Day-to-Night Party Look

If you’re anything like me, planning outfits and looks for special events can often take over way too much mind space and time. Looking good never comes easy, and it often requires a lot of inspiration and planning. I believe, though, that there are certain go-to looks that can work for just about any sort of party–whether you’re the host, birthday girl, or just a guest. An outfit that I find to stand the test of time is a good #lbd (little black dress) with some fun, spunky accessories, and just the right amount of sparkle on the eyes.

Earrings: @Nordstrom

In order to achieve this look, I wore a super affordable black dress from H&M, earrings from Nordstrom, and sought to create a subtle yet sparkly eye. For the eyes, I used a sparkly blue liner from NYX, and used two colors (a shimmery cream and a light blue) from the BH Desert Oasis eye shadow palette. You’ll probably have to squint a bit to see that I did, indeed use a sparkly blue liner, and this is because I applied a slim layer of MAC Rebeleyes Gel Liner in black to still give my eyes a bit of black pop.

To match my Reebok Classic sneakers and the pink hints in the disco-inspired iridescent chandelier earrings, I chose to create a darker nude-pink lip-color, mixing three shades from my Smashbox Be Legendary palette. This shade of pink would work well for my skin tone to darker skin tones. For those of you with lighter skin tones, however, an even lighter shade of pink would look stunning.

I finished this outfit off with a pale, baby-blue bag from one of my personal favorite luxury brands, Chloe. This bag, in addition to the earrings, was purchased from Nordstrom. You can find the same model of the Chloe Mini-Faye Bag here. It’s one of my go-to’s all year round because the color works cross-seasonally.

The one note I’d have on this outfit, though, is that it errs on the more casual side of “formal party looks.” Obviously, if you’re to attend a black tie event, this is probably not the look for you. Perhaps, however, you can still use the makeup tactics outlined above, and adopt the same slicked-back low-bun hairdo.

It is my belief that this attire works best for any birthdays that might run from day-to-night, or any events that would otherwise require you to be on your feet for a good amount of time (hence, the sneakers). Furthermore, while wearing sneakers with a dress is all the rage right now, you could wear this exact same look for a dinner out by pairing it with minimal, strappy heels (either black, golden, pastel blue, or pastel pink).

Hope this helped lessen the inspiration burden on you for your next casual to semi-formal soiree! Keep sparkling. Until next time…

XOXO,

-MS