This absolute beauty of a midi dress is my first velvet piece since the fabric came back into fashion after it was THE fabric to wear in the 90s. When it first made a reappearance a couple of years ago my initial reaction was Ewwww no… but as with all trends that come back, I usually end up liking them again – eventually.
My first thoughts though went to velvet in the very 90s colours of purple or dark green, and back then it was mostly crushed velvet (not a great combination, and hence my hesitation to warm to the trend). Neither of those colours “do it” for me now – so it wasn’t until I saw Michelle Tyler in a dream of a blush velvet dress that I started to warm to it – and now this velvet midi dress in a stunning yellow ochre colour has made me fall head over heels in love with the fabric all over again.
The dress was very kindly gifted to me by Hobbs as part of a self-generated campaign by the Over40Collective: Autumn is pretty much now upon us (let’s just forget our lousy summer, shall we?), and I’m ready to embrace it with open arms – despite being a die-hard summer lover. No point mourning over something we never had, eh?
I chose the dress (as opposed to a suit or shirt and trousers) because as someone who works from home now I don’t really need smart office wear as such – when I need to be smart for work activities it tends to be for meetings and such with brands. So for me a dress is the perfect desk-to-dinner piece.
So as mentioned my day job is being a full-time blogger and my usual office “uniform” is jeans and t-shirt (not ALWAYS my pyjamas!) – however if you work in an office with a relaxed dress code or if you work in a creative environment I think this would actually be the perfect workwear outfit.
The yellow ochre velvet is a gorgeous rich colour so it didn’t need an awful lot of styling, but knee highs are the perfect type of footwear for midi dresses and skirts. You absolutely CANNOT go wrong with that combination of skirt length and boots – they’re made for each other in that fabulous 70s-style way. I tied in the burgundy colour with a burgundy belt: It’s an old trick but matching belt and shoes is a great way to tie your look in without going too matchy-matchy.
The finishing touch however was the leopard print scarf, the black in which meant a black bag was the right colour bag to go with this look (unusual for me, I know)! It’s the Mini KT Workbag from Jennifer Hamley that I last featured here – it’s a proper work bag that holds all your proper work stuff.
SHOP THE LOOK:
Dress: Hobbs c/o
Scarf: Asos (similar)
Boots: Asos (these burgundy boots come in different calf widths)
Belt: La Redoute (this is a great one)
Bag: Jennifer Hamley c/o
So that’s my workwear outfit – I thought I couldn’t love the dress anymore than I did already, but then I quickly switched it up for evening…
Seriously, how beautiful is this dress? I’m stunned that I’d love something velvet so much. I wanted to create a look for dinner or drinks that could quickly and easily be transformed from the daytime look. So often working women have these sorts of scenarios: Work or meetings in the daytime, drinks or dinner straight after. Very rarely do you have time to go home and change entirely, so this is a great way to switch it up for drinks and fun.
A dress will always look more dressy with heels, and I wore the ruby red Marks & Spencer heels I wore to the UK Blog Awards (you couldn’t really see them under my gown) which are, actually, supremely comfortable. But the award for Most Glam Accessory goes to the oversized fishnet tights – aren’t they just incredible? I don’t think the whole outfit would be anywhere near as exciting without them. Yes, you can add a pendant necklace and yes you can add a metallic clutch, but add statement fishnets and bright red heels and you’re onto a winner.
The tights are easy to wear under your boots during the day if you want to save time as no one will see them (I’d recommend wearing the smallest toe sock things underneath fishnets as your toes will STILL go through the toes of the tights), and you simply swap boots for heels, scarf for a necklace, remove the belt and swap work bag for a clutch. Easy.
So easy, in fact, I’m going to start looking at my midi dresses rather differently from now on to see what else can be worn for both work and play in this way! Shopping links below…
SHOP THE LOOK:
Dress: Hobbs c/o
Necklace: Kendra Scott
Heels: Marks & Spencer
Tights: Asos
Clutch: House of Fraser (I LOVE this one)
I just want to say a huge thank you to the team at Hobbs for gifting these pieces and working with the Over40Collective – I think I speak on behalf of all seven of us when I say this was one of the best group campaigns we’ve worked on, and everyone is so pleased with their outfits! All the ladies in our group look incredible and have showcased Hobbs AW17 to perfection.
Do take the time to click through and see their outfits in full (they’ll all have shopping links included) to see how they’ve styled their Hobbs pieces to create desk to dinner outfits. It proves how different women can style pieces from the same brand and come up with completely different looks – this is what I LOVE about our group, we’re not at all not clones of each other 😊
Follow Liz on Instagram @whatlizzyloves
Follow Michelle on Instagram @mt.sustainability
Follow Lisa on Instagram @thesequinist
Follow Annette on Instagram @theladyofstyle
WHICH WAS YOUR FAVOURITE LOOK OF THE TWO – DESK OR DINNER? TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS OR TWEET ME @NOTLAMB!
LIKE THIS POST? YOU MIGHT ALSO WANT TO READ…
– My No.1 Styling Tip (Shared at My Hobbs London Style Session)
– Hobbs SS16 London In-Store Style Session Hosted By Not Dressed As Lamb
Disclosure: I was gifted this dress by Hobbs but was not compensated for writing this post (click here for my full disclosure). This post may contain some affiliate links which means if you click through and buy I may receive a small commission. All content is original, however, and opinions are my own and 100% honest.
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