Dress Season, Vol. 2 with Gal Meets Glam

Happy April! It’s my Birthday Month, and I’m turning 37 this year — which makes me a little nervous as it officially puts me in my “late thirties”. I’ve definitely been feeling a bit more “grown up” lately — being a mom has a lot to do with it, and am starting to relate to many of my clients nearing their forties who want to look youthful yet sophisticated at the same time. As I’ve been mentioning over the past year, I’ve definitely had a shift in my personal style since Charlie’s birth — I’m gravitating a lot more to refined neutrals with pops of color and less pattern – which is a great way to bridge that gap between looking fresh and polished. 

As I’m discovering new brands that do a great job at catering to a late-thirties early-forties woman – both for myself and my clients – I’m noticing that when it comes to everyday dresses, a lot of brands fall flat. They either have ones that are too girly/frilly or too dressy or too office-y. There are few that do it well in a way that appears age-less and age-appropriate at the same time. I have to say that Julia, the blogger/designer behind the Gal Meets Glam Collection has definitely succeeded in that category with some of her designs.

In my 2nd Volume of Spring/Summer Dress celebration, I’ve chosen another one of her Collection dresses – this refined Elisabetta Dress, which sells at Anthropologie/BHLDN, as well as a few other retailers carrying her designs. this style has a very “Sex and The City” feel with a full A-Line skirt and wrap-around bodice + chic belt that you can tie into a back, side or front bow. You can also tie it around twice like I did to just have a bit more waist definition with less frill.

For this look, I used an analogous color story, and chose accessories and jacket to compliment the dress in a monochromatic way.

I paired the dress with my Lamarque Kiyoshi Moto Leather Jacket [sold out , but similar ones included below] in the perfect light brown color, which works very well with the dusty rose color of the dress.

To accessorize the look, I opted for my favorite pair of Fuchsia Pink Suede Peep-Toe Louboutin Heels and my Cult Gaia Bamboo Arc Bag (which is STILL popular after a few Seasons).

As the final finishing touches, I wore my Abalone Necklace from St.Croix and one of my favorite bracelets: a Paris Travels Cuff by Evocateur.

I think an analogous/monochromatic color scheme is one of the best ways to look elegant and refined. There are 3 key points to pulling it off: 

1) Choose one main color (in this case — my dress) and coordinate the colors of the accessories and outerwear to be either in shades that are slightly darker or slightly lighter but not the same as the main piece.

2) Stick to adding no more than 2 other shades of the same hue [family of color] to the look to avoid the outfit becoming busy.

3) Add a touch of gold or silver to tie it all together. Warmer colors go better with rose and yellow gold tones, while cooler ones are best complimented by silver and white gold/platinum.

I would love to see some Spring and Summer looks this outfit might inspire from your wardrobe – please do share them on instagram with #ModnitsaStyle so I can repost them on my stories!

Photography by Leslie Moncada