The black dress is a staple in every woman’s wardrobe and suits several occasions. With a black dress, you get to try out different styling options to take your look from basic to exceptional.
Whether it is for formal events or you’re looking for something casual, you can never go wrong in a black dress. A black dress is a forever classic and timeless outfit that you can style with any accessories in your wardrobe.
In this post, you will discover 17 different and unique tips on how to style a black dress for different occasions to match your personal style. Keep reading for inspiration to style your favorite black dress.
Style Your Casual Black Dress with a Jacket
Pairing your dress with a jacket can add a comfortable touch to your outfit. You can dress your casual black dress up with a denim jacket for a laid-back look. You can even ditch your simple jean jackets for a colorful blazer to add a pop of color to your look.
Style with a Colorful Scarf
A black dress allows you to play with different colors. Accessorize a black dress with a colorful scarf to give you a fun and stylish look. Style your sleeveless black dress with a scarf tied loosely around your neck for a simple look.
Choose a scarf with different patterns, textures, and materials to style your black dress with. It doesn’t matter if it is a vintage, cotton, silk, or wool scarf, you can style a black dress for a casual or formal occasion.
Dress it Up with a Button Down Shirt
Aiming to achieve a chic look with your black dresses? Consider styling a sleeveless black dress over a button-down shirt for a formal look. Also, you can wear your shirt over your dress for a layered look with style.
You can also choose to leave your shirt unbuttoned over your dress or leave the last few buttons undone so you can tie your shirt for a better style.
Style a Black Dress with a Belt
Styling your black dress with a belt is another way to go if you want to wear the same black dress differently. Belting your dress gives it a more visually appealing and fitted look.
Also, it helps you define your silhouette when you style it with the right dress. You can choose a gold belt, a silver belt, or a red belt, don’t hesitate to try belts with other colors to compliment your black dress.
Style with Elegant Jewelry
Accessorize a black dress for an elevated look that suits your style with your statement necklace or hair accessories.
Style your favorite strapless or slip dress with a necklace that compliments your neckline. For your necklace, you can try out a silver necklace or a solid curb chain to emphasize your neckline.
Add Statement Earrings
You can also style a black dress with statement earrings to elevate your look if you want something chic for a formal event or an outdoor wedding. You can make your earrings work as a statement piece that draws visual interest from your black dress or other elegant accessories.
If you’re wearing the same black dress but you want your earring to be the focal point, consider styling your dress with gold earrings or chandelier earrings to go then wear high heels to match and elevate your black dress.
Pick the Right Shoes to Go
Want to know how to style a black dress? You need to pick shoes that pair beautifully with your black dresses.
Pair your long black dress with strapped heels and sandals for a casual look. You can style a long black dress with open-toed mules or ballet flats.
However, you want to wear high heels for a formal look and knee-high boots for a trendy look to go with your little black dress.
No doubt matching your black dress with black shoes pairs beautifully. However, don’t hesitate to experiment with colors. You can ditch black for red shoes or you can wear black shoes with gold or silver embellishments.
Style with Your Favorite Handbags
From tote bags to boho bags, cross bags, shoulder bags, and clutches, there are so many options you can consider when styling your black dresses. Mix and match your dress with tote bags of different colors, patterns, and textures to elevate your overall look.
Wear it over a Hose
Style your cocktail black dress over a nude hose that compliments your skin and outfit. Don’t hesitate to wear your little black dress with black tights or patterned fishnets to achieve a different look.
Pair With Gloves for Elegance
Whether it’s a little black dress or a long black dress, wearing gloves can add a touch of elegance to your outfit. Gloves are a good way to style a black dress without accessorizing too much.
To add a pop of color for your casual look, you can slip on shorter gloves with leopard print or a velvet color. Also, you can pair your black dress with long gloves choosing colors like red or white that complement your black dress.
Complement Your Look With Hats and Hair Accessories
If you’re looking for a subtle yet fashionable way to style your black dress, try complementing your dress with hats and hair accessories. From elegant fascinators to casual beanies, hats can help you define your personal style and add an extra touch of elegance and style to your look.
Whether you’re attending a special occasion, weddings, or outdoor parties, you can wear a fascinator with a bold color like pink or red. You can opt for a chic and cool look on casual days by wearing a soft beanie or a fedora hat.
