The Holy Grail of Party Dresses

I love this dress, I love this dress, I love this dress. I love this dress. No, really, I love this dress. It's perfect in so many different ways. No feeling it? Let me explain below.

DKNY Stretch Twill Colorblock Dress, $295 at net-a-porter.com:


I'll start with the shape. It will flatter 99.9999% of women, I swear. The sweetheart neckline opens up the face and shows off the collarbone, but it's not too low or too revealing. It's sexy, but appropriate. I know the thin straps are a problem if you have a bigger chest, and if a strapless bra or thin bra straps don't cut it, you could always get a tailor to add thicker straps (it's worth it!). The length is perfect, it hits at the thinnest place on the upper leg, and it's just far enough above the knee to be flirty, but not short enough to be skanky or unflattering at all. The fitted bodice and waist showcase the smallest part of your upper body, and then the gentle a-line of the skirt skims over any problem areas while creating a bit of an hourglass figure. Twill is a great fabric, because while it sounds casual, it can obviously be dressed up nicely, it's durable, and it's comfortable. As for the color palette, charcoal grey is a fantastic neutral because it goes with almost everything, but it's not as expected as black or navy. The lighter grey detail on the bodice is subtle enough not to be distracting, but draws attention to your face and upper body. The pink detail at the waist is the clincher. It's a little on the bright side, so it totally fits into the neon, '80s resurgence that's going to stick around for awhile, but it's not so bright that it keeps this dress from being a classic. I have this BCBG dress, which has a similar pink waist detail, and every time I wear it I get "OMG Megan that's so cute/flattering/adorable." Plus, that shock of pink at the waist draws all the attention straight to the slimmest part of your torso, which is extremely flattering, helps to give even the straightest figure an hourglass shape, and just makes this dress young and fun. And it's only $295. I realize that that's not exactly pocket change, but you would definitely get enough wear out of this dress to justify spending almost $300 on it. I think I'm in love.

Image Sources:
All from net-a-porter.com