White lace dress, label Zalora. Dress of the day 375 in white complemented with black and red

White lace dress, label Zalora. Dress of the day 375 in white complemented with black and red - Outfit 301.

April 26, 2022

Angela Lansbury in white lace dress by Zalora. Photo by Trevor Sharot.

Why Buy This White Lace Dress?

At first glance this was not the fabric I wanted, the late was pretty, but not my target. Lace is lovely.

The size was small and it also looked tiny. Most small items I tried on got stuck on the shoulders.

But this had a long zip at the back. You can reverse the dress and just try the arms.

If the sleeves are too tight, you either cut them off or let them out. But how do you try it on? These sleeves were wide, no problem.

So I tried on the dress. To my surprise it fitted. A close fit. A perfect fit. A flattering fit. Like hand in glove.

Super Sleeves

Aren't those shaped sleeves divine! You have to lift your arms to show off the sleeves to best advantage in a photo.

I was looking for broderie anglaise, called eyelet in Asia. I already have a white lace dress with co-ordinating, almost matching lace white wrap which has fringes. However, this dress suits me well. It is fitted, which suits me now that I have lost weight.

The dress has a stretchy white lining.

The V-shape Neck and Dickey

The neck is a v-neck, not too revealing. However, I have filled it with a white dickey, a collar and U shape attachment which looks like a full shirt. A dickey can be worn to fill in a revealing neckline and cover cleavage. I wanted to wear a collar to look more businesslike, more pretty cute, more amusing, more attention getting.

The Brand

The brand is Zalora. The Zalora website shows they sell two Zalora brands, Zalora work and Zalora basic. Other brands which their website shows include: Adidas, Birkenstock, Burberry, Coach, Gucci, Levis, Mango and many more. The website lets you select fabric, as well as brand, price and size.

Zalora locations include Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan. But I didn't buy from Zalora. I bought a second hand dress from Refash.

The Seller - Refash

The seller is solely for second-hand clothes. They have 12 branches in Singapore.

You can earn from 50 cents to 5 dollars by selling a garment to them. Minimum ten garments. Within 14 days they contact you with the price (which varies according to fabric and popularity). (You don't have to wait for the item to be sold.)

The Bishan branch is on the balcony overlooking the atrium in Junction 8, a multi-storey mall above Bishan MRT underground railway station. Bishan is a busy junction where two train lines meet. The blue downtown line, and the yellow Circle line.

The hat

The hat is reversible, black and red. If it didn't come with an elastic band or ribbon, I added them. Why? So that the hat would not slip down over my eyes, nor fall off when I looked down, nor fly off in a gust of wind. I don't see a brand name but you can find reversible hats online.

Shoes

The pointed shoes are a find. Not from a shop, but a neighbour threw them out.

They are too large for me. I considered putting a black elastic over the instep.

I also considered trying to save the insole but it is already worn out. I could replace the insoles, but that hides the brand name under the heel. I could replace just the insole part under the toe area.

Should I throw them back in the bin? No. But black, red and white was the perfect colour combination. The pointy toes are so cute. Not for wearing a long time. But great in the photo.

Colour Combination

Black and white go with so many outfits, day and evening, winter and summer. I now know the colours to search for online.

The Belt

The dress does not need a belt to hold it in. I wanted a belt for two reasons. Firstly, to draw attention to my (new - since the diet) slim waist. And to tie together the red and black of the hat and the red and black of the shoes.

My eyes went to the thin ribbon first. My first thought was that a wider ribbon would be better. I decided to try the narrow ribbon and work progressively through width of ribbon. However, when I put on the ribbon, I liked the narrow effect. Not too overwhelming. Not too distracting. Not too bold. Delicate, like the fabric of the dress.

Shoes

The black pointed shoes have high heels and pointy toes. Brand name on the insole is XingliYuan.

The heel design is known as a flared heel. Flared heels are used on high heels for dancing shoes, or Tango shoes, but they usually have added ankle straps or t-bars to secure the shoe, and the foot. I now know to look for flared heels or dancing shoes, for better security.

The brand name is Xingliyuan. Xing Li is a unisex name. Xing Li Yuan is associated with the fashion brand Esprit.

Useful websites

https://www.beclickless.com/blogs/heel-to-toe/14217957-25-types-of-heels-the-ultimate-guide

Zalora

Hong Kong

https://www.zalora.com.hk/zalora/

Refash

https://refash.sg/collections

Bishan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishan_MRT_station

Photos of Bishan MRT station

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Bishan_MRT_Station