9 ways to wear a dress

A dress is an instant outfit. You throw it on, add some shoes and walk out the door. This sounds wonderful, but sometimes, you want to change it up. You can only wear the same dress so many times before it seems boring and repetitive. I'm going to show you several ways to wear this wardrobe staple: the dress.

1) The dress alone

Here is a pic of me in the dress, all by its lonesome. Here I am in Spain dancing with the mural's senoritas (or senoras).

The dress is a swing dress that I got from Loft. Swing dresses don't have much shape on their own, which is great for traveling. You can eat and drink all you want, and no one will know! The shape of this dress is perfect for this post to show you how adding layers will work to give the dress some shape.

2) The dress with a button down shirt

Here, I layered a button-down shirt over the dress! I button the shirt about halfway up and then tie the shirt tails right at the smallest part of my waist.

It's a little windy in this picture, but tying this button-down over the dress creates a hourglass silhouette using a normally billowy dress.

"This is a perfect spring outfit for my job; to show you a complete outfit as I would wear it, I added the espadrilles and the chunky necklace."

3) The dress with denim and boots

I'm a Oklahoma girl at heart, and although I've moved away, the state is still in my soul. So if I can pair a dress with some distressed boots, I'll do it.

This dress's easy shape means it will pair well with any jacket or layering piece, as you'll see in some of the pictures below.

This outfit is perfect for the farmer's market, a country music festival, or a day trip. To me, there is nothing more comfortable to walk around in than a dress and boots. Maybe that's just the Oklahoma talking... (haha)

4) The dress with a blazer and heels

This blazer pairs with the dress for a day at the office. The necklace that I'm wearing in each of the pictures is just that simple pop of color to create some interest.

"A blazer is great for most dress shapes. Since this is a swing dress, the blazer slims the dress down to create that #hourglassillusion. Wearing a blazer with a shift dress, for instance, is a very corporate look but the outfit in this picture could be worn outside of work and no one would bat an eye."

5) The dress with a duster and boots

After the trip to Spain, I had this dress tailored to shorten it a little and make it more versatile. I wanted to wear it with over-the-knee boots.

So here it is with my boots and a big, cozy sweater. Meet my #winterwardrobe essentials. Yes, I wear the same dress in the summer and winter. Why not?! Normally, in the winter, I'm wearing tights, too. I've got some cute Kate Spade polka dot tights that bring this whole outfit together. Very #hygge!

6) The dress with a leather jacket and heels

Whatever looks good with a blazer or cardigan almost always looks good with a leather jacket, and it adds instant edge. I look much more like a librarian than a rock star, but wearing this jacket always makes me feel cooler than I am.

When shopping for a leather jacket, I look for a color that will pair well with shoes I already own, to avoid breaking the bank.

Here, the jacket creates that hourglass illusion we talked about above, which is a miraculous thing with a swing dress.

7) T-shirt and lace-up flats

One of my go-to #styletricks is to tie a t-shirt at my natural waist to create shape. This black striped t-shirt is one of my favorites for that purpose. It's a stretchy ribbed material, which means it never loses its shape - when I untie it at the end of the day, it goes right back to being a normal t-shirt.

By pairing it with this dress, the dress acts as a skirt. The statement necklace pops off the black, and the printed lace-up flats just add more dimension. These flats are not solid black, which actually makes them more versatile.

8) The dress with a duster and boots

I know, I know - I already showed you something like this. (But if you can't tell, I'm obsessed with boots and dusters.) But what I want to talk about here is the dress's color --

"This rich teal color is really easy to wear with lots of different colors: so far, I've paired it with white, navy, black, tan, denim (is that a color? ha) and the light blue in the necklace. Not to mention that a color like this - a jewel tone - looks good on everybody!"

9) The dress with denim and sneakers

I wanted to bring this post full circle: it started with the dress and sneakers in Spain and ends with the dress and sneakers in New Jersey.

This dress is a jersey knit, which makes it ideal for traveling and everyday wear. The material is not too hot or clingy, but it can layered for easy options while traveling. It you roll it (instead of fold it) in your suitcase, it won't wrinkle.

I didn't show the dress with a cardigan sweater, but that's another great option! I suggest a cardigan with a print or a color that pops against this teal to add an interesting element. Also, I often layer my dresses over another shirt (often a button-down). Check out my post on the different ways to wear a button-down shirt to see how I do that!

I'd love to hear from you about how you like to wear your dresses!