December 15, 2021
Yes, many of us don’t wear dresses very often, but it’s worth keeping in mind how very EASY it is to wear a dress. One garment – DONE… No coordinating separates, no worrying if you tee shirt is too short to tuck in (or too long) etc. etc…
And you can pretend to be all dressed up, even if you dress is made of sweatshirt fabric, or fleece!
This is the dressiest dress I’m sharing today – but this could get dressed down a lot with brown boots, and a brown sweater (or rust, or camel!). This weight of dress could be useful for all but the hottest weather, too.
If you’re only going to own one dress, this next one is worth a look. Black ponte knit, short sleeves, modest neckline but beautiful swirl of skirt. It’s a good thing I don’t need another dress…
I don’t know if anybody else has noticed, but the world is currently full of clothes with big puffy sleeves! Lots of dresses have those skirts that have 3 tiers of fabric, which flatter few of us…
But I thought this dress was appealing. The smocked bodice is unusual, the square neckline is a great place to park a lovely necklace, and I understand that the fabric is NOT terribly heavy. Hmm…
I love the subtle sleekness of this sweatshirt dress – warm, but still pretty!
If you love the snuggliness of a turtleneck, this dress is perfect. Note the fuller sleeves with the narrow cuffs… And the cool knit pattern at the hem!
Conversely, if you like a dress that’s not quite as warm, this is perfect. Daisies and bees? Oh yeah… I could have really gone quite crazy with floral and insect jewelry here!
And this is the dress that I think I’m going to add to my dress collection – basically a fleece top with a really LONG bottom… Warm, but it’s still a dress!
Do you wear dresses in the autumn and winter? What’s your favorite dress that you currently wear?
love,
Janice
p.s. Four years ago, we were evaluating three of the “Six Scarves, 12 Months” wardrobes. Still things to be learned from these efforts…
p.p.s. The Store at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has marked down LOTS of holiday-related items. BEAUTIFUL Christmas tree ornaments, holly and mistletoe jewelry… sigh…
Julia says
Be still my beating heart! I love dresses and seem to see so few these days that inspire me but apart from the ‘Madewell’ because I am very short and don’t wear waisted dresses, and the Ralph Lauren because of the short sleeves, would wear everything here. It’s going to be very hard for me to keep my hands from spelling ‘Lands End’ and ‘Treasure and Bond’ on the keyboard today for those sweatshirt dresses which I think are a wonderful idea. And I love all the accessories, my weakness….
Debra says
I wear dresses most of the time. I live in Central Texas and it’s cooler to wear a dress in our brutal summers. It’s still in the 70s so I’m still wearing those dresses. LOL! I have numerous dresses from Madewell and Anthropologie – those dresses with the three tiered skirts look good on me! My very favorite dress is 3 or 4 years old from Anthro. It’s a pink babydoll dress. The fabric is light weight and looks like it’s from India. It has tiny elephants all over it. I wear it with gray fishnets and ruby colored booties. Yesterday my choir had their winter concert at school and I directed wearing a burgundy velvet high-low, V-necked dress from Cabi – also several years old. Wearing a white sleeveless dress from Madewell (one of those 3 tiered skirted ones) with a cropped lavender cardigan from Boden today. It will be quite warm today.
Amanda Hudson says
Ooo I have that CAbi dress bought specifically because it was cool enough to wear in TX in the winter!!!! I love dresses too and they are often a godsend in the summer.
MamaSquirrel says
I have a teal jersey dress from the Canadian company Miik that I wear a lot even if I’m not going anywhere, sometimes with a sweater and/or leggings. Also a grey sweater dress that is also good for layering. I’m interested in the Wool& challenge of wearing the same wool dress for a hundred days, but not sure how well I’d stick to it–have any of you tried something like that?
Wendy says
That challenge sounds interesting. They ask you to wear the same wool dress for one hundred consecutive days? Or, minus some weekend days? I’m guessing sweat shields are to be employed and the challenge is to style it differently each day.
Please let us know if you participate!
Is there a website to see how people have fared doing this challenge?
