Dresses are a way of life in the summer, am I right? When it’s hot and you don’t want clothes touching your body, dresses are the way to go!
I get asked often how to style dresses in different ways during the summer when it’s too hot to keep your jackets, cardigans, and vests on. I agree it can be difficult to create looks that are very distinct when you can’t layer. It’s not impossible, just harder depending on the dress and your style. However, it’s important to keep in mind that a piece is not only versatile if you can style it distinctly. Another way a piece can be versatile is if you can wear it in multiple scenarios, like hanging out with friends or to a beach wedding. Even if you can’t create super distinct looks, you can still get good use out of the item because you can wear it to a variety of occasions!
Since I’ve been showing a lot of jersey knit “pajama dresses” lately, as I like to call them, let’s depart from those and talk about adding dressier options that are still versatile. Today’s post is in partnership with Nordstrom, who has TONS of semi-dressy options that can easily be worn for different occasions. (Also, these dresses are NOT part of the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, so anyone can shop these right now–no need to have a Nordstrom card.)
Today I’ve put together 3 looks with this pretty yellow dress: one for hanging out with friends, one for going to a bridal/baby shower or party, and one for an outdoor summer wedding.
Within each of the 3 looks, I’ll also share a tip for choosing or styling a dress like this to help you add more versatile dresses to your wardrobe!
DRESS INFO: I’m 5’6″ and normally size S/M or 6/8. I wear this dress in size S. It runs pretty large and there was a lot of extra material in medium. Also, the color in person is a bit more of a muted mustard.
Here are the looks and the tips!
Tip #2: Look for a dress with special details.
Rather than a solid, plain, cotton dress, in addition to a non-jersey material, this dress has a few details that take it up a notch. It’s got a smocked bust that gives it some texture, a beautiful print for more visual interest, and a cool wrapped bottom with a hi-low hem. All of those things elevate the dress and make it work for dressier settings.
This look is not a far cry from the first outfit, but it’s a little more boho thanks to accessories with tassels (which you can’t see on my necklace from these pics!) The look is taken up a tiny step up with a wedge shoe and is cute for a bridal or baby shower, or any type of daytime party, really.
Fun fact: I intended to wear my cutout lace up block heels (THESE) but somehow only brought one of them to the photoshoot. I suppose I could have gotten away with just wearing that ONE shoe since in these pictures you can only see one of my feet anyway! Haha! 😛
If a light layer was needed, I’d totally pair this with my green cardigan (like THIS) or purple cardigan (like THIS). Either of those combos are ADORABLE together and really make things pop!
Created in partnership with Nordstrom
