Happy Thursday everyone, I hope you are doing fab as we head into the home stretch and the weekend will be here before we know it, woohoo! We are turning up the heat again today with a new slay and we certainly went for some fancy looks today! Welcome to instalment #4 of my 3rd annual #HolidayDoubleSlay. 
I don’t think I could do this series without my go to brand for fun party looks – ELOQUII. They have been a part of this project since its inception and I am beyond grateful for their continued support of everything I do, so thank you ELOQUII for once again partnering with me on this project and providing us with these fantastic looks. And more importantly for always creating gorgeous designs that continue to push plus size fashion forward while still making it accessible.
For this post I decided to call on my “little” sister and fellow blogger boo, Sarah of the blog Sarah Taylor’s Journey. I put “little” in quotation marks because you can clearly see from these photos that Sarah is just a tad taller than me lol. And that combined with my inability to wear much of a heel and her love of sky high ones can make for an interesting photo dynamic but we always find a way to make it work. 
Sarah sees me wear ELOQUII on a regular basis and gets to listen to me go on and on about how much I love them so this year I thought it was finally time to get her to try the brand out. I was even more excited when I saw how excited she was and so our shopping excursion on the website began. Usually when I work on this project I have an idea in mind of what look I want to create and the person that is collaborating with me tries to coordinate with me. Of course I am not one to shy away from trying something new or different but you could say that many of my babes have a more distinct style.
This is definitely the case for Sarah and I will often tease her about it (of course with a loving tone!) and at the same time help her to get out of her comfort zone and pick something unexpected. But I still want her to always feel like herself and inject her personality because that’s what makes us unique as individuals. Having said that you may often overhear us having a conversation about how much black is in her wardrobe or picking yet again another black outfit. So what did we do this year? Don’t tell her but I chose black for me on purpose…
I have lived far away from my real life little sister since I went to university and she was only going into grade 8. We were close when we were young but as the years went on and I don’t go back home to the Sault very often we have definitely drifted in different directions. I love her to death but I missed having that closeness with someone. So as I have gotten to know Sarah she has definitely become my little sister. We get each other. We can talk about anything and everything. And most importantly we have so much fun together.
2018 has been a big year for Sarah and I am so incredibly proud of her. She started her own business, Fitness by Sarah Taylor where her mission is to help women build confidence and strength. Her passion for what she does has really shined and in January she will be opening up her second location and has quit her full time job becoming an official full time entrepreneur and boss babe. Taking that leap of faith isn’t easy but she is a true testament that if you put your mind to something, have faith and work hard, anything is possible. Congratulations Sarah on an amazing year and I can’t wait to see what you do in 2019.
Here is a sneak peek of Sarah’s look, doesn’t she look fantastic? I love the way she combined these pieces and for the full details and more pics you will have to head over and check out her blog post here. 
So I assume that it is safe to say you want the deets on this look that I created? I am not going to lie, I am just a little obsessed with it! The first thing that you should probably know is that I have been dreaming about this dress since I was in NYC for NYFW in September. You see ELOQUII was kind enough to give us a preview of their fall collections that week including holiday and as soon as I saw this I immediately oohed and awed and put it on my wish list. Even my blogger boo Nikki of NikkiFreeStyle who was at the preview too, saw it and said now that is a “Lisa” dress. What can I say, she knows my style well. 
And yes for all of those that you know me as well as you do, this is despite the fact that it is black! I actually prefer that this dress is black because it lets the details of this dress really shine.
This dress screams party dress to me. It’s a combination of flirty, sexy, cute and fun all rolled into one. You definitely are not going to fade into the crowd wearing this. One of the things I have always loved is that ELOQUII pays attentions to the details and they know how to make a garment feel special. And I think when you are investing in pieces for special occasions and important life celebrations that you want to feel extra special. 
The combination of the sequin bodice and tulle textured skirt was what immediately put a smile on my face. In my opinion it is a more sophisticated version of a tutu. I love the natural waist line and the exposed zipper in the back. They made sure to add a silicon strip at the top of the bodice to help it stay in place and there are princess seams to help define your shape. 
For me the midi length is perfect, technically it is probably more tea length on me so if you are petite you might want to consider that it could be floor length on you which I think would also be super fun. And thank goodness the skirt has stretch lining so that you can actually move and be comfortable but it is not the full length of the skirt so you get to play a bit of peekaboo with your legs, especially when you are sitting. 
In complete transparency I do have one criticism of this dress and that is the bodice is too big and I definitely need to have it altered. And given that I am chesty with an H cup, I am surprised that this happens to me quite often, particularly with strapless items. I debated whether I could have sized down but given how the waist sits and my pear shape I don’t think that would have been an option. So if you are smaller in the chest or have a more apple shape, I would definitely consider sizing down. I am wearing the size 28 for your reference. 
Now just because I chose a black dress didn’t me that I was going to be boring! Instead I added my signature style to the dress with my accessories and pops of colours. The first decision was to add this belt which is also from ELOQUII. I loved the brocade pattern and the metallic gold was the perfect accent. It accentuates my waist perfectly. Then I played with some bold colours by adding these red sandals by Lane Bryant and this stunning bright pink velvet clutch from ELOQUII. I hope you guys remember to check out their accessory section because they have some truly amazing pieces. And that also includes these fun rainbow statement earrings. The final touch was some silver bangles because I am not afraid to mix my metallics and neither should you! 
You can probably tell from the photos that I couldn’t stop twirling in this dress, it is totally twirl worthy! I know that an outfit works when I can’t stop smiling and I feel great, and this look exceeded my expectations. I was so glad I held out for this dress, it was well worth the wait. 
This brings the fourth instalment of the 2018 #HolidayDoubleSlay to an end. I hope you enjoyed it and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below, I love hearing from you guys!
Special thanks to Rebecca of Rebecca Northcott Photography for capturing these images and bringing my vision for this year’s project to life.
Special thanks to Petula of Image Makeup Artistry for the amazing make up look.
Special thanks to Christina of Makeup by Christina for the amazing hair style.
Shop Lisa’s look:
Dress by ELOQUII | Belt by ELOQUII | Shoes by LANE BRYANT | Clutch by ELOQUII | Earrings by ELOQUII | Bangles by TORRID |
Shop Sarah’s look:
Jacket by ELOQUII | Pants by ELOQUII | Shoes from Sarah’s personal collection (alternative here) | Clutch by ELOQUII | Earrings by ELOQUII |
