Beverly Hills Diaries Chapter 2: SS26

Beverly Hills Diaries Chapter 1 was Rodeo Drive at noon. Cher Horowitz in yellow plaid, leaving a boutique with three shopping bags and an opinion. Vivian Ward returning to the salesgirls who had refused her the first time, in a brown polka-dot dress and a hat. Beverly Hills as a film set. Old-money shopping streets in 1990s daytime light. The kind of glamour you watched first and then dressed for.

Chapter 2 leaves Rodeo Drive after dark. The romance stays. The settings move downtown. A rooftop at the back end of golden hour. A corner where the streetlamps have just come on. A dinner that runs longer than planned. The collection follows. Lace gets more sculpted. Denim shows up, which it did not in Chapter 1. The pink turns into a halter dress with a crystal chain at the open back. Black floral replaces botanical lilac. The clothes still know where they came from. They keep the sweetness, the bows, the satin, the reverence for the feminine line. But they have learned how to move at night.

Get ready. Chapter 2 launches at 9:00AM PST on April 30th. 

Related News

Resort Matching Sets

THE THERAPEUTIC POWER OF MASSAGES AND BODY SCRUBS!

A Sun-Soaked Escape

The Giana is built around what happens behind. The front is restrained. A clean halter neckline. A defined waist. A flared skirt at a length that sits between cocktail and party. The story is in the back. A low scoop, a sculpted shoulder line, a custom NJ crystal chain that traces the spine and catches light from every angle in the room as you move. It is the dress that makes the walk away from the table the most photographed moment of the evening.

The fabric is a structured stretch with a tailored hand. Crisp through the bodice, smooth across the skirt, with enough flex to hold the silhouette without bunching at the waist. The construction is closer to suiting than to satin, which is what makes the open back read as deliberate rather than precarious. The dress wears like it was sized to you specifically.

In pink, the Giana is the more flirtatious version. The pink is clean and saturated, photographs well at golden hour, and gives the open back its full romantic weight. In white, the dress shifts into bridal-shower and rehearsal-dinner territory without losing its city edge. Two colorways, two distinct registers, the same sculpted silhouette.

The Isabela introduces something Chapter 1 did not have. Denim. Or more precisely, a structured stretch fabric in a denim-blue finish that holds the silhouette like suiting and reads like the polished version of an off-duty Saturday. Off-shoulder V-neckline. Hand-sewn crystal buttons down the front. A cinched waist that opens into a flared skirt with enough swing to register a room.

This is the dress for the night that begins formal and ends loose. Cocktails on a rooftop that turn into walking the city blocks after midnight. A gallery opening that becomes a dinner that becomes a cab ride to a downtown bar. The denim finish keeps the dress from reading too composed. It photographs polished without trying, which is the harder version of polished.

The construction is more substantial than the fabric description suggests. The polyester-viscose-spandex blend keeps the structure crisp through the bodice while letting the skirt move. A wide elastic band at the back of the shoulder keeps the off-shoulder neckline from sliding when you raise a glass. The crystal buttons are decorative rather than functional. The back closes with a hidden zipper, which keeps the front line clean and the row of crystals continuous from neckline to waist. A small construction choice that makes a meaningful visual difference.

Where the Isabela is the cocktail-dress version of Chapter 2’s denim, the Amara is the two-piece for the in-between hours. The top is an open-back halter with a wide collar neckline, sheer stretch mesh paneling at the back, and crystal buttons down the front. The shorts are a high-waist cut with heart-shaped back pockets and NJ embroidery, in the same denim-look fabric that holds its shape against the body.

Worn together, the two pieces read as the most considered version of the denim short and crop. The mesh at the back is the detail that makes it read NJ rather than contemporary. So is the embroidery. So is the curved hem of the top, shaped to define the waist where the shorts begin. The pieces are designed to be photographed together but they do not have to be worn that way. The top works over a wide-leg trouser when the day extends. The shorts pair with a fitted knit, or a button-down tied at the waist, for a less coordinated read.

The mesh is the easiest fit in Chapter 2. If you have struggled with sizing in NJ before, the Amara top is the most forgiving entry point in the new collection.

04 — The Floral Story: Alira Mini and Claudia Maxi

The Alira and the Claudia share a print: yellow bougainvillea on a black ground. They differ in everything else. The Alira is a satin-finish mini with puff sleeves, lace trim at the bust and cuffs, a cinched waist that opens into a flared skirt. The Claudia is a sheer-mesh maxi that draws closely against the body with allover ruching, built-in cups and underwire, and velvet trim at the edges. Same print, two ideas of how to wear it.

