Black Lace Slip Dress Over White Tee

This shoot fulfilled a year long dream of mine to shoot in Dumbo, Brooklyn. I had gone there a couple times to explore and just like everyone else I know, immediately fell in love with Dumbo’s quaint town feel. It’s a super trendy neighborhood, but I never wanted to commit to the long commute there while hauling a suitcase of outfit changes. I finally decided to suck it up, make the trip down there, and omg, it was so worth it!

My photographer Sophie Sahara was a dream to work with. She reached out to me on Instagram as many people do and asked if I’d be interested in shooting. It’s always a hit or miss with these types of photoshoot collabs because you never know if your style will match or clash with the photographer’s. Unfortunately, more often than not, there’s a clash. Sometimes it’s just a difference of style, but usually in my case, it’s the photographer’s need to own the photos and only send over what he or she believes to be the best 5-10 images from the shoot. Sophie shared the wealth of images and I am obsessed with how the photos came out.

When I started my blog, I didn’t focus on the photography. I focused on writing good content. Then I put my attention on building a strong social following. After that, it was all about working with bigger and better companies. Over the years, I saw my photos getting more and more professional, but it was always a slow growth, and I have yet to find my voice and remain consistent in my style. I failed to recognize the importance of photography, but at the end of the day, it is the most important part of a blog. The photos are what prompt a person to read the post, they’re what make people follow you on social media, they’re what brands look at before they agree to collaborate.

I’m finally putting an emphasis on the quality of photos I post and I am slowly forming a signature style. A piece of that is starting to be selective about the clothing I wear in photoshoots, mostly in terms of color. Emily Luciano, one of my blogger icons, perfected her feed by basically only wearing white, black, and blush pink in her photos. Now that’s a lot of commitment, but that’s also what makes her photos look so cohesive. It also became her signature style and made her famous. I’m not about to stop wearing color, but I am going to do my best to stay in a more neutral palette with only pops of pink, blue, and red. So this may be the end of super bright or patterned dresses along with colors that simply don’t fit. What do you think of this more minimalistic approach?

OUTFIT BREAKDOWN:
Black Slip Dress: H&M
White Tee: Uniqlo
Black Mara Cocktail Bag: Ivanka Trump (c/o)
Black and Gold Watch: Kapten & Son (c/o)
Gold Ribbon Diamond Necklace: Leibish & Co (c/o)
Black Booties: M4D3 Shoes (c/o)

Hair Credit: RPZL
Photo Credit: Sophie Sahara

xx Esther