When I saw the Hydra necklace from Rozoregalia I knew exactly the sort of dress I wanted to wear with it and began casually looking around for something. The search became more urgent when designer Yumi Pausch released the Hydra Handrings for the Accessory Fair. I knew I had to find what I wanted – a black formal with a narrow silhouette and sheer upper bodice that would draw your eye from the black of the dress to the powerful statement necklace. Seriously, when dressing with jewelry this strong, you want to do it justice.

Sometimes I put an outfit together piece by piece without a specific end result in mind. Not this time. So, I began trying on all my black gowns but nothing that I had not already blogged made me happy.  One thing I realized, though, was that I really wanted to use the undershirt from Paper Couture’s Starry Night dress. I really like the look of the scattering of crystals on the sheer bodice with the necklace. So I began searching for something to wear with it. In the end, I chose the bodice from Ingenue’s High Society dress and the skirt from Zaara’s gorgeous black and red Melissa gown.  This gave me the sleek formal silhouette I wanted, the relatively simple shape of the bodice and the lovely sheer upper bodice I wanted.  Sometimes, when you know exactly what you want – you just have to toss a bunch of stuff together and see what works.

I wanted this to be a bold editorial look, so I went digging through my 3636 hair and chose this very runway-ready hair called Anna. I also knew I wanted gloves. long perfect leather gloves as only 5th & Oxford can make them and if you could see my shoes, you would see they are the super sexy and always elegant Seductress pumps from Adam n Eve.

The skin I chose is Estelle from Lelutka. I want to offer a big shout out to Minnu Palen for adding a contact sheet to her skin pack – so when trying to decide which makeup to wear, I can simply open that contact sheet and make a pick, not having to remember what number is what makeup. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that became standard practice with all the skin makers? I confess, sometimes I reach for Lelutka when I might wear something else because I don’t want to try on 5 makeups to find the one I am looking for.

****STYLE NOTES******
Promotional Copies are denoted by a Bold R

• Poses: Reel Expressions
• Skin: Lelutka Estelle Light 1
• Eyes: Poetic Colors Night Forest Medium
• Lashes: Lelutka Diva Prim Lashes
• Hair: 3636 Anna – red
• Dress:
  • Undershirt layer from Paper Couture Starry Night Dress
  • Shirt Layer from Ingenue High Society Dress
  • Skirt from Zaara Melissa Gown
• Shoes: Adam n Eve Seductress
• Gloves: 5th & Oxford
• Jewelry: Rozoregalia Archelon Earrings, Hydra Necklace and
• Hydra Handrings R (for Accessory Fair)
  • Access 1
  • Access 2
• Background/Overlay from Sterling Shine