspired by Prada Tribute

High Waist Pencil Pants • Velvet Orchid

Jacquemus Inspired Blue Belt • Subcouture

Sunny Belt • The JetSet

Ombre Bag • The JetSet

Plastic Couture Show Headwear • Tingeling Couture

Del Boca Earrings • Tingeling

Emerald Boots • Runway

In the Shadows

Sometimes you're not feeling colour...but you *are* feeling some kind of drama...

 

 

I love an all-black look provided there is plenty of texture. This was just an exercise in pulling out my recent black purchases and layering them on top of each other to see what works. Honestly, it's as simple as that sometimes - empty your wardrobe at random and see what bizare combinations you can put together. This Schiaparelli off-off-off shoulder dress has a lot of potential as a layering piece so if you're someone who loves to layer creatively and dramatically, this is a great piece for your wardrobe.

 

And of course, a slick of dramatic eyeliner is the best accessory to finish off. 

 

Featuring:

Black Velvet Gown • Inspired by Schiaparelli Tribute

Black Blouse • Vinyl

Black Leather Apron • Vinyl

Lace Decorated Bikini Top • Riviera

Glitter Clutch • Pretty 'n' Love

Super Flick Eye Makeup • Film Theory