Autumn dresses

Here we go...

It's the second installment in the Autumn/Winter staples wardrobe thing!

Today I bring you dresses!

Now, I love a good ethereal frock and no more so than in the Autumn/Winter, when you can layer up with tights, boots and a thick woolly cape (see what I did there...), ready to step out into the first frosty mornings of the new season.

In every good fairy-tale, well any fairy-tale in general, there is always a floaty dress to be found. Whether that be Sleeping Beauty,Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Rose Red or Rose White, Gretel or Thumbelina.

Inspiration is everywhere.

Ethereal dresses come in many different forms, there is the long maxi style- stereotypical of warm summer evenings, the dip and drop hem, the classic smock and shift or the simple a-line. Whatever your style, shape or coloring there is a Titania hidden inside, just waiting to show her face.

So embrace it, let her be shown to the world! It's time to live your life as a fairy-tale, even if it is just for those fleeting moments a day where you get to shed your jeans and t-shirts and don your gossamer gowns.

Designers such as Dolce & Gabbbana, Valentino and Alexander McQueen have been on board the trend this year, creating hooded floral gowns reminiscent of the summer fairy's, white lace garbs with magical symbols adorning them and blue chiffon masterpieces enriched with gold embellishment.

Lacey Smock dress

I adore this sky blue yumidirect.co.uk dress, I have showcased it in a previous blog on sixties style but it's a classic staple so I had to bring it back.

It is beautiful. I have no other way to describe it. It is the perfect length for a winter smock dress, and the lace is subtle enough to be noticeable. The chiffon fabric used means that the dress has the perfect floaty drape to be classed as a modern example of an ethereal Snow White. If you are ever looking for a floaty smock dress, I would highly recommend Yumi, their unique takes on classic shapes give an alternative twist for anyone who likes simple shapes but wants something just that bit special, something no one else will have.

I wear this dress with my leather jacket which I brought from a London market or a blue boyfriend tweed blazer(jackwills.co.uk) for a more structured shape which balances out the floaty drape. However if I really want to go to town with 'fairy-tale', I pair my dress with an equally boohoo jumper from Next.co.uk, a woolly cape style coat with a sweet Peter Pan collar (whistles.co.uk) or fluffy, cream cape- also by Yumi.

Autumnal dip-hem dress
This is less of a casual dress but is still very wearable. I brought it from the True Decadance counter at Houseoffraser.co.uk. Due to it's dip hem nature it is a lot  more stereotypical of the ethereal look.

It is as stunning as the other dress but just slightly longer and bears more resemblance to Autumn with it's burnt orange colour than the pale blue wintry tones of the smock dress.

If I am wearing this dress in a casual manner I will pair it with my waxed Barbour.co.uk coat- as the coat is long this means that the stark dip at the back of the dress is less noticeable, hence toning the dress down a notch . If I was to make the most out of the evening style dress, I would pair with my green or blue tweed blazer-both from jackwills.com, long Next cardigan or leather jacket . However if I was to go all out and encompass fully autumnal fairy-tale then I would have to wear my blue wool coat or fluffy cream cape.

All these outfits I will either wear with my Frye Cowboy or lkbennett.com suede boots, brogue dolly shoes from Office.co.uk or leather loafers from Boden.co.uk. I feel that these classic shoe styles are the perfect accompaniment to the dresses because they let them dazzle.

I hope you found this two-part special interesting and useful and I shall see you very soon!