5 Ideas: Summer Dress & Accessories
Recently, I attended a family reunion for my maternal grandmother’s side. She is 97-years old; she has eight siblings (although many of them are no longer with us). The last time we had this reunion was 27 years ago! I shared this picture from the second evening of the reunion on Facebook–I wore this Kate Spade Darcie Green Dress in emerald. Green is my favorite color to wear and the dress reminds me of Mad Men. A Fashionably ill reader asked me to blog about my outfit.
1. Importance of Color
I blogged about the importance of finding your “go-to-color.” Green and blue are my colors. Three years ago, I won an award–Second Prize in the National Council of Community Behavioral Healthcare’s Awards of Excellence for my nonprofit work. A couple weeks before the ceremony, I contracted the flu from coworkers. I almost relapsed with my myasthenia gravis (MG)–a day before we were about to start treatment for MG, I inexplicably got better. Anyway, because I could not get germs, I stayed home and could not go shopping for my dress. My cousins shopped for me. I told them my first choice was a nice green dress. Second choice: blue dress. They texted me pictures and tried clothes on. We settled on a blue dress. At the last minute, because I got better, I was able to leave the house and help my mom shop for her dress. Then, we stumbled on this Kate Spade number! It was everything I wanted: the color, the style, the cut. It was the last one left in the store and over 60% off!
2. Earrings
Earrings are a great way to accessorize. I’m wearing green Kate Spade Gumdrop Stud earrings in Emerald that I got on my birthday. I wore them because they complement my brown eyes–not just because the dress is green. I’ve even worn these earrings with a pink dress before. A necklace would have conflicted with my dress’s sweetheart neckline so I did not wear one.
3. Bangles
My aunt gave me this lovely, sparkly bangle recently she found at a boutique while on vacation. It’s green, silver, and white. I thought it was a great accent to the outfit. Bracelets are a great accessory.
4. Bold Lipstick
I avoided “summer face melt” by not wearing too much makeup. Since I was wearing eyeliner, I did not wear mascara. At first, I tried a light, nude/coral lipstick. It looked great in person but in pictures, I realized that I looked washed out. So I switched to a lively, bright shade of pink. Pink lipstick looks great in person and in photographs.
5. Attitude!
For ten years, I used to wear high heels all the time. Literally. I even and high heels to match my pajamas AKA my “house high heels.” I also had stilettos for grocery shopping. That was before I got myasthenia–before I had to carry a cane. Getting rid of heels took A LOT of getting used to. I often wear flats now. At the reunion, I wore one-inch wedges. I realized that I looked good even without heels–as good as I did in my stilettos. I felt confident. If you feel great, it helps you look great. I have been twelve different dress sizes since I got MG in 2008–due to changes in medications (especially Prednisone) and being bedridden for over a year. What I’ve learned from all of this is that confidence is a woman’s most underrated accessory. You have to walk around thinking (to yourself), “I’m fly. I look good!” no matter what anyone else says.
–Your Stylist, Jessica Gimeno
