Satin Long Dress

September 15th, 2009 |

Satin is a glossy fabric with a deep luster that catches the light and creates high lights and deep shadows at the same time, especially when in movement. Satin fabric is used in many different ways, but looks most lovely when it is worn as a dress, because the satin sits so beautifully on the body and its light catching quality looks lovely when it is put in motion. Wearing a satin long dress feels incredibly sexy and decadent.

Wearing a dress made of satin feels luxurious and soft against the skin and moves with the body. Because it is such a silky material which moves fluidly, wearing satin long dresses is the way to get the most out of satin. Satin can be made into short dresses, but some of the qualities of the material are lost when shortening a satin dress. The length is an important aspect of a satin dress because as it hangs from the hips to the floor, that fluent motion of the material really shines.

Most long satin dresses are kept tight and fitted at the top while reserving the long satin skirt part of the dress to hang loosely to the floor. Satin can be made to hug the upper body with hooks, pleats and seams, but looks better when it hangs naturally if the skirt is long.

Satin looks beautiful in almost every color. White satin is usually reserved for bridal occasions, but yellow, pink, blue, and light green satins are refreshing colors of satin to wear in the spring time. In the winter, satin dresses look nice in darker colors. Satin picks up dark colors well because satin reflects light and tones of the color which wouldn't normally be seen on a matte fabric. Satin has sort of a prismatic sheen, and because it picks up the light, a satin dress of a dark blue color would not appear matte blue, but would include all of the subtle tones and high lights of that color. The shadows made by folds in satin are as concentrated with color as the satin seen in the light.

Because the shades and tones of color which are reflected in a single satin dress, there is really no need to fuss around with complicated detail and structure in the bodice. A simple strapless satin floor length dress is such a simple cut, and used with any other material it may seem boring. However, a sleeveless floor length dress in a color such as dove grey, or dark blue reflects the light of whatever setting you are in. The look of the dress is constantly changing because different settings of light bring out different colors in the dress. Being in full sunshine will bring out the highlights in satin and being in darkness will reflect moonlight and create rich and deep shadows in folds of the dress.

A great way to wear a floor length, satin long dress to is to choose a bodice in a color which is a tone darker than the skirt, or a color which can be seen in the shadows when the skirt material is folded. This really helps to bring out the different tones.