Glad Day, Plaid Day: How to Wear a Shirt Dress

    The shirt dress is the epitome of domestic elegance.  It is the love child of Practical and Beautiful.      It doesn't matter if I'm chopping up dinner or scrubbing dishes, I feel pretty polished.  And, if I need to transition from household duties to going out and running errands, I simply pair it with black flats and "diamond" earrings.  

    I have a two solid print shirt dresses, but I was hoping for one with great plaid print, three-quarter sleeves, and of course, pockets, like this Anthropologie Dress by Reed.

    Unfortunately, even though this dress hit the stores quite a while ago, it is still highly sought after and usually carries a $100 price tag.   It seemed like it wasn't meant to be until one day I saw a dress quite similar at my local thrift shop for about $5.  It has all the features I was hoping for at just the right price.  

    Lest you think that shirt dresses are just for around the house, I've styled this dress three ways to demonstrate the versatility of the style and a multi color print.  

Dress it up with heels, or dress it down with flats and of course a great purse and earrings improve any outfit.

To go a little bolder, choose the brightest color and then add a large accent piece in that color.  For this dress it is a very warm red.  This dress has a summer palette of red, white, and blue, but by making the main color this lovely warm red, it now seems perfect for autumn, or with some tights, this dress is now warms up a gray, winter day.  I choose a light brown for my purse and flats instead of black to add extra layer of warmth to the palette.  

The last look is a little more business with a belt around the cardigan and black peep toe heels.  Notice how switching to mostly black or navy accents really cools down the colors and brings more emphasis to the lavender blue shade in the print. 

 

I hope these looks have inspired you to try something new with your old shirt dress or to try a shirt dress if you've never had one.  Send me pics of your outfit ideas and I may use them in a future post!