Inspired by The Year of the Dragon

For this quarter’s Magnificent 8 collaboration, Shelbee recommended the theme Year of the Dragon, since Chinese New Year is coming up on February 10. I admittedly don’t know very much about the holiday aside from what I researched this past week, but I sure had fun thinking outside the box to put this outfit together.

When I first heard dragon, my mind immediately went to red—a red body, red flames, etc., plus I knew that red is a symbol of good fortune in Chinese culture. I spent a couple of days picturing the red items in my closet and how I might style them for this challenge, which led me to this dark red sequin jacket… And then it hit me while I was in the shower—sequins are kind of like dragon scales!

While I’ve only worn this jacket once so far, I absolutely love it. It was a Christmas gift a couple of years ago from White House Black Market (some of my favorite pieces in my closet are from there!). I was excited to break the jacket out again for today’s blog post. It ended up looking so much blacker in these photos—I think partly because of how bright the sun was this day—but it’s a very pretty, deep red in person. I love how some of the sequins caught the light just right for a little sparkle.

My other thought for a dragon-inspired outfit was something tough and edgy, reminiscent of the ferocity of a dragon—that made me think of this leather skirt. Before anyone comes at me, yes, I did read that black is actually a symbol of misfortune and death during the celebration of Chinese New Year… But I already had this outfit in my head and couldn’t come up with anything else I was nearly excited about. I decided to take a much more literal approach to my Year of the Dragon outfit instead of basing it off my lucky colors and Chinese Zodiac sign (I was born in the Year of the Rabbit).

It’s too bad the jacket appears so dark in these pics because it really looks like I’m wearing all-black—a walking omen, ha! Oh well. I obviously wouldn’t wear this to an actual Lunar New Year celebration, but it would make a really cute outfit for western New Year’s Eve, date night, or even Valentine’s Day dinner.

I completed the look with gold accessories and my favorite snakeskin faux-Valentino Rockstuds. My thinking was snakes are similar to dragons, reptilian and all… Yes, it’s very literal, but if it led me to a cute new outfit then I’m okay with it. I would have loved to pair this ‘fit with a gold purse but somehow I still don’t have a gold bag in my collection!

I decided to try pulling off the slicked-back bun that’s been so trendy on social media lately. I don’t love the look on myself, but I couldn’t think of a better hairstyle for this outfit… As fun as the sequins are, I’ve learned that I can’t style my hair down when I wear this jacket because it will just get caught in the sequins all night.

Be sure to check out how the other members of our group interpreted the unique Year of the Dragon theme at the links below:

Let me introduce the other seven ladies of The Magnificent 8.

Mica of Away from the Blue   //   Roxanne of Glass of Glam   //   Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge   //   Rena of Fine Whatever   //   Eugenia of Age of Grace   //   Lesley of Jodie’s Touch of Style   //   Charlotte of Jodie’s Touch of Style

We are showing that you can’t put a number on style!

What do you think of this outfit? Did I totally fail the prompt because I’m wearing so much black? Do you celebrate Chinese New Year? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below.

Miles of smiles,

Grace

Black Cami: JCPenney, $6 ($0.15 per wear), last worn here | Red Sequin Jacket: Gift, White House Black Market, last worn here | Black Leather Skirt: Scout and Molly Boutique, $105 ($7.00 per wear), last worn here | Snakeskin Heels: DSW, $42 ($4.67 per wear), last worn here | Black Purse: Thrifted, $6 ($1.50 per wear), last worn here