Ever since I have returned home from the city that never sleeps, I have been thinking about this dress. With velvet and floral being such a popular and festive trends this season, I figured the rest of you needed this piece as much as I do. Whether it’s for the holidays or just to be trendy, this piece is everything you need and more.

I originally had purchased this floral, skater dress at the Topshop in Chicago when I attended College Fashion Week. Little did I know that it would become my focal piece for my final project with School of Style in NYC. Not only was this my first time in NYC, but the class was held in the iconic Pier59 Studios. I’m still obsessed. My specific assignment was to style Lupita Nyong’o for an editorial cover shoot in Elle Magazine. My photographer was Steven Meisel, my decade was the 1970s and my theme was floral. How perfect does it get?

 I originally styled it more to Lupita’s style, of course, and we had the privilege to rent a piece from a designer rental showroom, Mahna Mahna. There I found this gorgeous Balenciaga, tan, leather jacket. Lupita is known to either rock a simple silhouette or a fun print. I decided both were needed in order to encompass Steven Meisel’s editorial aesthetic.

 To finish off the look we also had the opportunity to rent another piece from Re-Wardrobe. This is wardrobe rental house specializing in designer, vintage designer and unique pieces including shoes and accessories. The great thing about this house is it’s devised with a wardrobe stylist in mind and is also extremely mindful of their shoot budgets. It is owned by the cutest and sweetest woman with impeccable style, Sydney Oliver. I picked out the coolest Giuseppe Zanotti black and white leather snake booties. Lupita is always spotted wearing a fun pair of shoes, so this pull was absolutely perfect. 

From this experience, I was inspired to put my own twist on the project and style it for myself! I was especially drawn towards the 70s rock vibe and this is how it turned out. I was completely influenced by the Coach 1941’s Spring 2017 RTW collection and they incorporated a lot of sheer fabrics and black leather pieces, which modernly emulated the 70s vibe. Through pure luck, I found this amazing Urban Outfitters metallic slip that has an amazing blue and gold shift to it. For the most part I kept the same outfit from my final project. However, I did switch out the tan leather jacket for a black All Saints one and added some metallic accessories and a beanie. 

I really wanted to blog about my experience with School of Style, because it ultimately found my passion within the fashion industry. If you are interested in becoming any sort of a serious stylist, I HIGHLY recommend you take their classes. I’ve met some of the coolest and most creative people there and the founders of the school, Luke and Lauren, know how to keep things real. They explain everything in order to get ahead and aren’t afraid to share their mistakes in order to help us learn from their lessons. They even have worked with talent such as Aerosmith, Kim Kardashian, Guns n’ Roses, Gwen Staefani, Will Smith and a million more. The experience seems too good to be true, but really it’s just simply true.

Dress|Topshop Slip|Urban Outfitters Leather Jacket|All Saints (similar-Nordstrom/Trouvé) Shoes|Topshop Beanie|Urban Outfitters Purse|Valentino by Mario Valentino/Saks Off 5th (similar-Fossil) (similar-Rebecca Minkoff in Bordeaux Snake Skin) (similar-Rebecca Minkoff in Bordeaux) (similar-Rebecca Minkoff in Dragon Fruit) Shades|Quay Australia (similar-Nasty Gal) Lipstick|Laura Mercier Velour Lovers Lip Colour in An Affair (Sephora Favorites Give Me Some Bold Lip) (Full Size)