Marvelous Maxis - The Dress Edition - Week 4

If you are just joining me on the blog, this is week four of my Marvelous Maxis series, where I am looking at various maxi dresses and how to style them. The first week I styled a dress with a fun fluttery bohemian vibe (Week 1), the second week revolved around a comfortable blue and red number (Week 2), and last week I wore my Christopher and Banks dress with a columnar skirt (Week 3). You can click on each of the weeks to view the other posts. 

This week's post returns to a simpler maxi dress with a tank top bodice and straight skirt. This is a tee shirt type knit which pulls on and off just as easily. The waist is gathered elastic. This dress has no bells or whistles and most often I would not pull this out if I wanted to get dressed up. This simple black number says beach and lounge wear all over it. Of course that made me curious to see if I could actually dress it up.

I really have no idea what I am doing with my face. Just being goofy, I guess. Now that I am looking at this, I wish I would have tied the gray shrug higher up on my waist. The dress is more baggy by nature, so leaving the shrug more baggy, just makes the whole outfit look frumpy. There's that word again! Ha, ha.

Yes, my little photo bomber was still around for these photos, since these were all shot on the same day. To dress this up, I put on the gray, sheer shrug. I added some jewelry with bling, a sparkly clutch and my flat, thong sandals with sparkles. 

A simple black maxi like this could be a versatile piece to have in your wardrobe, but as I talked about last week finding a dress that fits well and looks good on you is worth paying a little extra for. I may try to make a few adjustments on this dress to make it more wearable. I feel that it is too long and I had some issues with the top being to loose and bulging in a few places. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this outfit. Leave me your ideas on how to style a maxi dress like this.

Thanks for stopping by the blog. Have a great day!

Photo credit Rebecca Trumbull. Make up Rachel Christensen. 

Marvelous Maxis - Wearable White

White has long been a summer staple for many women. I can remember when I was a girl, going shopping with my mom before Easter to get a new pair of white church shoes. Back then, we didn't wear white until after Memorial Day, with the exception of Easter Sunday. White is now a year long embraceable color. Spring, summer, winter and fall are all appropriate seasons for wearing white. In the warmer months our white clothing will usually gravitate to capris, shorts and lighter weight tanks and sleeveless tops. I have also found white skirts are a fun item to have in your wardrobe. 

Today's skirt is St. John's Bay brand from JC Penney. They currently do not have a white maxi version, but they do have a knee length version here. 

Look 1 - Casual

I topped the white skirt with a simple orange and white striped tee that I found at a thrift store. I like the bright color of this tee. 

I added my antler and bead necklace from Cabelas and a bracelet that matched. It's funny how sometimes you can buy two separate pieces of jewelry, at two different places, at two different times and end up having them look great together. 

To keep the look ultra casual I wore my black flat espadrilles. These are Easy Spirit brand and have a nice cushy insole. Here is a very cute low wedge version. Espadrilles are a great shoe for summer as they are usually made of canvas, which keeps your feet from getting too hot. They also look cute with just about everything.

Look 2 - Dressier

I didn't dress this outfit up as, much because I wanted to show you that making only a few little changes can make a casual outfit look a bit more dressy. 

I kept the same tee, but topped it with a Joe Fresh navy eyelet jacket from JC Penney. Penneys no longer carries Joe Fresh, but they have their own website. Here is a cute version from Old Pueblo Traders. 

You can see I also kept the same bag. This roomy top handle bag is from shopping a friend's closet. It is an Aldo brand bag and is well constructed with a burlap looking body and tan leather trim and handles. 

I swapped out my antler and bead jewelry for a few orange beaded bracelets and a bird pendant, with a gold chain and pretty faux rhinestones. 

I also swapped out my flat espadrilles for my Croft and Barrow Ortholite sandals. These are very comfortable, look stylish and come in two other colors. You can see them here. 

Here are the two outfits side by side.

Do you own a white maxi skirt? How do you style it? Do you wear it all year round or just in the summer? I actually could see wearing this skirt with a heavy sweater and boots in the colder weather, so I may just have to try that. I'd love to hear your input in the comments section below. 

Check back Thursday for a colorful outfit on my Color Crash Course column.

Photo credit Rebecca Trumbull. Make up Rachel Christensen.

This post contains affiliate links. All opinion are my own. 

Linking up with Catherine of Not Dressed as Lamb, Nicole of High Latitude Style,