Summer Outfit - Faux Lace Dress - Casual

I honestly wasn’t sure how to style this faux lace dress in a casual way, so I started by thinking what makes an outfit more casual. We usually associate certain shoes, bags and accessories as being either more casual or more dressy. There is also the option of adding other pieces to make a look more casual, like I did in my geometric maxi dress post, where I simply slipped on a graphic tee, to bring the look down to a more casual level. I also used more casual accessories like the straw bag and hat. I followed the same formula for this outfit.

I was sort of going for an artsy-writer look with this outfit…whatever that is. Ha, ha, ha. I was thinking if I wore this dress to a coffee shop to work on writing, rather than a night out to a show, what would I do differently? First off, I added my oversized, thrifted, pinstripe Izod button up, as a light weight jacket, for any air conditioning a coffee shop might offer.

This shirt is a very pale purple color and has gray pinstripes. To jazz up the outfit with a little more color I pulled out this cute fish scarf, but instead of putting it around my neck, I tied it to my bag. I thought the purple and green in the scarf pulled the outfit together.

The purple bead pendant goes so well with the purple in the shirt and the scarf. It also gives the outfit an added casual, boho feel. To keep that casual boho vibe going I thought the multiple strand green wrap bracelet a good choice.

This slouchy, thrifted, American Eagle hobo bag has made an appearance multiple times on the blog. It is good to have a few pieces in your bag arsenal that lean completely towards casual or dressy. It makes getting dressed so much easier. This hobo bag does just that and is a go to, if I want to make an outfit look dressed down.

Shoes are another thing that will either elevate or make an outfit more casual. I love these suede oxfords that I found on clearance a number of years ago at DSW. If I could have found them in multiple colors, I would have bought them all. I would love to have a pair in blue, green, red, brown…you get the idea. The thing I like about them, is they feel a tad tight when I put them on, but after having them on they are so comfortable. They are Naya brand.

What do you think of this outfit? Not every piece in your wardrobe will necessarily translate into a more dressy or more casual look, but I wanted to show you there are ways to think outside the box when it comes to your clothes. It not only gives you more outfit options, but enables you to get more wear out of each piece.

These pictures were taken at the Toledo Botanical Gardens by Rebecca Trumbull.

Here are the two outfits side by side. Which one do you like better?

I’ve included a few shopping links just for fun. These are affiliate links. When you click on a link, I get a few cents. I appreciate every click! All opinions are my own.

Thanks for following along on the blog. It wouldn’t be any fun, if it weren’t for you, my faithful followers. If there is ever anything you would like me to cover on the blog, either in the area of fashion or faith, please feel free to make a suggestion in the comments below, or on Facebook. You can also shoot me an email.

I won’t be posting on the blog next week as I am going to visit my mom and won’t have internet, but I’ll still post some outfits and what I am doing on Instagram, so you can follow me over there. Have a wonderful weekend.

Summer Outfit - Faux Lace Dress - Dressy

This week my summer outfit piece is a dress I bought at Kohl’s a while back on the clearance rack. I’ve had it hanging in my closet for a couple of years, I’d say, and it was time to either wear it or get rid of it. I hadn’t even taken the tags off. I’m sort of silly that way. Do you ever buy things and then they hang in your closet and you forget you even had them? I think I get into that dilemma, when I buy things on clearance at the end of a season, then I put them away, because a new season has started and I forget all about them until they are unearthed like some sort of ancient treasure.

This AB Studio dress is really nothing more than a fancy t-shirt dress with a lace pattern on it. It has a zippered back, but I can easily slip it over my head without even undoing the zipper. The other lovely thing about this dress is that it has deep side pockets which aren’t visible at all. I typically would not wear a dress this short, but I thought I would push myself outside my own box. Originally, I thought the dress would be cute with leggings and boots in the colder months. I need to try that too. I decided to wear black hose to cover my veiny legs and to give the outfit a leaner, longer look.

I chose a few pieces of jewelry that I wore to my oldest daughter’s wedding a few years ago. I also used my blingy, silver clutch to make the outfit look more dressy.

I thought my black Clark peep toe shoeties finished out the outfit perfectly, though you could have done black heeled sandals or even a heeled ankle boot.

My post wouldn’t be complete without a silly picture of me. I hope these bring a smile to your faces, because we all need things to keep us smiling these days. In reality, I was trying to adjust my glasses which tend, not only to slide down my nose, but also to be lower on one side than the other. Ha, ha. However, I think this is my stereotypical “librarian” face. Now, we all know that most librarians are very friendly and helpful, but for some reason all the old movies and shows always made them out to be older women with an attitude.

What length of dress do you like to wear? Do you like t-shirt dresses? I love to hear your thoughts.

I’ve included a few shopping links. These are affiliate links. All opinions are my own.

Photo credit Rebecca Trumbull.