Holiday Bougainvillea: The New Little Red Dress

The Little Red Dress is something every woman should have in their closet arsenal for that perfect holiday party, that amazing Valentine’s Day date, and that mid summer wedding that always seems to pop up. The key to finding that timeless classic red dress that you always want to put on lies in two things: first the cut and fit, and second, and most important, the RED. 

When it comes to cut, you need to determine the length that is not only most flattering for your leg, but also the most practical for your social schedule: if you go too short for instance, you’ll constantly be worried about heel height, wearing tights, and trying to insure you don’t accidentally drop something… because the retrieval process could result in an unwanted scene at your office holiday party… So despite the mini mini trend, or the mid calf length that is oh so in right now, ALWAYS choose what works for you. Remember one of the most stylish and iconic women in history, Jackie Kennedy, never strayed from hemming all her little dresses directly above the knee cap. With hem lines especially you want to strive to be a trendsetter and not a slave to the trend. 

Now the color… Red. My dress above is made by Canadian designer Wilfred, and is the most glorious deeply rich burgundy color that makes me want to drink up it’s Merlot-Cabernet-Zinfandel-Burgundy-Blend hue every time I pull it from my reds section in my closet. And like a fine wine, this dress too has only gotten better with age. I actually bought in August of 2013 in an Aritzia pre-fall sale, and also have it in heather gray and black. Wilfred produced this dress design again this season and they just cannot seem to keep it in stock! So if you want it grab it ASAP, as it’s on sale as part of the CyberMonday Aritzia sale. 

The dress material is soft but strong enough to maintain it’s structure, keeping that wonderful tulip shaped skirt. It is ideal for travel, as it never wrinkles in a suitcase, and can stand alone with a pair of flats just as well as it lends itself to layering and adornments. When it comes to burgundy tones, as with ANY RED, you want to judge whether or not the color makes your eyes pop or sucks the life out of them. In order to determine this, take a few reds and place one at a time at the base of your chin. Look to see if your under-eye area gets brighter lighter and whiter, or if if you see grey or dark circles. If you see a brighter face then yes it is a good red for you, yay! But if you see grey you’ve probably picked a red with too much blue in it for your skin tone or too much orange. Trial and error in the dressing room is the best way to determine your best reds, and once you think you have hit one or two, snap a selfie with your phone so you can always have the shade reference handy when shopping! 

So for Thanksgiving I chose to pair my Bougainvillea Burgundy dress with some of my favorite chunky bracelets, simple pearl earrings, and used a great travel statement necklace to create a faux- collar for the dress. This little touch made the dress look instantly new and different, and gave me an entirely new outfit for the holiday party season. Since we spent Thanksgiving in warm weather, I created a blackberry-rose lilac toned lip to pop off the deep purple blue and red tones, and let my feet take on some leopard print for a little… kick to my otherwise traditional holiday style.

Hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family and friends and fabulous food! Check back Monday for all the CyberMonday steals deals and sales with a special TSM SaleStealDeal Map of all my favorite items up for grabs!