Dress Picks Archives - Page 8 of 9

5 Reasons to miss that summer sundress

09/01/2016 31 Comments

I’m going to miss my summer sundress. As someone who wears dresses basically every day of her life, year round, you go through your phases. Tonight I was invited to an online Lularoe party and opted for a dress with longer sleeves because I was picturing myself getting up in the morning in Spain in like January. I’ll put on my tights, favorite boots, maybe a scarf and definitely a jacket. The sundress days will be gone until next year. And I’ll admit it, there’s just something about sundress season that I long for each year.

Several months ago, my brother was in town and we went out for sushi. I was LOVING everything about my look. On a whim, I had ran my straightener through my super straight hair and created curls (perhaps it was the whole not having washed my hair that day thing). My pink lipstick and green jewelry were color coordinating with one of my favorite sundresses. The ensemble was simply easy and comfortable.

Why I’ll miss that summer sundress

5. I’ll miss the convenience

When you put on a sundress, 90% of your outfit is complete. Except for your shoes, everything else is basically optional. If you don’t feel like wearing earrings or you don’t think you have a necklace that matches, it’s all good.

In the winter, you have to find tights and a sweater. You have to make sure they go with the outfit. While I do enjoy that part of accessorizing, I will at times miss the simplicity of my summer sundress.

4. The accessibility

Okay, so I’m basically an open book when it comes to bodily functions. I mean, we all do it, right? Sundresses make for the easiest bathroom runs ever. You’re in, you’re out and you’re washing your hands maybe a minute later. When I’m out with friends at a restaurant or bar, I’m all for whatever will get me back to my group fast enough.

So basically … urination is my number four reason. Let’s be real here.

3. The breeze

Summer can get quite hot. However each summer I remind myself to be thankful that I’m not a woman in 1832 because those petticoats would have been terrible. I’ll gladly take my sundresses. I really do think they keep you cooler than shorts and a tank top. And depending on the material, you can stay quite cool.

2. They are incredibly easy to dress down

There are some dresses that just sit in my closet. I often feel like I can only wear them if I dress them up. However sundresses are the ultimate casual dress. Those black sandals that you see in these photos have been my go-to sandals all summer. I always like to buy one pair that goes with everything and wear them all summer.

If you want to put some heals with your sundress, you can also do that too. They can be dressed up or dressed down.

1. They can be as boldly colorful as possible … and white!

Sundresses come with no color restrictions. And I mean it’s not really that the other seasons have them, you just wear a lot less bold prints in January.

However in the summer, you can be as bold as you want. So thus … this dress. Enjoy!

Ladies are you going to miss your summer sundresses?

Today I’m linking up here:

Friday

Bright on a Budget, KT Cup of Tea, Della Devoted, The Closet by Christie, Life in Leggings, Style Elixir, Two Thirty-Five Designs, A little Bit of Everything, Liz Adventures, Hello Happiness, Nancy’s Fashion Style, Jeans & a Teacup, Claire Justine, Rachel the Hat, A Poketful of Polka Dots, Forage Fashion, Fashion Should be Fun, Sincerely Paula, Shelbee On the Edge, Birdie Shoots

Monday

Birth of a Fashion Blogger, Sincerely Jenna Marie, More Pieces of Me, Fizz and Frosting, Still Being Molly, Beauty by Miss L, Michelle’s Paige, Not Dressed as Lamb, Mahogany Closet, Color and Grace, and Not Dead Yet Style

Tuesday

Live Randomly Simple, Sandy a la mode, Two Peas in a Blog, I Do deClaire, The Fashion Canvass, Walking in Memphis in High Heels and Elegantly Dressed & Stylish

Wednesday

Jersey Girl Texan Heart, Shopping My Closet, Pumps and Pushups, The Pleated Poppy, Sydney Fashion Hunter, The Mummy Chronicles, Cappuccino and Fashion, Posh Classy Mom, Living on Cloud Nine

Thursday

Elegance and Mommyhood, Doused in Pink, Curly Crafty Mom, Jaymie Ashcraft

Dress Picks, travel, United States

Part 1: Portland and what we wore

08/24/2016 14 Comments

For those of you new to A World of Dresses, I spent about five days in Portland, Oregon, with one of my best friends last week. It was good to have a little vacation after a year of both good and bad. The year of 28 was definitely an interesting one for sure.

When traveling, you want to have some comfortable outfits. I call these my Portland outfits. My Portland outfits are a mixture of trendy yet cute. I’ve also included my friend Cece’s Portland outfits. I absolutely love personal style. Mine and Cece’s are both very unique in different ways. I packed a lot of dresses and she packed a lot of rompers. I wore sandals and she wore combat boots. All of our Portland outfits were uniquely us and comfortable.

Our Portland outfits

I packed light for this trip for several reasons. First, we were staying at the Portland Hawthorne Hostel. When staying in a hostel, you trade money for space. And honestly, who needs a lot of space when you’re out exploring a city each day? I did not want some big bag that I had to lug up two flights of stairs and store in a room I would share with five other people. A backpack was the perfect thing.

The second reason I took only a backpack is because of my mission to not give any more of my money to Spirit Airlines than necessary. Spirit Airlines is a low cost budget airline with amazingly cheap flight deals. We got both of our round trip tickets Chicago-Portland for something around $400. The catch is that they charge for everything. You pay to check a bag and you pay to carry a bag on. You even pay $10 if you need to print your boarding pass at the airport (what?!?). You pay for any food on board. We even joked that they’ll ask us to pay for our emotional baggage. You just never know.

