Hello!
I put together a little video to show one way that I like to style a little black dress-- by adding vintage and gothic inspired accessories to give it more interest and glamour.
The dress that I started with is from BooHoo (link). It has a square neckline, sleeves that puff at the shoulder, are tight mid-arm and then transition into a lantern sleeve towards the wrist, and an empire waist with a mid-length mid-volume skirt. This little black number has some interesting influences in its different parts. The empire waist, puff shoulders and square neckline almost remind me of a regency dress, like this example:
However, the way that the sleeves turn into a lantern sleeve below the elbow along with the shape of the skirt are reminiscent of 1940s dresses like this one on the left:
It's an interesting combination to say the least, so I wanted to unify the dress's style with some accessories to make it a full outfit.
The first thing I added was an elastic corset-belt. Corsets are a widely used part of both vintage and gothic style. While I don't have a real one to add to this outfit, I love the way that this faux leather one cinches in the waist to bring it the dress more in the direction of the refined 40s silhouette.
Next, for general accessories, I added a red ribbon bow hair clip. My hair was kind of half up, so I pinned it on the back of my head in the tied up section. I also added one of my favorite pairs of earrings, which are some simple gold dangly chains. With a lot of other loud accessories, I didn't want to draw too much attention to my ears, but I also hate having bare lobes. These were a sweet and dreamy in-between option.
My makeup was fairly minimal for this look, just some defined brows, a bit of blush and soft winged eyeliner. I wanted to keep it clean so that I could add my bold red lip, which is one of my favorite shades from the Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Matte line, called 'Divine Wine'. I love this formula that is creamy but not greasy, and this deep red shade was a great focal point for my makeup.
Last, but not least, I added a pair of gloves. (No sensible lady would leave the house without a pair). The ones I chose are little sheer black wrist gloves with a spiderweb pattern overlaid on them. These match the socks that I was wearing, which were black ankle socks with a spiderweb-fishnet pattern and ruffles on top.
The shoes that I wore were a pair of black faux-alligator heels with a strap and a buckle. They were my mom's in the 80s, and I think they're just the perfect combo of spooky and glamorous!
...And that's it!
With the addition of a few simple accessories, this dress went from an era-confused but cute little black thing to a full gothic and vintage inspired outfit. I hope that you got some tips from my video and explanation. I plan to create more video content and styling tip posts soon!
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