When I was growing up as a teen in the 90's, I remember adoring the richness of the Velvet and making it part of my wardrobe for the club parties. I was charmed by how luxurious I felt inside. Every time I would wear it, I would feel like a queen or as in India we call it "like a Maharani".

"The beauty of Velvet is, it embraces your body with its own gentle touch. It hugs your curves and makes you feel special"




Fast forward, Velvet was leading its way once again in the fashion trends of 2017 and its here to stay for 2018. It was omnipresent in the entire 2017 when we saw them flying off the shelves of shopping malls and online stores. We even saw it becoming a red-carpet favorite. We saw the models joining the Velvet Bandwagon at New York Fashion Week 2017 in more colors than just the traditional hue of Black. Colors aside, Black rules too!

"In 2017, we even saw changes in preferences of color. Remember Cherry Red / Wine going hot for the lip color! Trust me, when Black is sophisticated, Wine is seduction"

The plushness and a little warmth of Velvet makes it a perfect wear during Spring , Fall and even Winters. Since I couldn't gather myself enough to brave the crazy NYC cold to jump into the Times Square Ball Drop Bandwagon this New Year, I celebrated my femininity just enough to reminisce the trend that has caught up. And why not!

The Holidays are the best months to have because you've got plenty to celebrate and rush into the New Year with the zeal that lasts for a few couple months afterward.

At least for me, January of each year is always a good month. I am ecstatic because I have finally come off my break, to daily chores of life and sanity and to reality. It is also that month when the celebratory mood from past month lingers for a little while. Skipped the New Year Party? No worries, you've got friends and colleagues to meet. Came back from Holidays? Now is the time to catch up with your friends over a drink or a dance.

And as every occasion would have it, you'd love yourself to be seen, to be heard and to be felt and what better way than to start your year with what feels fresh to you.

Finding a cocktail dress / party dress can be very exhausting in stores. Since I mostly shop online, I was looking for something that would fit my needs and would not compromise on quality because for me that's important. When I browsed Tobi, I found the collection very interesting. I fell in love with it, not once but many times because all the kind of cocktail dresses that I wished I had, was there. And because it was New Year and then we have Valentine's Day coming up in Feb, I thought why not!

So this is the dress I got and I really liked it. From the fabric to the sizing, it feels like it is tailor made for me. Of course, I referred to the size chart. I guess that's with the online stores, you can't simply order what size you have been ordering. Its important to check size chart for each individual dresses / apparel. I ordered an M.

 The slit at the front gives us such a sexy appeal that every time I wear it I stand in front of the mirror just a little longer. It transforms me :)

I figured out there are two ways I could wear this dress. The way how it is shown online and the way I wore it.

1) Lets go by how I wore it first.

I have always loved Bare Backs and my idea of creating this look out of this dress was to create a double spaghetti style strap in front (that is trending) and leaving the bare back open with a knot in the back at the end. Since it has a beautiful back, I would advise on wearing a bra which is stick on. The front of the dress can be made as high as or as low as you would tie as a halter. I also liked the position of the slit in front - it is perfectly positioned - meaning it is sexy but not revealing the thigh as much. The very thing that I was so anxious about.





2) Lets go by how it is worn on the website of Tobi

There is a loop on front ends of the dress from where the strap can go in (and that's how I made it double strap in how I wore it) but what can also be done is you can criss-cross at the back and keep a simple halter in the front.





The dress would best go with open high heels / peep toes adding that extra height onto your body. I wore it with Boots because its winters here and it goes well too!

PS: Thanks @shoptobi for this super gorgeous slit dress! All reviews and opinions here are my own.