Prom (or Wedding) Accessories

Well as promised in Girls Day in the Garment District I wanted to share the accessories we made for my cousin Alexis' prom.  It was this past Friday and she looked stunning.  Now that she made her debut, I can publicly share what a little trim can do to accessorize an outfit.

When it comes to picking the right trim to make your accessories pop, it is important to bring a sample of the actual dress.  Many people forget this important step and end up unhappy with the trim they purchased. While you may think you know the color in your head, you might be surprised by how many options are just a slight shade off from your outfit.  Even a black dress may be hard to accessorize without a sample to match (yes even black has shades).

With that said, my Aunt Teresa (another incredibly crafty member of my family) asked us to find trim for Alexis' prom.  She was wearing a blue dress accented with feathers and sequins.  With our mission set and sample in hand we set out to find the perfect trim items to make a matching hair accessory.  The first thing we needed was to find matching feathers for the dress. It took a while but we eventually found the right color match. They came in a bundle attached at the end to a ribbon.  While lose feathers might have worked as well, they are much more difficult to work with.

Once we found the right feather match the next thing we needed was something sparkly to attach the feathers too.  The trim shop we were in had a large selection of rhinestone buttons, beads, ribbon, and pins.  Ultimately we decided a pin would be best since the feathers could easily be attached. The pin also made for an easier attachment of the finished accessory to her hair.  We looked at a number of pin options and decided a large open rhinestone pin would work best.

We delivered the trim to my cousin and Aunt when we saw them at the Autism Awareness Fundraiser.  With less than a week before Alexis' prom my Aunt Teresa set out to make the perfect hair piece.  The end result was simple yet stunning. Alexis wore her hair to the side and the hair clip was an attention grabbing accessory that looked like it was a perfect match for her dress.  The clip brought a small burst of color up by her face and added that little bit of glamour every girl wants to feel on their prom night.

Not only were the feathers a great addition to Alexis' hair, there were enough feathers left over for the florist to add them into Alexis' corsage.  One of the finishing touches of every girls prom look, this corsage was not only a lovely gesture from her boyfriend, but also a unique and notable accent to her dress.  While in the past a plain rose or carnation was customary for wrist corsages, it is becoming more common for these floral pieces to now be a matching accessory.  Glitter, spray paint/dye, rhinestones, and additions such as butterflies are now popular corsage accents.

Even without all of the glitter and glam my baby cousin would have looked beautiful but there is nothing like a great dress, and stunning matching accessories to make a girl feel like a princess for the night.  Take a look below at the complete look.