July 24, 2023
I heard from quite a few of you, asking if this dress could be worn with… well… navy, black, green and pink, so far!
So I decided to give this dress the attention it deserves, and see what the possibilities might be…
My gut instinct tells me that this dress will be great with any neutral, and with just about any other color that is of a similar intensity. Let’s see!
Navy – of course! This would be a great dress to wear to a stuffy office environment, and then out for dinner:
Earrings – Kate Spade New York; dress – J.Crew; blazer – J.Crew; scarf – Pig, Chicken & Cow; pumps – Franco Sarto
I think this is a lovely combination – the green is soft, but equally saturated, so that it stands up to the blue:
Dress – J.Crew; earrings – 8 by Yoox; green cardigan – L.L.Bean; small scarf – The Met Store; flats – Birdies
If the weather is hot…
If autumn is approaching, and you feel like a darker color is the right thing:
Dress – J.Crew; earrings – Milou Jewelry; black merino cardigan – J.Crew; scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; ballet flats – Talbots
If the weather is positively autumn-like, but you still want to wear your favorite dress:
Dress – J.Crew; earrings – Child of Wild; cardigan – L.L.Bean; scarf – Pierre-Louis Mascia; boots – BP.
For hot weather, #2! Of course, this is the way I showed this dress last week…
Vivid waterfall dress – J.Crew; earrings – Kendra Scott; necklace – Talbots; bag – Bohosahara; espadrilles – Vince
If you like to wear white with everything!
If your favorite color is pink, but you can always entertain the possibilities of a blue dress:
Earrings – House of Elliott; Dress – J.Crew; cardigan – Boden; scarf – Etro; flats – Journee Collection
What you do when you realize that your favorite tote bag looks GREAT with your blue dress:
Dress – J.Crew; earrings – Bony Levy; necklace – Talbots; bag – Gianni Chiarini; ballet flats – Sam Edelman
And an option for how to wear a blue dress when your favorite color is actually NOT blue…
Earrings – Kendra Scott; Dress – J.Crew; cardigan – J.Crew; scarf – Nordstrom; sandals – Steve Madden
Do any of these appeal? I admit that this last ensemble calls my name – I’ve been lusting for that cardigan for a while…
love,
Janice
p.s. Five years ago, our friend the soil conservation engineer got an emergency phone call…
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Thanks for tip that its the saturation level of colour that makes each outfit so pleasing to the eye. I think the salmon is my fav. But the navy would be lovely on a day when I wanted to be taken seriously.
Beautiful! I like the many different shoes that give the dress an entirely different look. They set the tone for casual to dressy. I only have a couple pair of shoes I can see that I need to invest in more! This was very helpful!
I can see at least a dozen more possibilities. There’s something about a medium blue that makes it almost neutral. The scarf with the yellow tells me this dress could look cute with a yellow jean jacket and blue or yellow or cream sneakers.
This fabric appears substantial enough that I can see it in winter with a slightly chunky pullover and tights with the ankle boots or knee high boots.
How would my fellow TVF readers style this duress?
I love both of your ideas! Before opening the post I had an image in my mind of a white blouse worn over the dress, unbuttoned and just knotted at the waist. Pretty much any colour of accessories could be worn as an accent.
I also agree with both those ideas!
I agree with you, ak, that this gorgeous shade of blue acts like a neutral. I have an olive-green utility jacket that would look great over that dress, paired with sneakers. My precious husband would probably think I need to buy new clothes! He was appalled when I wore a denim jacket over a black sheath. Even after I explained, he remained highly doubtful.
I love these posts where one garment’s possibilities are explored. It fires the imagination and helps us to reimagine pieces in our wardrobes.
Today’s blue dress is fresh and timeless. I think a topper in a tone of paprika could be fun in the Fall.
I feel like the very simple uncluttered lines of the dress add greatly to the timelessness too!
I am not sure how I feel about the dress with the boots. Would you wear tights as well? But those pink suede flats?!?! Those are fab-u-lous!!! I also appreciate the ideas other readers are coming up with too!
I’m not sold specifically on the tan boots with the blue, but in general, I find it’s very easy to pair this kind of dress with tights and boots. (Depending on the colors involved, I usually blend my tights to the dress or boot color. Here I’d pair with dark neutral boots and matching tights.)
I know some people will wear tan boots (or whatever color is a nude-to-them color of boots) with a dress without tights, but it never seems right to me. If it’s warm enough for boots, isn’t it warm enough for tights? But I saw the dress/skirt + bare legs + ankle boots combination on young women so many times living in the southern US that I can attest that it’s A Thing. I guess it’s a way to participate in boot wearing even when you live somewhere with short, warm fall/winter seasons. I personally put off wearing boots as long as possible every fall ;)
Janice,
These ALL call my name. Haha! You did a great job giving examples that inspire!!
