Sequins and Tulle at the Conservatory
Where is your favorite place to go on a rainy weekend?
I love a relaxing day snuggled up at home as much as the next girl, but sometimes binge-watching Fixer Upper for 6 hours straight just doesn’t check my boxes for an adventurous and fulfilling day off of work.
A few weekends back, right before Jade moved to Germany with her husband, we wanted to have one last girls’ day together. I had been telling her for a couple years about Rawlings Conservatory in Baltimore and, since it was drizzling outside, I thought it would be a fitting excuse to finally explore.
By surprise, I had just gotten this gorgeous tulle dress in the mail from one of my favorite brands, ChicWish. Immediately when I saw it I knew that it would be glued to me all weekend, no matter what the forecast had predicted.
Nothing screams “plants” like a pleated sequin gown, am I right? Although I’ll admit I was a bit overdressed (what else is new?), twirling around in the desert room in a sparkly ensemble made me feel like a princess.
I even wore it for the rest of the day to my neighborhood coffee shop and then later on when Sam and I ventured out to grab chicken sandwiches for date night. I swapped out my nude heels for something even more over the top: pom-pom pink flats. Needless to say, Sam didn’t even blink an eye.
To make my outfit even fancier, I had my nails bedazzled beforehand by a salon in the city, MV Nails and Spa.
I’ve been loving nail art ever since my post before Valentine’s Day, and using any excuse to try out something new and creative.
Having jewels on my nails makes any rainy day sparkle a little extra.
Now, let’s chat a little bit about this dress. It is a lightweight, long sleeve maxi dress with a pleated skirt and sequin design from top to bottom. It’s also under $75!
I like to call this type of dress “sneaky comfort”. From the outside, it looks like I’ve got my stuff together by dressing up all fancy in a feminine tulle dress. In reality however, it is so much easier to throw on this one piece and get out the door than to put together a full outfit combo that is tight-fitting and stuffy.
Although you know by now that I would wear this dress anywhere for any reason, I feel that it is most fitting for an engagement party, rehearsal dinner, bridesmaids, or even a maternity shoot dress.
A little behind the scenes: I know these photos make it look like the conservatory was totally empty while we were shooting, but I assure you this was not the case. There was a big conference going on in one of the rooms along with their normal weekend crowd, so we had to be patient and sneak in shots whenever we could.
At one point, I was sprawled out in the middle of the floor because I wanted a shot with my dress spread out in a circle around me. Although it didn’t quite turn out like the vision I had in my head, it was hilarious to see people’s reactions as they turned the corner to see me on the dirty tile floor in a gown.
Just a little reminder that these shoots aren’t always as glamorous as they may seem!
Photos by Jade Nikkole Photography
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What is your favorite way to wear sequins or tulle in the Spring? Tag me in your Spring selfie, or comment on my latest Instagram post and tell me!
Want more style inspiration? Read Colorful Tweed for Spring and Rain Gear for the Style Obsessed.
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xo Anna Elizabeth