Style Guide

What Is a Bodysuit, and When Is One the Right Answer?
A bodysuit is a top that cannot come untucked. That one structural difference is why people who own one own several. A bodysuit is a top that continues past the waist and fastens between the legs. That is the entire definition, and the whole point. Because it fastens underneath, it cannot ride up, cannot come untucked, and cannot bunch at the waistband. It stays exactly where you put it, through a night of dancing, a day of meetings, or a train journey where you spend three hours sitting down. Once... Read more...
Mini Skirts: How to Style One and Still Feel Covered
A mini skirt is mostly a question of proportion. Get the top half right and the skirt stops being the whole outfit. The mini skirt has a reputation for being difficult to wear, and it is mostly undeserved. What makes one feel wrong is almost never the length. It is the balance of the outfit around it. A mini skirt with a fitted top is a lot of body on show and very little fabric anywhere. The same skirt with an oversized knit, a long-sleeve top or a jacket that... Read more...
Corset Dresses: How the Shape Holds You, and Where to Wear It
A corset dress does the work of two pieces in one. Here is how the structure actually behaves, and what to look for before you buy. A corset dress is a dress with a structured, usually boned bodice, joined to a skirt. The bodice holds its own shape and the skirt does whatever the skirt does. That combination is why it is the shape people reach for when a night matters. There is nothing to adjust, nothing to tuck, and no waistband to shift. You put it on and then... Read more...
Mini Dresses: How to Choose One for a Night You Will Remember
A mini dress is the whole outfit in one decision. Here is how to choose one you will still be happy in at one in the morning. A mini dress is the most efficient thing in a going-out wardrobe. One piece, one decision, no proportions to work out and nothing to tuck. The trade-off is that it is also the least adjustable. There is no swapping the top half if it turns out to be wrong. So the choosing matters more than with almost anything else. The Lengths, Because the... Read more...
Maxi Skirts: The Long Shape That Goes Out at Night
A long skirt is the one going-out piece you can spend a whole night in without thinking about it once. A maxi skirt is the most underrated going-out garment there is, and the reason is simple. You can sit, stand, dance and walk home in one without a single moment of adjusting anything. It reads as dressed up because of the length. It feels like nothing because of the volume. That combination is rare and it is why a long skirt out at night looks considered in a way a... Read more...
Going-Out Tops: How to Build a Night Out Around One Piece
The easiest night out starts with one top and ends with jeans you already own. Here is how to choose the top. The most useful thing in a going-out wardrobe is not a dress. It is a top good enough to carry an outfit on its own. A dress is one night and one look. A top is the same jeans, the same boots, and a completely different evening each time. It is also the cheaper way to have five outfits, which matters. So here is how to choose one,... Read more...
How to Wear a Corset Top Without It Feeling Like a Costume
The trick with a corset top is contrast. One structured piece, everything else relaxed, and it stops looking like a costume immediately. There is one rule for wearing a corset top and it explains almost every outfit that works and every outfit that does not. One structured piece, everything else relaxed. A corset top with a fitted skirt and heels reads as a costume, because every element is doing the same thing at once. The same top with wide jeans and a flat boot reads as an outfit, because the... Read more...
What Is a Corset Top? The Shape, the Boning and the Fit
A corset top is a structured top that holds its own shape. Here is what that actually means, and how to tell a good one from a stiff one. A corset top is a top with structure built into it, so that it keeps its shape whether or not anyone is wearing it. That is the whole definition, and everything interesting follows from it. Most tops hang off you. A corset top stands up on its own, and then sits against you. It is a completely different piece of engineering... Read more...
Where to Buy Homecoming Dresses When You've Left It Late
Two weeks out and nothing decided is a completely normal place to be. Here is how to find a homecoming dress from here. If you are reading this in the last two weeks before homecoming, you are not behind. Most people are exactly here, and the late decision is often the better one, because you already know what everyone else is doing and what the night is actually going to be like. What you need now is a shortlist and a deadline, not more browsing. So here is the practical... Read more...