Holiday cocktail style: Stop Staring! Twilight dress

The holidays are coming, and I’ve collected a trio of dresses that will work for just about any occasion the season might throw your way! The first is the Twilight dress by Alicia Estrada’s Stop Staring!, a ladylike vision in black stretch bengaline and a lace-like net illusion fabric. Stop Staring! is a great American-made vintage reproduction brand designed to fit and flatter a myriad of sizes and body types.

The Twilight looks like a simple, spaghetti-strapped pencil dress with a sweetheart neckline, worn with a removable keyhole top. In reality, the illusion “blouse” overlay is sewn into the waist seam. The “blouse” sleeves are gathered at the shoulder line in 1940s style, providing enough coverage to stay modest. The skinny patent-look belt provides more polish, perfect for daytime. If you work in a fairly permissive fashion environment (like me!), this one will take you from the office to dinner and drinks – no problem. It would also make a fabulous Thanksgiving or Christmas Day dress!

I’ve styled the Twilight dress with simple Bakelite jewelry, a vintage beaded clutch from Saks Fifth Avenue, and matching red platforms by Remix. Stop Staring! is known for its elegant detailing, which means you don’t need a lot of accessories to make their stuff pop.

The fit is excellent, as I’d expect from Stop Staring! In their stretchy pencil styles, I normally wear size 14 (I’m 42-32-48″). The Twilight is no exception! The bengaline dress body fits perfectly in both hip and bust, which can be tricky. I wear this with Spanx and the Wacoal Red Carpet bustier in 36DD (size down a cup!).

Thanks to Stop Staring! and Jackie at Think for providing me this beautiful sample!