Color Inspiration: What to wear to a wedding in France part 2

So now that I had my inspiration- an iconic Chanel Camilla flower (catch up on part 1 here), I needed to consider how I was to go about creating the look.

As classic of a pairing as these two are, black and white can be a bit tricky for a wedding.  The last thing I wanted to do was travel thousands of miles to blend in with the catering staff ( um-no offense catering staff,  especially since Coco herself was first inspired by the black and white uniforms that the staffs typically wore during her raise to fame),  I decided the key here was to keep the two colors pretty much in balance- with one slightly dominating the other.  Just like Coco, herself made famous.

Since I already owned some very fun accessories, including a brand new pair of  strappy kitten heels -that I knew would easily pass the ‘all night on the dance floor’ test- I decided that black would more than likely be the predominating color.  I was also hoping that this little black feathery vest might come into play and be a modern substitute for Coco’s famous ruffles,  hey you only live once right!

So I set out to look for the perfect dress.  Oh did I tell you I had decided on wearing a dress. This special occasion called for me to move out of my typical ’separates scene’ and wear a good old fashioned proper dress.

Audrey Tatou who plays Coco Chanel in the new movie Coco, rocked a b&w dress at a recent party celebrating the film’s premier- Well Done, mon cherie!

I had also decided that a proper dress meant a proper trip to a big fancy department store, so I surprised even myself while on a run for new beach towels I stumbled upon two possible candidates in a local ‘designer goods for less’  store.

The first, a little black lacy mini dress with long sleeves, a white collar and cuffs and a very ode-to-french ruffle front was so super cute- I thought I had a score.  The only problem- it was much too short for bare legs and though I love tights I worried they would seem too heavy for July.   Plus tights and a short dress equaled higher heels which equaled more money and less dancing.  Since the dress was not available in my size ( and believe me I liked the dress so much I even had the salesgirl call around to other stores in attempt to locate it in my size)- I took it as a sign that the right dress was still out there.

Then seconds later I spotted it- it was long, strapless ( empire cut), flowy and very simple!  It’s opt art print pairing of black and white stripes made it just modern enough and it’ s price tag ( coming in at less than half my original fantasy budget) left my heart fluttering- a surplus that would allow me to treat myself to a brand new lipstick- Chanel, of course!

Once home, a twisty black beaded necklace and a silver boxy vintage evening bag completed the look.  The feather vest is packed- just in case ( I always say when in doubt pack it anyway)!

The flower pin- well once my suitcase was closed I was thinking it would be pinned to the bodice of the dress or maybe set into my hair over a low bun.

But I guess you could say that the French spirit of the event took over me- and as I was about to leave for the wedding I thought ‘oh, what the heck…when in France…’

Coco, I hope you would approve- an inspired American pretending to be French and fabulous for but one dreamy, summer night!  Merci Mme Chanel!