It’s that time of year again… formal season! Many organizations on campuses throughout the country are celebrating the semester’s end by dressing up and taking a special someone to enjoy a memorable night—hopefully for the better. Although Happy Valley hasn’t really been giving us spring fever lately, it is spring. Last season, we enjoyed wearing sparkles, our little black dresses, and gold and silver jewels. Now we can move on to the other end of the spectrum and wear beautiful pastels, bright colors, and white instead!
While downtown has many boutiques and stores with a great assortment of dresses, heels and accessories, online shopping is often times convenient and always a great option as well. Plus, getting a package is always exciting!
From head to toe, here are my tips on how to make your formal date the luckiest guy there:
Dresses:
Current trends include a lot of crazy patterns and cut-outs. However, formals tend to be a bit classy, so know where to draw the line! Also, more flowy styles such as skater style dresses and hi-low dresses also continue to be trendy and extremely flattering. Peplum is another look that has not yet gone out of style. It is both timeless and adds a great shape to any figure. It is easy to be fun, bright, beautiful, and tasteless with all of the current styles on sale for spring time!
Great websites/places for dresses include: Nastygal.com, Tobi.com, Asos.com, LuLus.com, and Forever21!
Shoes:
Alright, so at dated functions, your shoes can mean a lot. They can make you taller than your date or put your feet in so much pain it’s too hard to dance or walk in them properly. Neither of those things are ideal, so remember factors like that when buying a pair of shoes. Usually, pumps tend to be the main style at formals or banquets, and nude or tan colored heels match everything and lengthen the look of your legs. Now that it is spring, open toe pumps can show off your cute pedicure! Since it is spring, wedges are a great look too! Just make sure they’re not too casual. Also, suede shoes or booties should definitely shy away from the dance floor this time!
Great websites/places for shoes include: Urbanog.com, Zappos.com, Charlotte Russe, Steve Madden, Aldo, DSW, or any department store.
Accessories:
Accessories including jewelry and bags can completely create a masterpiece look. Even if you’ve previously worn your dress, new accessories will transform it. For spring, pastels like mint, coral, and lavender are stealing shopper’s hearts. Earrings and necklaces of pastel and bright colors look great with a simple white dress or may even perfectly match a colored dress. Just don’t overdo it! One large piece of jewelry always looks best and makes a perfect statement. Clutches are always a nice add-on to a look as well and also come in all shapes and sizes. By buying a simple clutch that matches your jewelry, you most likely will form a perfect look!
Great websites/places for jewelry include: Francesca’s Collections, Anthropologie, JCrew, or any department store.
Follow these tips and the day of your formal I guarantee your date will be impressed from head to toe.