Holiday Switcheroo

I know I posted a blog about how I had this adorable silver sequin dress that I planned to wear to the Madeleine's Daughter company holiday party, but I lied to you. I didn't mean to lie. At the time, I meant every word. And the peter pan collar necklace I made to go with it? Also, not a lie at the time, but I did not end up wearing either the silver sequin dress or the peter pan collar necklace to our company holiday party this past weekend. Here's how it happened:

The Tuesday evening prior to the party, Brandie expressed her need to find an outfit. After work, Juhree and I went with her to Marshalls to help her pick something out. I had absolutely NO intention of shopping for myself while we were there. However, sometimes these things are out of our control. While looking through the racks of sparkly holiday dresses, I came upon the most stunning art-deco dress I've seen in a long time. The price? Just $59.99. Now, 60 bucks isn't much to spend on a cocktail dress but it is a lot to spend when you don't NEED said cocktail dress because you already have a silver sequin cocktail dress hanging in your closet at home. I bought it anyway. And here's why:

1.) I look incredible in it.
2.) I can wear the silver sequin dress to a New Year's Eve party (and I plan to).
3.) I can get another wear out of the second dress by wearing it to my friend Jen's wedding in January.

So, without further ado, I present to you my holiday party look for 2012:

Go ahead and TRY to tell me this wasn't worth every penny. In fact, go ahead and TRY to tell me it wouldn't have been worth it had it cost DOUBLE what it did! It's a phenomenal dress that fits me like a glove. 'Nough said. 

The best thing about this dress is how I feel in it. I walked strutted around that holiday party KNOWING I was the best dressed in the room. Maybe I wasn't actually the best dressed (not likely), but I felt like it. The only regret I have from this night is that it was an event the Professor could not attend. Which is why I'm incredibly excited to wear it again to Jen's wedding! He'll be my date that night, and he's driving 6 hours to be there, so I'm looking forward to dressing up for him. 

Now that I'm done bragging about what I hottie I am, let's talk about why this dress is so flattering. Do you guys remember when Kate Winslet wore that amazing Stella McCartney dress with the remarkably slimming optical illusion? Here's a photo in case you forgot: 

My dress has a similar effect because of the dark sequin banding on the sides. In my opinion, it's a brilliant design idea and one that everyone should try. Just like Kate, I tried to keep my accessories to a minimum- I chose rhinestone embellished black pumps, black rhinestone earrings (not pictured in the photo above, unfortunately) and a sparkly feather hairpiece (unfortunately also not pictured). It's easy to over accessorize a simple dress, but that's just the time when you need to exercise restraint. I actually didn't want to wear anything in my hair, but unfortunately there were some tacky-looking bobby pins ruining my elegant updo and covering them with a headpiece was the quickest, simplest fix I could come up with. The earrings were sparkly, but not too over-the-top and my make-up was actually pretty neutral. 

I'm hamming it up with co-worker Meghan during dinner. 

What did you wear for your company holiday party? Was it formal or casual? Are you dressing up for New Years? Whatever the look, just remember to wear it with confidence and walk strut through the room like you're the hottest one there. Unless I'm there, too and then I hate to break it to you, but you'll be the second hottest one there (wink).