Guest Blogger: Emily Strong

When looking for an outfit for this week’s photoshoot, this dress by French Connection immediately caught my eye. It’s sleek, feminine, a little preppy, and most of all, simple enough that it could act as a blank canvas on which any number of looks could be built. 

The clean, classic look of the dress helps to showcase the jewelry in these shots, a delicate necklace and bold clip on earrings by Julie Vos. The distinctive style of these pieces intrigued me when I first saw them, but I had thought they were too bold for my wardrobe. I felt similarly about the shoes, wedges by Free People that are surprisingly comfortable and easy to move in: that they were special, but so aesthetically different from everything I own that they just wouldn't fit.

On this palette of white and brown and gold, add a dark berry lip by Clinique and the outfit becomes glamorous and effortless, something I had not envisioned when looking at each individual piece.

Style is the clothes that you choose, but more importantly, how those pieces fit together, and when visiting a boutique, you’re shopping for both: quality pieces and guidance on how to transform them into a unified look. Gladiola and the people who work there excel at seeing how distinctly different designer pieces fit together to make something that’s more than the sum of its parts.