Empowering women is an important cause for me. A great company, MarketPlace Handwork of India, contacted me with an opportunity.

MarketPlace Handwork of India is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing economic opportunities for women artisans in India, and empowering them to bring about changes in their lives, the lives of their families, and their communities.

Since MarketPlace began in 1986, women who were formerly unemployed, “unemployable” or desperately underemployed have been building new lives around rewarding work, educational opportunities and social support.  Over this period, MarketPlace has developed, refined and expanded its model of supported self-help, which involves the artisans directly at all levels of decision-making as they form and manage their own independent cooperatives.

I was blessed with the opportunity to try one of their beautiful creations. I chose this lovely Irla Dress in black and white, made by Nirmaan. It makes me feel good and special to wear a handcrafted garment. The picture below is the image from their website and how the dress was styled with leggings. I want to show you how I rocked this chic dress.

Irla Dress, Black, White

I wanted to style this dress in a way that would be uniquely me. So I folded the dress in front and added a thick black Anne Klein belt and Markon black wedges. It is the same dress; but with a totally different look.

Irla Dress w belt and black wedges

This look just clicked for work and the cotton is so soft.

I added a mulit-coloredpaper wood necklace and Aerosoles red wedges to add a pop of color. LOVE IT!

Irla Dress

I added my  bordeaux Dooney and Bourke bag to finish the look.  My doggie, Vinny has to always get in the picture.

Side view of dress

By adding the belt it made the dress have the appearance of dolman sleeves.  Transforming this dress is such a chameleon effect. My doggie Gio making an appearance.

Perfect!

I truly had so much fun styling this dress. I have a few ideas up my sleeve for this dress in the future. Stay tuned!

Giveaway 

I am collaborating with MarketPlace Handwork of India to offer my elegant readers the opportunity to win a $100 gift card to spend on their site. Please visit the MarketPlace Handwork of India website and leave a comment below on this post, on my blog, letting me know which item you like best. Please note, that this giveaway is only available to residents of the United States.

Please submit your comment by Sunday, April 15th and I will randomly choose the winner on Monday, April 16th.

I am so excited for you!

I would like to thank MarketPlace Handwork of India for the opportunity to learn about their great company and to be able to style such a beautiful handcrafted dress.

Thank you!