Shine bright like a diamond…

Evening glamour can be intimidating if you are used to dressing casually, or keeping it low key. There are a few tips and tricks to creating the perfect glamorous style for you, and looking your absolute best. Stylists, celebrities, and fashion icons know the secrets and with this article you can too. Looking for style inspiration, or not sure where to start? I cover the basics of building your style here. Elegant evening glamour is made through understanding your assets, knowing your figure, keeping it simple, building strong foundations and refining the details.

How To: Evening Glamour

Tip #1. Understand Your Assets

This is the most essential element in creating evening elegance. Identify your strengths in terms of styling, what colours and styles you know work for you, what aspects of yourself you are most confident about, and what parts of your body are your best assets. Everyone has them, the key is knowing them to work with them. For me it’s my hourglass figure, my legs and my eyes. Just like framing a piece of art use your styling to enhance your assets and draw the eye.

For this evening look, I chose a fitted red gown to show my waistline, emphasising my hourglass shape. I selected a gown with a split specifically because it lengthens and shows my legs, one of my assets and draws the eye away from areas I am more self conscious of such as my hips. An up-do with my hair brought back from my face frames my eyes, likewise my makeup with a strong eyeliner defines and highlights my features.

How do you discover your assets? The most simple method, is to ask those around you! Those closest to you love you for who you are, and will be able to easily tell you what your best assets are. Another method is by identifying your favourite past or present outfits, and looking at what these outfits highlight about your figure or personality. If you’re really stuck, do a little research on body types, and how styling enhances certain aspects of the figure.

Tip #2. Dress for the body you have, not the body you want.

It’s the girl that makes the dress, not the dress that makes the girl. The key with nailing stunning evening style is to know what doesn’t work for you, and why. Regardless of what size or shape you are - a style that can look incredible on one person can do nothing for someone else, so just because you see someone wearing a style that looks amazing on them, don’t expect it to do the same for you. Knowing your assets can help you to also identify how to balance out other aspects of your figure. More importantly, don’t be disappointed when a style doesn’t look great on you! The right dress can transform on the right person, so head back to tip number one if you are stuck and get your basics down first to figure it out.

For me, I have often been drawn to styles that suit women who are taller and lean. Especially those that suit women who are smaller busted. Cute, frilly and voluminous styles around the chest area only suit petite women as it creates the illusion of filling out rather than slimming down. Two piece outfits that crop or cut into my middle area are also not the best for my hourglass figure, making me look shorter and more compact! This is why I often choose dresses, or one piece looks for my shape, and why I selected a simple evening gown with no pattern or print.

How do you dress for your figure? Don’t let yourself be tempted by styles you see on other women, and instead focus on you! Experiment, play around with different looks and keep an open mind when shopping to discover the dress that works for you.

Tip #3. Keep it Minimal.

Less is more. As a great fashion designer once said, Coco Channel advised ‘Take off the last thing you put on’ and this sums it up pretty well. Everything you wear should have clarity and purpose. Don’t wear earrings just because you feel you need to, don’t add the bracelet because you like it. Each piece should connect to your entire outfit, and if it doesn’t work as singular parts, it won’t work as a whole.

How do you keep your look simple? I often decide on my accessories in advance, and use the dress I am wearing to help me decide. For example, if your gown has a high neckline avoid a necklace and wear a pair of statement earrings instead. I generally opt for three accessories, and make sure they echo each other.

Tip #4. Build Beautiful Foundations

Underneath every incredible evening gown are the perfect undergarments. Great places to start include your local lingerie store. Bring along your outfit so you can to show them the fit, and you can find the best undergarments to suit. Whether its a great strapless bra, seamless underwear or the perfect corset do make sure you research what you will need to bring out the potential of your outfit. Without them, it can be the difference between drab and fab.

For this look I wore a nude strapless bra, and seamless underwear which I highly recommend for any evening look! If you are larger busted a strapless corset bra can work wonders and offer ample support that can also be more comfortable for longer periods. Stick-on bras are not as effective if you have a larger bust and I say this from experience! Stick-on bras are great if you are petite, and can be the perfect addition underneath a fitted gown. Be careful when wearing stockings or tights underneath any gown as they can often cut into your waist line and if your dress is fitted this can be unflattering.

How do you choose the right undergarments? The best way is to first find a great lingerie store with advice you trust. I recommend getting a proper bra fitting at least once a year.

Tip #5. Perfect the Details

It’s all about the little things when dressing up for going out. Glamorous evening wear needs an equally stunning makeup look and hairstyle. Tying everything together gets more important towards this stage of the process when deciding on accessories in coordination with your styling. Contrast and colour are two things that help to finish the look. Vibrant coloured outfits call for a bold smokey eye, whereas soft shades work well with dynamic glitter or shimmery eyes. Work your lips in with your outfit, Red with red, and pink with pastels, nude with neons or more unusual shades is my favourite general rule. Hairstyle will be dictated by the neckline of your garment, and what aspects of your look are most important to show. Think about the silhouette of your look, and keep statement aspects of your outfit clearly visible. Don’t clutter statement sleeves or necklines with jewellery or other accessories, and most importantly create elegant shapes.

I kept the dress as the main piece by choosing a few accessories to pair with it, and matching the colour of my lips to the dress. I didn’t want to overdo this look so I centred the rest of my accessories around my favourite rainbow gem choker, handmade for Katie Marvel.

How do you choose the best accessories? Select one piece that works perfectly with your outfit, and then choose two more! Simple. I like to work in this order so that I prioritise the main accessory and avoid clashing any pieces.