Sheila says
Found it! https://journal.wooland.com/post/2020/5/1/100-day-dress-challenge
MamaSquirrel says
100 days straight, for (I think) eight hours a day; there’s no requirement to style it differently, but most people do try. There’s more information on the Wool& (Wooland) website, but you can find people’s stories by searching for Wool& Challenge or Hundred Day Dress. They used to offer a cash reward for completing it (and documenting it with photographs), but now I think you get store credit instead.
Sheila says
100 days is a long time! Although one particularly hot summer I swear I wore the same dress every day in an effort to stay cool. I might be able to do something like that if I were just staying home and not working. It’s still a long time though!
Lori says
I’ve looked at it, too, and love the idea of simplicity and high quality and longevity. It certainly meets Janice’s idea of fewer, high quality, classic items worn many ways. My only issue is, I don’t wear dresses! I’m sitting on the floor all day with children. I can’t figure out how to be modest and wear a dress and sit on the floor, or garden… If anyone has any ideas…???? Please let us know if you do it. I’d love to hear how it goes!
AK says
Oh goodness. If I could only find a wool dress with the clean lines and right color! I can’t for certain say I’d make it 100 days, but a dress like that can easily stand out for so many occasions. Think of it with beautiful jewelry or a classy silk scarf and pumps or a chunky necklace and boots or a pullover to make it look like a skirt. It reminds me of a stunning green I wore in high school. A lovely wool, empire waist, simple neckline and long sleeve. I wore it everywhere dressed up or down. I’m determined to find a superb grey or navy dress for winter, even if I can’t find one this year. It will be worth the wait to get the dress I can take in any direction and wear for years!
Clare says
I did the Wool& 100 day dress challenge last year and loved it. I wore it with leggings and a cardigan most days – and I had a blast styling it. I was amazed that these merino wool garments do not smell! (I washed my dress only 4 times during the challenge).
Wendy says
I always resorted to wearing a dress if I was crunched for time or couldn’t spare the brain power needed to pull an outfit together. I even had a dress I called my “desperation dress”. It suited nearly any setting and I could be out the door in five minutes.
Dresses are very popular in Poland (I just returned home to Canada last week after being there for three months). One trend I noticed is long hoodie dresses. They were flying off the store racks and were worn by the thirty and under set with leggings and sneakers. I would definitely wear one at home or for a casual day.
Margery says
Welcome back Wendy, I wondered how your trip turned out and what you added and subtracted as you got on there. Hoodie dresses? It might catch on here too as a trend. (I’m in Kamloops BC)
Scottie says
Love wearing dresses; that’s all I wore this summer. I found that “biking shorts” underneath make all the difference! In winter, it’s dresses w/tights or leggings. Most comfortable? Sweatshirt dresses for the win.
Barb says
There was another project called the ‘Little Brown Dress” where a woman wore the same brown dress for a year. https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20060707&slug=browndress07
She had a blog, which seems to have disappeared. I think for most of us who enjoy this website, one dress might be not enough, but her thoughts on overconsumption, the business of fashion, and sustainability are interesting.
V says
I don’t own skirts, except for hiking/biking/athletic wear. Dresses are easier for me, dressed up or down, I don’t need to figure out wether to tuck or not and which top to wear. At 5’4” I prefer a longer line of color or pattern. My two go to dresses are patterns in my neutral and accent color. Because most of my clothes are solids, that patterns make me feel happy. I keep a pretty small wardrobe but this post has me thinking I might need another casual, very warm dress.
Danielle says
I’m bemused by the ubiquitousness of what I’d call frumpy floral. The Ralph Lauren one really calls my name, though. Conversely, I have a mad desire to wear that Lands End one on Christmas Day, but in the fair isle version! Before I buy something, I force myself to consider, would Jackie Kennedy have worn this? Would Miss Fisher? But as I get older, I may be moving toward Iris Appel as my spirit animal.
Danielle says
Apfel. Thanks auto correct.