The Alira is the dress for entrances. The puff sleeves and lace trim soften the silhouette against the strong floral, and the flared skirt gives the dress its movement. It belongs at summer parties, at vacation dinners, at the rooftop cocktail where the lights come on while you are still on your first drink. The lace at the cuffs is hand-finished, the kind of detail that registers in person and in close-up photography but rarely at distance.

The Claudia is the after-dark version. The sheer mesh and the allover ruching make the dress read closer to a slip than a column gown. It drapes against the body rather than holding away from it. The built-in underwire and cups give the bodice clean shape from the first wear, which solves the structural question that an unstructured ruched maxi usually creates. It is the dress for the city dinner that becomes a longer night, the hotel rooftop, the after-party where you do not change.

Two readings of the same print. Wear them across the same week if you want.

Lace was the through-line of Chapter 1, but Chapter 1’s lace was soft. Vintage doilies, romantic, somewhat sweet. Chapter 2’s lace is sculpted. Corded floral patterns, structured boning, sheer overlays on built-in inner constructions. Two pieces here. The Mara, a strapless lace mini. And the Alexandra, a lace top and matching skirt that wear together as a set or apart as separates.

The Mara is the bridal-adjacent dress in the collection. Strapless, mini-length, corded lace overlay with a sheer dimensional floral pattern, built-in boning through the bodice, slight A-line skirt. It is the dress for everything around the wedding except the wedding itself. The bridal shower. The rehearsal dinner. The bachelorette weekend evening where the bride wants something that reads ladylike rather than party. The second look at her own wedding, after the gown comes off. (Cocktail party works too, with a heel and a more saturated lipstick.) The corded lace gives the surface real dimension. It photographs with depth that flat lace does not, and the boning means the bodice holds clean from the first wear without needing tape or a separate corset underneath. For more white-dress options across this register, see our edit of White Coquette Dresses 2026 →.

The Alexandra is the more day-into-night version. The top is an off-shoulder lace overlay on a satin inner bandeau, with a crystal NJ bow at the chest and natural eyelash lace edging. The skirt is a body-skimming lace pencil with a scalloped lace hem, mini length, side zip. Worn together, they read as a refined two-piece for date night. Apart, the top works over a tailored trouser; the skirt with a fitted knit. The construction is layered lace over mesh, which gives a sheer look with more coverage than it appears. A small detail that matters because lace separates often photograph more revealing than they actually are.

Mara is a pure bridal-adjacent piece. Alexandra is the date-night separate. Together they cover the lace register from white-event to white-evening.

Three things to know about how Chapter 2 dresses differently from Chapter 1.

The first is the design vocabulary. Chapter 1 was about silhouette. The romantic line, the soft drape, the ladylike construction. Chapter 2 is about edges. Open backs with crystal chains. Hand-sewn buttons. Corded lace that holds shape. Mesh that draws close. The collection still moves the way Chapter 1 moves, but the pieces have more visible construction now. You can see how each dress is built.

The second is the color story. The pink and white that anchored Chapter 1 are still here. The Giana in both colorways. The Mara and Alexandra in white. But the palette widens. Black floral comes in with the Alira and Claudia. Denim blue comes in with the Isabela and Amara. The collection covers more occasions than Chapter 1 because the colors do.

The third is sizing. NJ runs small, which is true across Chapter 2 with one nuance. The collection uses three different fabric registers (structured stretch, ruched mesh, corded lace) and they do not behave the same on the body. The structured stretch (Giana, Isabela, Amara shorts) holds its silhouette and requires sizing up. The ruched mesh (Claudia) fits closer to a second skin and also requires sizing up so the ruching can move with you. The corded lace (Mara) has built-in boning and runs close through the bust. Size up especially with a fuller bust. The Amara mesh top is the most forgiving piece in the collection.

Pick by occasion before silhouette. The collection covers four registers: cocktail party (Giana, Isabela, Mara), summer dinner (Alira, Claudia), day-into-evening (Amara, Alexandra), and bridal-adjacent (Mara, white Giana, Alexandra). Most customers will want one piece from one register. The dress that solves an occasion in their calendar that they have not solved for yet. If you are between two pieces in the same register, default to the one with the construction that requires the smallest visible adjustment. The Giana is the lowest-adjustment dress in the collection. Clean halter, open back, no added structure to think about. The Claudia and the Mara require the most consideration around fit and underlayer.

