Agape Style: The Little Black Dress

As an image consultant one of my roles is to encourage ladies to build a wardrobe that isn't only tailored to their physique, skin colour, age or lifestyle but one that is staple and they can constantly update and modify as time goes by. So how do I build a staple wardrobe you ask? Over 4 posts you will be shown how you can style four staple pieces that are key to every ladies wardrobe so that they can be worn time and time again and still look brand new with each outfit. Part one of the four part series features the 'little black dress '.

"A little black dress is an evening or cocktail dress, cut simple and often quite short. Fashion historians ascribe the origins of the little black dress to the 1920's designs of Coco Chanel, intended to long-lasting, versatile,affordable, accessible to the widest market possible and in a neutral colour. It's ubiquity is such that it is often simply referred to as the LBD" (source Wikipedia)

Below I have styled my model (Dayo) to show you how the 'LBD' can be worn as every day wear. Teaming the dress with ankle boots,tights and a leather jacket I managed to create an edgy look that can be worn to a lunch date,shopping trip, to the cinemas etc without look too overdressed yet very stylish. This type of outfit can even take you from day to night with the magic touch of a red lip.

Here Dayo wears the 'LBD' in a way that can be worn to the office, a meeting, even a dinner date (with the bag changed to a clutch). I wanted to show how you can still look very stylish and sophisticated to more formal events without looking over the top. Using red, mustard, leopard print and a gold statement chain to compliment one another will keep eyes of the the onlooker travelling throughout the outfit, and as a result of this the dress is no longer the main focus. This is a smart way of wearing a simple piece with multiple outfits. Doing this also elongates the physique as it keeps the eye travelling up and down rather than across.

TIP: Use statement pieces that compliment one another to take change the focus of an outfit.

While styling the outfit below I had 'wedding' in mind, however it can be worn to many other places, a dinner party, engagement party, cocktail reception and so on and so forth. A similar styling technique to the previous one was used and you can see how this outfit looks totally different, yet with the same dress. Like before you can automatically appear more streamlined just by using accessories to build an outfit. Here I used the pearl earrings and statement pearl necklace to compliment each other. Then I used the exaggerated shoulders of the blazer to compliment the envelope clutch and the pointed heels which both have gold detailing on them, and our lovely make up artist brought the whole look together using burgundy lipstick.

It doesn't cost much to look great all the time, all you need is an eye for detail and a bit of creativity as these two skills can be lifesavers. In order for you to wear one piece in many different ways it must be simple, timeless and have good quality, so in an upcoming post under 'style advice' which is on a different page on this blog , I will give you a few tips on how to choose your little black dress.

I had an amazing time shooting this post, all thanks to my amazing team for the day.
Model :Dayo Adeoye
Make up artist :Julia Ahatty
Photographer: Dami Adeoye