Beth T says
???? Miss Fisher via Jackie Kennedy to Iris Apfel – what a transformation! Yet I can see it somehow. There are two periods in life when we can get away with being flamboyant. When we are young, experimenting with different modes of dress and fashion trends, copying other people, trying to find our style comfort zone, trying to identify with a ‘tribe’ (or not). The second time is when we are mature. We’ve seen it all before and can afford to be bold again and maybe a bit eccentric but who should care? So Jackie Kennedy in the middle is the safe, conservative, “I’m a grown up now”.
Deb Leonard says
Dresses! That is something that I have rarely worn. I was just too busty (36L) on a small frame. Every dress I tried on made me look dumpy and matronly.
I am one week post breast reduction (36C?) and looking forward to clothes shopping. I had been wondering what my first purchase should be. It will definitely be a dress. Maybe a fit and flare style.
Beth T says
Sounds lovely. I wouldnt worry about length. I’m 5ft and where my dresses to just below mid calf or just above the ankle. Worn with court shoes or ankle boots. The length detracts from my height and gives the illusion of height.
Janice says
☺️☺️☺️???
Rex says
I have dressed that get brought out once or twice a year for fancy does, but I’m more of a tunic/long sweater and leggings type. Tonight I’m planning on a light pink cable knit and grey leggings which should go with my coat (work team Xmas meet up).
Definitely need to wear tights or shorts under them, though. Especially in the Summer.
Kathy says
Now that I am retired, I don’t wear dresses so much, but I do like a casual dress in the summer. I have four basic ponte sheaths from Landsend that work year round with different accessories. Three are prints, one is black. . They have discontinued the style I have which is too bad as the quality was top notch, heavy ponte knit, simple style. Glad I bought one a year for awhile as they are easy to style and will not go out of fashion. I have a couple of summer print linen that I like in warm weather. I have a couple of Pendelton long skirts with matching pullover sweaters that I love to wear in winter with boots.
Beth T says
I would wear dresses and skirts more often if it wasn’t such a faff putting on tights. Then, I have to find appropriate footwear that don’t make me look frumpy but are appropriate for the activity.
Time was in my 20’s when I rarely wore trousers. Wearing skirts and dresses was commonplace back then.
I love the first dress and have one similar in slate blue with cream flowers on it. My accessories would be grey with hints of blue.
I’m not sure that knitted dresses would suit me now. I had a couple in A-line style in the 1980’s. The style these days tends to look a cacoon, is straight or fitted.
Rex says
I agree on the tights front. Interestingly, leggings and shorts are far easier to handle.
Beth T says
The struggle I have is lycra in tights that doesn’t give much stretch when you’re trying to get them on. It’s like trying to squeeze a leg into a the clothing equivalent sausage skin!
Milena says
One of the things that were hard for me during lockdown is that I didn’t get to wear most of my winter dresses. I normally wear linen dresses in hot weather, switching to jersey ones when it gets cooler, and woolen in winter. Last year I spent the winter working from home in fleeces and tracksuit bottoms (didn’t we all?)
Lovely selection, the only dress I wouldn’t wear is the Madewell one.
Margery says
That first amber print one almost pulls me back into a brown, AND a dress! It’s elegant and swishy and so pretty!
I’m most comfortable in pants now. I have 3 dresses for beach/poolside made of crinkle rayon that I still like and 1 very dressy sheath for summer weddings and parties but it hasn’t been worn in 3 years. Nothing in a winter dress anymore. It’s comfort. Sandals in summer work because they don’t press on sore spots but dressy closed shoes in winter tend to hurt.
Isha says
I love dresses, but didn’t wear them for ages due to my work as safety officer in a manufacturing environment. Now that I’m retired, I would love some nice ones, but cannot justify the costs. I’ll have to buy me some fabric…
That grey dress inspires me to look at the online fabric shops ?
SuzanneGabrielle says
When I worked in NYC, I wore dresses all summer long. So easy and much easier to manage the heat and humidity. Toss a sweater in the tote bag for air conditioning and done. Now that I live in SW Florida, I wear them all the time, especially in the steamier months. The Sohuman brown dress is beautiful and ticks all my boxes: mid length, v-neck and sleeves. I recently discovered a brand, Connected Apparel that makes these types of dresses and are reasonably priced. I bought 3 in the same style.