Camille x
I like the black cardigan and flats the best, I think because that scarf is just perfect for tying it all together.
Those examples showing the blue dress without a cardigan are my favorites. I guess that tells me something. I think this dress would look great with glitzy silver jewelry and shoes for a summer wedding.
Vivid Waterfall is THE color! The kind that looks good on almost everyone and almost everyone loves it. I do! I actually have a simple summer “cover-up” dress in almost exactly the same color. This is so much classier and more versatile, though! I would style this so many ways!!! I don’t wear tan/camel at all, but for those who do, that outfit, with that scarf, is simply breathtaking.
I like the reminder that it is the intensity of the colors that make them work. One of my current favorite scarves is a large, vivid floral with this vivid waterfall as the background with plenty of fuschia, purple, emerald and forest green, and a touch of navy and black. It is an inspiration for my current wardrobe, and would allow me to wear any of those colors with this dress. As a friend said, “The scarf makes it make sense.”
The throwback wardrobe is lovely too! I adore the heroine’s stye and her color palette. Did we ever find out how the overnight with her crush/fellow scientist went? Maybe they get sent to a site together for a longer duration?
One thing many of the commentors of that post mentioned, and I thought it about today’s post, is that the clothes are beautiful and inspirational, but pricey. I would love to see equivalent options for those of us with a Goodwill and Walmart budget occasionally!
I think this blue is brighter to my eyes/on my screen than to others because the green, pink, tan, and lilac colors seemed a bit too muted for the dress; I 100% agree with the color combos in theory but personally would punch up the brightness in the companion colors somewhat to reach parity with the blue.
I used to have a sleeveless dress in the same/similar color and so many colors worked with it in addition to the ones shown here: grey, olive, brown, denim blue, dark blue, true green, yellow, orange/coral, light purple… It’s really a “hold the dress up to every item you own” kind of situation to see what specific things will work. Depending on the exact nature of the color, texture, etc., of your solid pieces, you might surprise yourself in what works (or doesn’t work!). The dress will probably blend to or delightfully contrast with a lot of prints also…and those prints don’t have to include blue! I can image a whole slew of color-and-white prints (e.g., candy pink with white polka dot cardigan) that would be wonderful with the dress in summer, for example.
This kind of dress has SO MANY styling options in addition to the blazer, cardigan, and stand-alone dress options: layered with a wrap, casual jacket, shirt-jacket or button-up-shirt-as-jacket, or pullover sweater over it; a long-sleeved top underneath (a turtleneck might look nice). I wore my dress year-round, including the depths of Minnesota winter, so don’t be too put off by the lack of sleeves. Depending on how the top of the dress fits you, you might be able to just treat it like a shirt-with-extra-core-warmth in cold weather.
You’ve given so many great ideas; I’m going to keep my eye peeled for a dress like this.
I agree, it looks brighter on my screen too. But I think the combo’s are lovely. Not all my jam, but still great! I keep seeing a white linen shirt open over this with white sandals. :)
The scarves really did pull things together as did that beautiful tote. I even looked at the first scarf but would feel the need to wear it daily at that price! And since it would be too hot for me much of the year it’s a no go. I think I need to add to my Kendra Scott earrings though. Lovely as always Janice.
Funny, I must be an outlier this time – love the dress but to my eye all those solid toppers diminish the color and don’t complement the style. I wonder what patterned cardigans might add to this nicely tailored dress.
Now that is a great dress. Classic, timeless, not clingy (according to reviewers) and no special bra required. That said I wouldn’t wear it with an unusual color. if you always have to wear a specific scarf to tie the colors together it’s just too limiting. But that’s just my taste. I prefer a monochromatic/tonal look.
I like the “autumn” outfit best. And the navy. The others seem too “sweet” for me. I would even go darker with the browns to a gold-brown–you know, sort of a topaz gemstone color.
Enjoying your blog, I’m a new follower. :-)
When I saw this dress, I had the thought it would go well with my bottle green cardigan once the weather starts to turn autumnal. I have no idea if it would look as pretty in person as it does in my head, though.
IMO the navy and white are the only ones that add. The others subtract.
I need ideas for wearing a similar blue dress as a warm completed old lady with white hair. I try to down play blue and have very little of it. It mostly gets combined with orange or coral or olive green.
I never knew a blue dress could be styled in so many different ways! These ideas are fresh and fun. I especially love the idea of pairing it with white sneakers for a casual look. Can’t wait to try it out!