Saturday night is the annual Marine Corps Ball in Phnom Penh, and along with being a great way to recognize the US Marines stationed in Cambodia, it’s the singular excuse to dress up in this city for the year. In honor of this celebration, I am diving into uncharted territory this year, and leaning into bling.

I have an aversion to sparkles and glitter and sequins. They make me nervous and itchy on sight. I feel like they are a “look at me, look at me” approach to formality and often seem out-dated and over-done.

However, I have been spending quite a little bit of time perving on the glitterbomb that is http://www.shopbando.com and I love the playful approach to fashion that this group of ladies has. Looking at their stuff makes me want to drink champagne + roll in sequins + play dress up with my friends. It feels like a Taylor Swift dance video in all the right ways.

So for zee fancy ball this year, I am turning away from the black/understated/simple that I am most comfortable with and looking directly at the funky/sparkly/haphazard. It’s sort of a Benjamin Button approach to fashion, and my inner 8-year-old is thrilled.

While looking for my shiny-inspiration, I found that there are a lot of designers using more interesting shapes for formal wear now. Going black tie no longer means princess gowns and satin gloves (though that’s cool too) and modern ladies are putting together some fantastic and interesting spins on the traditional fancy pants.

Inspiration below!

 Photos: Emma Stone, Karlie Kloss, Emma Watson

Photos: Oscar de la Renta, Stella McCartney, Oscar de la Renta

Photos: All Giambattista Valli Fall 2014

I get the final product of my Marine Ball gown tomorrow at noon. I will let you know how it turns out next week!