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I’ve been thinking a lot about hemlines lately.
It all started during January’s one dress challenge, when someone commented that I should cut off the bottom of the wrap dress. (In her words, “to be a total badass.”)
But I didn’t want to cut off the bottom of the dress, because the truth is there’s nothing I like better than a midi length dress (or skirt).
But ever since that comment, I’ve been trying to deconstruct why.
I’ve been reflecting a lot on my personal style since the one dress, thirty ways challenge, and if I could sum it up in two words, it would definitely be bold and comfortable. I want my style to be creative and interesting, but I want to be relaxed and cozy at the same time. And nothing in my description fits that bill more than this grey and black oversized striped dress. (Which actually made an appearance on Day 7 of the one dress challenge.)
I was reminded of just how much I love this dress when I wore it on the final day of a craft show I was at last weekend. Not only did I get a ton of compliments, but I was super comfy all day, even packing up the show and driving home. (Especially because I opted to wear it with a cute pair of sneakers.)
And while this dress is pretty fantastic on it’s own (it even has pockets), I think it’s even better when paired with the right necklace. And since I know it can be challenging to figure out what necklace to wear with a dress this bold, I thought I’d share three different options.
One month ago, I gave myself a challenge. Take this lackluster wrap dress (that I wanted to keep because it was super cozy) and come up with 30 creative ways to wear it.
And because I really like creativity within constraints, I gave myself a few other rules as well: I could only style the dress with pieces I already owned. I could only choose between two pairs of shoes. (Though in the end I pretty much wore the same pair every day, because that’s what happens when you find a pair of shoes you love.) And I could only wear two different necklaces. (Because as a jewelry designer, it would have been too easy to just go crazy in the jewelry department. But I wanted to show how you could make one or two investment pieces work with your whole wardrobe.)
So how did it go?
For the final day of my one dress, thirty ways challenge, I decided to wear ALL the layers. I really liked the way the stone in the bold Contra necklace looked with the chambray tunic I wore yesterday, so I knew I wanted to give it one more go for the challenge. I decided to pair it with the navy and white pleated skirt that has definitely become a favorite since this challenge started.
I originally planned to just wear the wrap dress as duster over the shirt and skirt and call it a day, but that somehow didn’t feel like enough for the final day of the challenge. So I opted to add the navy shirt dress I wore on Day 26 for one more layer. The result is that this outfit makes me feel like a total creative badass! (Which seems like the perfect way to end the challenge!)
Ever since I wore the plaid shirt over the wrap dress, I’ve been wanting to make a wrap skirt with the same cut as the dress. But since I’ve still got two more days in the challenge where I have to wear the dress (and haven’t had the time to sew a skirt anyway), I decided just to see if I could fold the dress in on itself and wear it as a skirt. (Without it looking too lumpy!)
The result is that I was able to wear it as a skirt with this chambray tunic. (Which would have never fit over the bulky sleeves of the wrap dress.) It’s exciting to think that, even 29 days into this challenge, I’m still coming up with new ways to wear this dress!
It’s sort of hard to believe I made it 28 days into this challenge before wearing a pair of jeans! I love jeans, and practically live in them, but I really wanted to force myself to do something different with this challenge. Still, I knew at some point I was going to want to style the dress as duster with a pair of jeans. (And to keep in the spirit of the challenge I opted to wear them with the green shirtdress I wore on Day 14. And I opted for the smaller Contra necklace, because it works so well in the neckline of that dress!)
Of all the looks I’ve put together for this challenge, this one shows the least of the wrap dress. But that doesn’t mean the wrap dress isn’t playing an important role. I wanted to wear the dress from Day 17 again (because I love the winter color palette) but truth be told, that dress is very thin. Wearing it over the wrap dress makes it that much cozier (and gives it a little extra length). And since this outfit was already all about the cozy, I figured I’d add my favorite oversized charcoal cardigan (that I’ve already worn a few times in this challenge) to really up the coziness factor.
Today’s outfit had me digging deep. And by that, I mean deep into my closet! I’ll admit that I was struggling a bit coming up with another idea that felt new, but then I remembered this navy shirt dress in the back of my closet. And since it unbuttons all the way, I was able to layer it over the wrap dress. I love that it’s a simple solution that yet again transforms the wrap dress. (Especially when I pop the collar and give it a little attitude.)
This is my third time wearing this plaid shirt for the challenge, and it’s definitely my favorite version yet. I love how simply wearing it on top of the dress allows the bold black and white pattern to pop, and I love how rolling the shirt to the waist of the dress gives it the feel of a long skirt.
I did realize that the challenge of this dress is that, because it has such full sleeves, it makes it super difficult to actually layer another shirt on top. (There’s a lot of scrunched up fabric on my upper arms which I’m pretty much just choosing to ignore.) However, I love the idea of this look. (And the potential for the several other flannel shirts I own that I’ve never quite figured out how to style properly.)
So my first order of business when this challenge is over is to get myself some sweatshirt fabric and attempt to make myself a wrap skirt that emulates the bottom of this dress. If it works out like I envision in my head, I’ll definitely be sharing more than a few outfits here on the blog. (And hopefully making it in more than one color!)
I really wanted to give this purple cardigan another go, because I love the color (both on me and with the grey of the dress), but didn’t exactly love the way I styled it the first time around. Since I didn’t quite love the way the cardigan laid on the bottom half of the dress, I opted to add the black metallic pleated skirt to the mix. (Which now makes four appearances for that skirt, clearly it’s becoming a workhorse in this challenge!) I also decided not to get fancy with the ties this time, and simply wear the cardigan over the dress and skirt combo.
The result is an outfit that’s seriously cozy (a sweatshirt dress and cardigan!?!) with just a hint of glam in the skirt. I also used my safety pin trick again on the bottom of the wrap dress, so that it didn’t stick out under the skirt.