An Evening in Monochrome at the Palais-Royal

I do love a dress with pockets

I recently bought a black shift dress.  Remember back in the summer when I blogged about the Winser London Little Red Dress that so many of you liked?  Well, in that post I said I was going to buy it in black for the winter and wear it with my cream silk blouse (which I also own and adore in navy), so here I am following through with it!  Both items pack brilliantly, so I brought them to Paris with me last week.

We decided the best location to photograph this monochrome outfit would be in the equally monochrome landmark, Les Colonnes de Buren in the Palais-Royal.  My husband and I stopped here on our way to dinner at Le Grand Restaurant Jean François Piège.  It is quite a grown up restaurant, so I liked wearing something chic and understated (for me, anyway… not a sequin in sight!).

I wore these comfortable open-toe shoe booties covered in twinkling black crystals (see them with trousers here) and carried the matching evening clutch.  There is no better way to take an outfit from day to evening than adding elegant sparkling accessories; these shoes and this clutch say that you’re ready for a cocktail! 

I was quite happy to photograph at night for a change.  While we were away, I existed on very little sleep.  As luck would have it, my little one got a nasty cold from nursery school just before we went, so  I was awake a lot during the night with him.  When I downloaded these photos, my bestie was visiting from Switzerland, and said, “Wow, you look exhausted” so please don’t look too closely at my puffy eyes in these grainy evening photos!

Serendipitiously continuing the monochrome and sparkly theme, I was sent these beautiful Akoya pearl earrings from the lovely people at Eternal Collection a few days before I left for Paris, so I brought them along too.  I chose these earrings because I really like their scale.  They aren’t too small and dainty, but they’re also not oversize statement earrings.  I’ll use them to modernise and update a basic strand of pearls, and to lift to an all black outfit.

I’m sort of stunned that the pearl earrings, the shoes and clutch, and the outfit all made it to Paris.  You see, I am a notoriously terrible packer.  You’ll never see the classic “What to pack for XYZ” blog post out of me, I can assure you.  I’m always in a complete lather, packing for my 3 year old, packing for myself, AND getting my dogs’ arrangements sorted before we go anywhere.  I am the girl who packs a huge suitcase of clothes and then only wears two things the whole trip.  Or, I forget something crucial like my contact lenses or the right bra for a certain top.  This trip, I accidentally packed really well.  I wore nearly everything I brought.  I only took the one pair of heels I’m wearing in these photos, and I wore the same flats I had travelled in every day for the next week because I forgot to pack anything else.  I even forgot my Adidas trainers, but I did (unhelpfully) remember to pack 4 pairs of socks to wear with them.  I’ve just accepted that I’m a lousy packer;  I simply check the weather, pack in a rush, and make do with whatever I’ve brought.

A closer look at the cream silk blouse

Dress: Winser London  Blouse: Winser London  Earrings: Eternal Collection  Shoes and Clutch: Lotus

Here is a close up photo of the accessories in daylight.  Night photography doesn’t do dark items any justice, and the twinkly details on the earrings, shoes, and clutch are just too pretty to miss.  I was in such a rush packing that I didn’t even realise how beautifully everything went together until I put them on in Paris.

My friends from The Over 40 Collective also chose an item from Eternal Collection to feature on their blogs this week.  Have a look at what they all chose, and marvel (as I did!) at how completely different our styles are.

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb chose an autumnal leaf necklace and earrings

Annette from Lady of Style wears a cool silver necklace, bracelet, and earring set

RetroChicMama elevates a navy shirtdress with a bright turquoise bracelet

Nikki of Midlife Chic adds a hit of fresh colour to her grey cashmere sweater

Liz from What Lizzy Loves is holiday-ready her red crystal bracelet

Michelle of The Barefaced Chic chose a constellation of sparkle for her neck and ears

Thank you to Eternal Collection for sponsoring our collaboration.

Linking to: TheFabJourney, HighLatitudeStyle, NotDressedAsLamb, HonestMum, Visible Monday