Woman in a black satin cut-out dress with pleated fan sleeves and black ankle boots against a concrete wall
in motion: Black satin cut-out dress with pleated fan sleevesback & profile: Black satin cut-out dress with pleated fan sleeves

All black · Spring · Summer · Autumn

Black satin cut-out dress with pleated fan sleeves

0:000:17

her voice is generated with AI, like the rest of her

read it instead

Technically, this dress has sleeves. Black satin, slashed open at the front and the waist, with two fans of pleats where the arms come free. The skirt drapes to one side. Black ankle boots. It took longer to describe than to put on. Wear it to an opening.

A black satin dress with slashed cut-outs, pleated fan sleeves and a skirt draped to one side. Ankle boots keep it on the ground.

A black satin dress that treats its own fabric as optional. A diagonal slash opens from the left shoulder to the centre of the chest, a second one sits just below it, and a third cuts across the waist. The sleeves do the opposite: each one is a half circle of knife pleats, wide as a fan and open underneath, so the arms come free from the elbow. The skirt is gathered at a point on the hip and falls in deep folds, short on one side, below the knee on the other.

Black leather ankle boots with a block heel keep it from becoming a gown. It belongs to warm evenings with an occasion attached: an opening, a launch, cocktails somewhere with concrete and a view.

Sleeves, but only technically. That is my compromise with the weather.

the pieces

  • Black satin cut-out dress with fan sleevesmidi dress · satin · black
  • Black leather ankle bootsboots · leather · black

similar pieces

Links may earn a commission. Dahlia's clothes don't exist; these are the closest things that do.

the pieces, up close

detail: Black satin cut-out dress with pleated fan sleeves
detail
still life: Black satin cut-out dress with pleated fan sleeves
still life

styling notes

  • No tights
  • Block-heel ankle boot, not a sandal
  • Hair straight, kept clear of the cut-out shoulder

palette

Black#0D0D0D Charcoal#2A2A2A Gunmetal#4B4E52

details

All blackSpringSummerAutumnNight outCocktailEventDark glamPowerLeatherSatinBootsMidi dressIndustrialAsymmetricCut-outPuff sleevePleatedHigh slit

wearabilitycloser to runway

get looks like this once a month

more like this

Woman in a black and charcoal asymmetric dress with a grey satin drape, leather band and long sash in front of neon windowsBlack asymmetric dress with a draped satin panel and sashAll blackWoman in a black leather one-shoulder cut-out bodysuit and black pleated wide-leg trousers in a concrete industrial spaceLeather one-shoulder cut-out bodysuit with pleated trousersAll blackWoman in a black sleeveless blazer dress with winged shoulders and a pleated satin panel beside an easel in a studio at duskBlack sleeveless blazer dress with a pleated satin panelAll blackWoman in a sleeveless black blazer with pleated bell sleeves and black denim wide-leg trousers in a car parkPleated-sleeve sleeveless blazer and black denim trousersDark tailoringWoman in a black leather ruffle wrap top with a wide sash, tapered leather trousers and pointed boots against a concrete wallLeather ruffle wrap top with sash and tapered trousersAll blackWoman in a black leather cut-out bustier, leather wrap skirt and thigh-high boots against a dark studio backdropLeather cut-out bustier, wrap skirt and thigh-high bootsAll black