Five Ways to Wear a Summer Dress

Once the weather gets warm, summer dresses basically become my wardrobe staples.  They’re cool, easy and, with just a few tweaks, can be worn all the time, no matter what I am doing.  In today’s One Item, Five Fashionable Ways I am going to show you all the ways you can wear a summer dress.  Oh the places you will go with just one dress.

It’s normal to have a variety of summer dresses in your closet.  Obviously, if the dress is your summer staple you will need several.  However, I suggest having a few simple, solid dresses that you can easily change up.  To get the most from these versatile dresses, I suggest they be in a solid color, an easy fabric, like a jersey knit, without a lot of details or trimmings.  Imagine this versatile summer dress like the little black dress version of casual, the more basic it is the more you can do with it.

While the casual summer dress that you’d wear to do errands may not be the summer dress that you would wear to work, how I wear these types of versatile dresses is I cycle them down.  When first purchased, I wear them in a more dressier manner and then, as the summer wears one they get downgraded.  Or, alternatively, a dress that I wore in a more dressy manner the summer before gets taken out the next summer for more casual tasks.

Five ways to wear a summer dress

Here are five outfits using this one cobalt blue dress from Modcloth showing how, no matter what your summer plans will include, you can wear it.

Outfit #1- Casual daytime plans

Have brunch plans, a day shopping with friends or maybe some time at the park with the kids? A dress like this can be easy like Sunday morning without sacrificing style when styled with a comfortable pair of Birkenstock Gizehs in bright yellow, a LeSportsac crossbody bag and a pair of colorful earrings from Blu Bijoux that pick up all the colors in the outfit.Outfit #2- A Summer Evening

To change up the dress for something a bit more dressier, like a summer night out, a party or a date, for example, all it takes is a change of accessories.  Here I added a pair of coral wedges, a conversational beach scene handbag, coral and turquoise earrings from Flying Lizard and a turquoise bracelet.

Outfit #3- Summer Office

With the right pieces, this dress can go to work, if you work in a dress-casual work environment or have a relaxed dress code in the summer.  This dress gets “professionalized” with a white and navy polka dot blazer from Boden, flat slingbacks in striped coral, a coral handbag from Franco Sarto and tonal blue professional earrings from Banana Republic.Outfit #4- On Vacation

Not only does a dress like this pack well in a suitcase for a summer vacation but it is perfect for a warm weather destination.  Here the dress is styled with a pair of flat sandals in blue and yellow from Anthropologie, a straw bag, a blue leather strap bracelet and bold yellow earrings from Stella & Dot.  Add a straw hat and some sunblock to this dress and you’re ready to bon voyage.

Outfit #5- Super Casual

Even if your day is spent running errands you can still wear a casual dress.  A dress like this can be super casual and feels like nothing on a hot day.  Here, I styled it with a reusable shopping bag (for those errands) from Envirosax, a pair of Fit Flops, the most comfortable casual flip flops EVER, in versatile gold, and a white denim jacket from Mango.  If you want to add a little bit of punch, this pink bracelet from Stella & Dot can be added.

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