Trevor and I attended a fundraising event at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts this past weekend, and I fretted a fair amount over what to wear. I assumed we should outfit ourselves in clothes a bit fancier than our normal attire, but I also thought it was a good bet that the overall appearance of the crowd would be on the conservative side. I ordered this dress online from Anthropologie, not really knowing what it would be like in person, but I was intrigued by the details – the delicate flowers on the sleeve, in particular. Upon arrival and looking more closely at the dress, the number of design elements was kind of surprising. Surprising that the dress could have that much going on – “see through” parts on the bodice, lace, cut outs, and tulle (!), to name a few – yet not come off as a train wreck. I suppose that’s what good design is about. Although I ended up not wearing it to the event (see Reality Check below), I know I’ll get plenty of use out of this unique dress for social and work functions. It’s conservative in some important aspects (neckline and hemline, namely), but the intricate and interesting detail sets it apart from the normal LBD I reach for on so many occasions.

Anthropologie dress | DKNY tights | Coach heels | Mark & Graham clutch | Silver Cocoon earrings

Reality Check. My girlfriend in L.A. is fashionable, hilarious, honest and always speaks her mind (these traits are important to the story). She was helping me assess the dress options for the event, and upon seeing a picture of the dress emailed me: “Gorgeous!!! Like fancy snotty well-dressed sexy librarian or something – perfect for art thingy!” About 12 hours later she sends me this: “It does have a certain “Miss Nelson is Missing” vibe to it (the witch version of Miss Nelson).” I love that she clarified it was the witch version. You may not know who that is (I didn’t). Here is the link, and what I knew I would keep envisioning on the night of the event had I opted for this dress over a plain black sheath.