Woman in a charcoal taffeta jacket with puff sleeves and a tiered grey tulle skirt standing in a greenhouse

Dark tailoring · Spring · Autumn

Charcoal taffeta jacket with a tiered tulle skirt

A fitted charcoal taffeta jacket with sculpted sleeves, worn over a tiered tulle skirt in a greenhouse that has seen better days.

A charcoal taffeta jacket cut close through the waist, with wide notched lapels faced in black, a single hidden hook at the front and sleeves gathered into a full puff before they narrow at the cuff. The hem is left raw and sits just below the hip, so the pleats at the waist fan out over the skirt. The fabric has a dry sheen that reads darker in the folds.

Under it, a tiered tulle skirt in the same charcoal, layered until it goes almost opaque at the top and thinning out towards an uneven hem that stops between calf and ankle. Worn here with the jacket closed to the hook, it is a spring or autumn evening look for a gallery opening or a long dinner. Swap the tulle for slim black trousers and the jacket does daytime.

I wore tulle to a greenhouse. The plants were underdressed.

the pieces

  • Charcoal taffeta jacket with puff sleevesblazer · satin · charcoal
  • Tiered charcoal tulle skirtmidi skirt · mesh · charcoal

similar pieces

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

styling notes

  • Pointed pump, nothing chunky
  • Jacket closed; the lapel is the neckline
  • Slim black trousers instead of tulle for daytime

palette

Charcoal#3A3937 Black#141418 Grey#6E6C70

details

Dark tailoringSpringAutumnCocktailEventDark glamSharpSatinMeshBlazerMidi skirtGreenhouseAsymmetricPuff sleeveHigh waist

wearabilitysomewhere in between

get looks like this once a month

more like this

Woman in a charcoal wool and leather peplum jacket with pleated sleeves and a navy laser-cut skirt in a concrete galleryLeather and wool peplum jacket with a laser-cut navy skirtDark tailoringWoman in a burgundy blazer with satin lapels, a silver belt and a pleated chiffon skirt in a sunlit sculpture studioBurgundy satin-lapel blazer with a pleated chiffon skirtDark tailoringWoman in a royal blue ruffle-lapel blazer and folded origami skirt standing in an old town street at duskRoyal blue ruffle-lapel blazer with an origami skirtDark tailoringWoman in a cropped charcoal blazer, leather cut-out top and black wide-leg trousers with mesh side panels in a galleryCropped blazer, leather cut-out top, mesh-panel trousersDark tailoringWoman in a black lace-inset blazer over a mesh corset with a crystal buckle belt, slim trousers and pumps in a galleryLace-inset blazer over mesh corset with crystal buckle beltDark tailoringWoman in a black mesh-panel waistcoat over a silver satin top with puffed sleeves and black wide-leg trousers, concrete wallBlack mesh-panel waistcoat with silver satin drapeDark tailoring