You can also add a flair of your style to your overall look with the right hair accessories to complement your black dress. Don’t hesitate to try out crystal hairpins, decorative hair clips, bowtie headbands, or simple ribbons to enhance your look.
Experiment with different styles and colors of hair accessories for several styling options for your black dress. Whether you’re aiming for a simple or elegant look, choosing the right hats and hair adornments will help you achieve your desired look to fit any occasion.
Add Animal Prints
Embracing animal prints in your outfit is a chic way to complement your black dress.
Whether it is an animal print heels or a clutch, this combination will make your look stand out. Compared to your black dress, infusing animal prints to your look helps you make a bold statement and set the vibe you want.
Go for a zebra print scarf for a chic look to go with your black dress or you can go bold with leopard print heels. You can use a snake print clutch as an eye-catching accessory to add fashion to your outfit.
The patterns of these animal prints make them fun and fresh layer to add intrigue to your look whether you want to achieve a formal or relaxed casual look.
While it is an elegant and luxury item to infuse in your wardrobe, the aesthetics make it a must-have if you want to style a black dress to look elegant and sophisticated.
Dress it Up with Graphic Tees
Tees are most people’s favorite because they seem to go with any outfit no matter how long you have been wearing them.
Slip on your favorite graphic tee over your black dress then tie it up for a different yet stylish look. Then dress it down with your pair of white sneakers and a colorful bag.
For your graphic tee, feel free to try out a different color like white or a different shade of black if you must wear black.
Whether it is a slip dress or a sleeveless midi dress, you can style them with graphic tees or a peplum to achieve a different look.
Style With a Shrug
You can also wear your black dress in style by layering it with a shrug. This overcoat suits different dresses, so don’t hesitate to pair it with your little black dress, maxi dress, or wrap dress for a sophisticated look.
Whether you are dressing for a formal or semi-formal event, styling your dress with a shrug can take your look to the next level.
For a better style, choose a glittery shrug in a different color to complement your black dress. Feel free to experiment with different colors and lengths for your shrug to add elegance to your everyday look.
Go Neutral with the Accessories
Your elegant black dress needs some neutral accessories to complement it for a sophisticated look. From beige to nude or soft metallic tones, going neutral is a good way to balance your look.
Opt for a nude purse and a pair of heels to perfectly blend with your black dress. Don’t be afraid to choose different textures and patterns to add elegance to your black dress.
Add Color with Some Makeup
If you’re wearing a black dress, you want to add some pop of color to your makeup. While any color would go with your black dress, you might want to keep it simple.
You can opt for minimal eye makeup with bold lip color to elevate your look when you wear your black dress. Whatever the occasion might be, bold lips with red color always set the vibe for you.
You can also try some earth tones, pink lips, nude lips, or glossy lips for a minimal and elegant look. Also, you want to emphasize your eyes and lips when doing your makeup for your black dress.
Since black is a neutral color, adding a pop of color to your makeup adds the right balance and versatility.
Wear Fancy Sunglasses
Styling your black dress is incomplete without sunglasses to finish the look.
If you are dressed casually or less extravagantly, you can always find simple eye-catching eyeglasses with bold colors to go with. You can also wear fancy sunglasses to complement your outfit if you are attending a cocktail party, a date, or a high-end event.
If you don’t want something fancy like the one in this picture, you can opt for eyeglasses that are functional and stylish to elevate your black dress.
Wrapping Up
The fact that it’s a black dress doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Styling your black dress with the right accessories, jewelry, and layering can transform your look.
You can choose to go neutral or go all-black from head to toe if that’s what makes you feel good.
On days when you want your outfit to be more striking and dramatic, add a pop of color with a touch of red, white, or blue. For a neutral color like black, you can pick any color from the color palette to add some accent.
A jacket, blazer, or shrug are perfect layering options to wear on your black dress. To dress it down, style your dress with some tights or hose.
You can also wear your graphic tee over your favorite black dress.
Above all, it’s important to wear your outfit with confidence. Feel free to mix and match different textures and patterns with your black dress.
Ready to elevate your black dress? Tell us in the comment which of the tips you’ll go for.
