A statement little black dress with Stop Staring Clothing

They say ever woman should have a little black dress. A dress for any occasion. That ultimate go to.  A dress to turn heads and feel amazing in. I however, have never been a girl for a little black dress. As a big fan of colour I tend to gravitate more towards bold colour statements. But who says a little black dress only has to be black? When I saw the Arana dress from Stop Staring, I knew it could fill all my little black dress dreams.

Flowers ~ Triple Rose Clip from Daisy Jean 
Earrings ~ Retro Hoops from Retro Resins
Necklace ~ Yellow beads from Debstar Designs
Brooch  ~ Oleandar Bloom brooch from Miss Lady A Broad
Dress ~ Arana Dress from Stop Staring Clothing
Heels ~ Marco Giani

Stop Staring is a reproduction vintage dress company hailing from Los Angeles in the USA. Founded in 1998, their dress designs beautifully give homage to the 1940’s and 1950’s with their sophisticated cuts, attention to detail and impeccable fit. My first ever ‘retro’ styled dress was actually their 30’s bombshell dress in baby pink, which is still a favourite in my wardrobe! So when I had the opportunity to add some more Stop Staring to my wardrobe, I naturally jumped at the opportunity!

The Arana dress caught my eye for is swing skirt design and fun sweetheart bust detailing. This dress is also cotton which meant it was breathable for our humid weather in Sydney. When this dress arrived all the way down under, I noticed straight away how bright the flowers actually are in contrast to the stock photo on the website. They truly do pop and bring a beautiful romantic feel, making me think of wine and roses. The straps are actually 3 straps together, which makes it a perfect date night dress! As a smaller busted gal I simply adore the sweetheart neckline. It truly makes me look much larger in this department with the help of a padded bra (which is never a bad thing) and I adore how teaming it with a red belt cinches my waist as well.

I’m wear the XL in this dress and I advise buying the dress closest to your measurements. While it has a small amount of stretch, being cotton as opposed to bengaline means it’s nowhere near as stretchy as their other designs. As those who follow my Instagram will have seen, this dress has been seeing a LOT of wear in my wardrobe recently and I can’t see that changing anytime soon. Its sexy, comfortable and it makes me feel confident as hell. I love the longer hem line too. It really lets the bust line be the hero without having too much else going on.

I kept my accessorizes simple for this shoot. My main statement piece was my 3 red rose clip from Daisy Jean, which feel ties in perfectly with the pattern of the dress. Gold hoops from Retro Resins and a yellow necklace play to the yellow tones amongst the flowers and I popped on my Oleander Bloom brooch from Miss Lady A Broad for a fun addition to the bust line. I love the Miss Lady A Broad collection as they go so well with a range of different outfits and in this case it was no exception!

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this review and I can promise you’ll be seeing more of this dress on my Instagram in my ootd posts. I really want to experiment more with colours to team it with, especially since we’ve still got a few weeks of hot weather here! The Arana dress is $185US/$240AU + postage and they ship worldwide. I know that may seem a lot for our rather weak Aussie dollar, but the quality of Stop Staring is amazing. I have one of their dresses that I bought second hand on ebay and after 3 years its still going strong! This is a brand that is timeless and will keep in your wardrobe.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this review! Til next time darlings!

Disclaimer: Whilst I received this dress as part of a sponsorship with Stop Staring Clothing, all opinions expressed are honest to help ensure the most accurate information for my readers.