If you have a Chapter 1 favorite, pick the Chapter 2 piece in the same color family. The pink Giana picks up where Chapter 1’s pink left off. The Mara and Alexandra continue the white-lace register. The Alira and Claudia in black floral are the darker counterpart to Chapter 1’s botanical lilac.

For the woman building an NJ wardrobe rather than buying for a single occasion, the Amara set is the most versatile entry point. The top works across cocktail and casual. The shorts work with multiple tops in your closet. The mesh fabric is the easiest fit in the collection.

For the woman who already owns NJ, the Giana is the new canon piece for Chapter 2.

NJ runs small. This is the first sizing fact about the brand and it remains true for Chapter 2. Across the collection, default to sizing up — especially in the structured-stretch and corded-lace pieces, where the bodice does not give the way a softer fabric would.

A few piece-specific notes. The Giana halter neckline runs a little snug at the shoulders for taller frames; if you are between sizes and tall, size up. The Isabela off-shoulder neckline runs higher on shorter torsos and the elastic at the back of the shoulder holds firmly. The Amara mesh top is the most forgiving piece in the collection. The Claudia ruched maxi fits like a second skin. Size up so the ruching can move with you rather than against you. The Mara is corded lace with built-in boning and runs close through the bust. Size up especially with a fuller bust.

For destination orders, build in extra lead time. Chapter 2 is launching during the spring-summer 2026 occasion calendar, which means demand on these pieces will be highest in the four weeks following launch. Order at least three weeks ahead of the date you are wearing the dress.

Beverly Hills Diaries Chapter 2 is Nana Jacqueline’s spring-summer 2026 collection. It is the second chapter in a story that began with the original Beverly Hills Diaries collection. Where Chapter 1 was anchored in old-money Beverly Hills (Rodeo Drive, the daytime light of Clueless and Pretty Woman, the soft register of tweed and lilac and pastel pink), Chapter 2 moves into the city after dark. The collection includes the Giana open-back cocktail dress in pink and white, the Isabela off-shoulder denim dress, the Amara denim two-piece set, the Alira and Claudia in matching black floral, and the Mara strapless lace mini and Alexandra lace separates.

Beverly Hills Diaries Chapter 2 launches on April 29, 2026 at 9 a.m. PST. The full collection is available at nanajacqueline.com on launch day. Sign up for early access through the Nana Jacqueline newsletter to shop selected pieces before the official debut.

Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 share the same brand world but tell different parts of the story. Chapter 1 was the daytime version: tweed, lilac, pastel pink, the soft romantic register of old-money Beverly Hills as seen in films like Clueless and Pretty Woman. Chapter 2 is the after-dark version: open backs with crystal chain detail, sculpted corded lace, denim that reads polished, black floral on a darker palette. Chapter 1 was about silhouette. Chapter 2 is about edge. Both are at the same near-luxury price point and both are designed to be lived in.

Yes, Nana Jacqueline runs small across most of the collection. As a general rule, size up at least one size from your usual American size, especially through the bust and waist. The Beverly Hills Diaries Chapter 2 collection uses three fabric registers (structured stretch, ruched mesh, and corded lace) and all three benefit from sizing up. The exception is the Amara mesh top, which has more give and can sometimes be worn at your usual size.

The dress with the crystal chain at the back is the Giana, the new Beverly Hills Diaries Chapter 2 cocktail dress. The Giana is a halter-neck mini with an open scoop back, defined waist, and flared skirt. The crystal chain is a custom NJ detail that traces the spine along the open back and catches light from every angle. The dress is available in pink and white and is one of the hero pieces of the new collection.

The Giana in white and the Mara strapless lace mini are both strong choices for a bachelorette weekend. The Giana white is the cocktail-dress register: clean halter, open back, sculpted shape, works for the dinner-out and the second-night dinner equally well. The Mara is the more bridal-adjacent piece, with corded lace overlay, strapless boning, and an A-line skirt that reads ladylike rather than party. For a fuller white dress edit including these and other Nana Jacqueline white pieces, see our White Coquette Dresses 2026 → post.

Standard shipping from Nana Jacqueline typically takes 7-14 business days to most US destinations. For pieces from a new collection launch like Beverly Hills Diaries Chapter 2, demand can extend production lead times in the first few weeks after launch. If you are buying for a specific occasion, order at least three weeks ahead of the date you plan to wear the dress.

SHOP: Beverly Hills Diaries Chapter 2 Now

You Might Also Like: 

Explore the Beverly Hills Diaries Chapter 1: Shop The Collection Now

Love a Cute Set for Pilates to Brunch? Shop Our Soft Motion Collection Now

Need a Second Look, After Party Dress? Shop Our Bridal Looks Here