Impress Yourself
Impress Yourself, a scholarship mixer like no other! This is not your traditional cocktail party, and you'll see absolutely zero black and white tuxedos and basic ball gowns! Impress Yourself is much more than that. When people ask me what I would compare it to I always say it's the Met Gala of South Carolina. Impress Yourself is an upscale night of sophistiratchet exposure for young adults and professionals, promoting scholarship while also recognizing the most influential young adults in the state. The thing about Impress Yourself that's so electrifying is the fact that it's not for monetary gain or personal exposure, it's all for scholarship and the encouragement of community. So you get all of that, wrapped inside a party filled with beautiful people. It's a new age of socialization, and if you're asking yourself how do you dress for an event of this stature, keep reading and as always I'll give you some inspiration.
I've always considered myself a multifaceted person. From my involvements in life to my fashion sense. This year the theme for Impress Yourself is focused on diversity of self, as everyone has two sides to themselves. So for this star studded event I wanted to bring both of my suave personalities to the table.
Dinner Jacket
In this first look I wanted to make a statement, but subtly. You can't go wrong with black when you attend a formal event so I decided to wear this black dinner blazer with black skinny chinos. I added a white grandad collar long sleeve button down and finished with a blue double breasted vest. To make the outfit still be bold in character I decided to wear these black studded Steve Madden loafers and added a few accessories to make the piece pop with a blue and white checkered pocket square and a pair of vintage round clear lens glasses.
Velvet Blazer
Velvet is an amazing fabric to wear just because it makes people take two. You know, that moment when you walk past someone and have to look again just to make sure you saw it correctly the first time. So in my second look I wanted to speak to my inner Bruce Wayne. I've always wanted to be a billionaire playboy. Granted it might not happen anytime soon, your boy can dream right? This green velvet blazer matched perfectly with this all black outfit that I put together. I placed it over a black long sleeve grandad collar button down and wore the same black skinny chinos in the outfit above. This time I paired it with my leather Chelsea boots and added a silk pocket square with hints of blue and green to make the entire outfit pop. I also went a few buttons down on my shirt just to show a little chest action, you know, billionaire playboy style.
Oh yeah, before I send you guys to the gift I promised in my post, which is a 25% discount code to get your IYS tickets I'm sure you're curious as to who the lady in the back of my pictures is. Well you can find out more about Zoel, and how she styled her Impress Yourself pieces by checking out her blog post here at HeyitsZoe.com.
A.Bevy's goal is to make each of us completely self-aware of the attributes that make us who we are. There is a beautiful truth in knowing and expressing yourself shamelessly.
Know Your Self + Express Your Self = Impress Your Self
For a limited time A.Bevy is offering my readers an exclusive 25% discount on their IYS17 tickets using the coupon code HOMIYS. Head to the official IYS17 page before April 13th to redeem your coupon: http://www.abevy.org/acg-impress-your-self-2017.
Photography by Justin Robinson and Shannon Snelgrove