Monday 20 August 2012

let's talk about sheer, baby

Image: TANK Magazine, Issue 7

So, I bought a new dress. Actually if I'm being honest, since I last spoke about my wardrobe (specifically), I've bought about fifty dresses* but who's counting really?

But, specifically, there's a single dress that we're talking about today. I would love to show you said dress but unfortunately it doesn't appear to be on the Topshop website so you're going to have to create a visual from the following description: it's black, it's short, it's strappy, it drops down a bit at the back and it has one big frill on the bottom hem.

Oh, and it's sheer.

Dun, dun, dunnnnnnn. It's sheer. And now we're to the point - what does one wear with a sheer item? This is something I struggle with more frequently than I'd care to admit. All because I can't seem to find anything appropriate to wear underneath it. Nothing ever feels quite 'right' to me. So, just to highlight my point, here's an item-by-item breakdown of things that could be worn under my sheer dress, but can't.

1. Nude Underwear: nude underwear looks like granny underwear (90% of the time). And with the strappy nature of the dress coupled with the level of sheer-ness going on, you'd be able to see it. Which is not the point of nude underwear, in my opinion.

2. Nothing: I don't have a supermodel body, so only having my birthday suit on underneath would not do any justice to my beautiful new dress. 'Nuff said.

3. American Apparel Bodysuit: The whole "visibility" thing again.

4. Slip-dress/Dress: The most likely option... but double straps isn't a look I personally like - it's a last resort for me!

5. A top: This wasn't a look I'd personally think of, but I had the conversation that inspired this post with the girl at the till in Topshop, and she suggested this, which I think is a good idea on how to style the dress for different occassions, but I wouldn't want to do this everytime I wore it!

So why did I buy the dress? Well, as ever, I couldn't not buy the dress. It's so essentially me in all it's black-short-floatyness that leaving it on the rail would have tormented me to the point where I'd end up paying double the amount for a used version of the same dress on ebay (this has happened before).

I still haven't come to a conclusion on this matter, and this is more of a question post, so I'd love to hear your thoughts! Do you guys have a fail-safe something that you wear with sheer items? Or do you just go for it? Let me know!

*slight exagerration
 

Don't forget you can still vote for Polway in the Best Established Fashion Blog Category in the Cosmo Blog Awards 2012! You can do that here.

3 comments:

Jeanae' said...

I am like you I love sheer clothing,but always face the dilemma of what to wear under it. If its a top I just wear a nice seamless or lacy black bra,but for dresses I go with a nude spanxx,it offers coverage and it matched my skin because i feel any other color takes away from the sheer effect.

Unknown said...

If you get a slip dress, you can just cut off the straps and put a couple of stitches where they were to attach it to your dress, then no double straps and the nicest looking option. You can usually get the best ones in vintage shops, or if you have money there's a gorgeous one in zadig xx
http://elena-may.blogspot.fr

Unknown said...

beautiful !! hmmzzz


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