Rate My Look: Re-purposed Wedding Outfit

In early September, McKenzie got married and the wedding was lovely. She wore Jenny Packham and I made her veil, which immediately blew off her head the minute she stepped out to walk down the aisle. Tornado warnings caused the caterer to try and blow off dinner, but in the end, we all ate. The wedding was a blast and, despite the weather, really beautiful. The bride was stunning, of course. I hadn't been to a wedding in almost a year (remember I had three almost back-to-back last year), and I decided it would be fun to make a dress to wear. I don't have a single decent photo of myself at the wedding, but I can say that my dress was a hit.

I made it with an olive green cotton sateen and I kept it simple- a fitted bodice and pencil skirt with an asymmetrical neckline. The color was divine and that was what inspired me to make the dress. I stumbled upon the fabric and I knew it was perfect for a simple, elegant, fitted design. It only took a few hours to make on one of my days off. It got completely soaked more than once at the wedding, and after that date, I hadn't really thought twice about it.

The thing is, I knew from the minute I made it that it would be great to dress down and wear to work. Why I waited three months to bother doing that, I'll never know. Anyway, I thought about it early in the week and then found myself brainstorming a different way to style it to make it work appropriate. At the wedding, I wore it with fuchsia satin and rhinestone heels and some sparkly jewelry and a silver belt. For work, I needed it to look good with flats, but I still wanted to play with color a little bit. I decided to mix it with a sparkly silver belt (the same one I wore to the wedding), grey flats, a charcoal cardigan and bright purple tights. I'm happy to report the resulting outfit worked perfectly!

I've lost close to 15 pounds since the wedding (low carb diet), so the dress is far less fitted than I originally intended. However, for work, I think it's more appropriate somehow. Even thought it's now a little too big, it worked once I cinched the belt around my waist and added the cardigan. 

So, what do you think of this (somewhat) recent Bouchard Original? It's not my best work, but far from my worst, and I really love how versatile it is. The color and fabric will work in many different seasons. I'm looking forward to styling it differently in the future. 

On another note, this was a particularly good make-up day for me. I pretty much NEVER try to match any of my make-up to my outfit, but with this look, I thought it would be fun to do a little purple eye shadow. It's a flattering color, and I used different tones, so it didn't ACTUALLY match my tights. (That would be weird.)

I think it makes my eyes go "BAM!!!" 

So, there it is- a fun and fabulous Bouchard Original with some even more fun and fabulous make-up. It's been a while since I've sewn anything, and I hope you like it!