There is a loophole, my friends. You are allowed one personal item free of charge. It has to be under the dimensions of 16 inches tall, 14 inches wide and 12 inches deep. I have this LLBean backpack from like high school that still functions well. It has all these compartments and fits those dimensions. It was perfect.

So I simply rolled up my Portland outfits and stuck them in. Everything fit quite nicely. When thinking about ideal Portland outfits, sundresses came to mind. So I picked three and packed them in.

The Old Navy Sundress

This is a new find from this past summer season that I was excited to wear. I love how simple it is and I love anything in the color green!

Outfit details

Dress: Old Navy
Necklace: Charming Charlie
Sunglasses: Sidestreet Gallery
Sandals: Target

One of Cece’s Portland outfits

It was hard to pick which outfit of hers I’d post first. They were all unique and dynamic … just like she is! This one from the first day, though, just seemed fitting. It’s the perfect example of mixing several things together so well … a fun t-shirt, boots, a skirt and some purple lipstick to top it all off!

Outfit details

T-shirt: Go browse your local Thrift Shop
Boots: similar
Skirt (can also be worn as a dress): similar

Those were a few of our outfits. What do you like to wear while traveling?

Also have you seen our latest all about our 5 Portland favorites? Check it out here!

I’m linking up here:

Wednesday

Jersey Girl Texan Heart, Shopping My Closet, Pumps and Pushups, The Pleated Poppy, Sydney Fashion Hunter, The Mummy Chronicles, Cappuccino and Fashion, Posh Classy Mom, Living on Cloud Nine

Thursday

Elegance and Mommyhood, Doused in Pink, Curly Crafty Mom, Jaymie Ashcraft

Friday

Two Thirty-Five Designs, Nancy’s Fashion Style, Jeans & a Teacup, Claire Justine, Rachel the Hat, A Poketful of Polka Dots, Forage Fashion, Fashion Should be Fun, Sincerely Paula, Birdie Shoots,Shelbee on the Edge

Dress Picks

My Easy Portland dress revisited

08/17/2016 41 Comments

Dress Picks

The Zulily Pineapple dress and why you need one

07/27/2016 36 Comments

This Zulily Pineapple dress was the perfect find. Zulily is a website where you can find all kinds of clothing and other neat things at a very affordable price. Several weeks back, I was just browsing through the dresses because that is my life and stumbled upon this pineapple dress. I thought it was adorably cute and looked super comfortable. Recently I’ve noticed that these sort of tank top dresses have become popular. I love it because I’m all about wearing dresses all the time. So today I’m showing you this more casual dress that you can pair with some sandals or chucks.

Several weeks ago, I met up with a new photographer friend named Paige. She was recommended to me by my good friend Kendra. She does a little photography here and there, and I thought it could be fun to work together. As some of you already know, I’m always down to collaborate whether it be with other bloggers, writers, creative types, small business owners, brands or what have you. That evening, we met up at Mt. Airy Forest in Cincinnati. I just love that park. You should check Paige’s Facebook page out here.

I met up with Paige in the evening close to sunset. On a whim, I curled my hair with my Irresistible Me Diamond flat iron. It’s so easy to use and creates that perfect beach wave look.

The perfect beach cover up

Several weekends ago, I went to my family reunion at Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. In fact, some of you may recall the blog post I wrote about that weekend. If not, you can read it here. Anyway, so we went boating on a pontoon boat that Saturday. I decided to wear this Zulily pineapple dress as a cover up. It was perfect!

You can rock that dress and chucks look … or that dress and heels look

One of our most popular posts is all about how to pair Chuck Taylors with dresses (read it here). Chuck Taylor shoes paired absolutely perfectly with this look!

I also paired them with my favorite heeled boots that slightly remind me of the 1930’s. I wore those things all winter.

The look

Dress: Zulily
Shoes: Chuck Taylors
Necklace: Charming Charlie (similar)

*This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own.*

Linking up here today:

Wednesday

Jersey Girl Texan Heart, Shopping My Closet, Pumps and Pushups, The Pleated Poppy, Sydney Fashion Hunter, The Mummy Chronicles, Cappuccino and Fashion, Posh Classy Mom, Living on Cloud Nine

Thursday

Elegance and Mommyhood, Doused in Pink, Curly Crafty Mom, Jaymie Ashcraft

Friday

Two Thirty-Five Designs, Nancy’s Fashion Style, Jeans & a Teacup, Claire Justine, Rachel the Hat, A Poketful of Polka Dots, Forage Fashion, Fashion Should be Fun, Sincerely Paula, Birdie Shoots, Shelbee on the Edge

Dress Picks

4 easy cocktail dresses from Kiyonna

07/20/2016 4 Comments

We all should have a good, easy cocktail dress or two in our closet. We never know when it will be needed. Perhaps work is requiring us to attend some fundraiser. Or perhaps you just got invited to an engagement party. It can be both fun and nerve-wracking to find a good cocktail dress. We want to make sure it is something we can wear again and again. Luckily, I’ve got you covered with 4 easy cocktail dress ideas. These types of dresses are great and can often be worn again and again.

I also love finding new places to buy my dresses. I also especially love finding new plus-sized dress options. While I am not plus-sized myself, I often hear my plus-sized friends complaining that there are not as many options out there. Or that the options they do find often look frumpy. And no one wants frumpy. That’s why I’m glad I stumbled upon Kiyonna, an online women’s clothing retailer specifically offering sizes 10-32. Here are 4 easy cocktail dress ideas as modeled by the lovely ladies of Kiyonna. Even if you’re not plus-sized, these types of dresses are ones to keep in mind when shopping for that perfect cocktail dress.

1. The wrap dress

A wrap dress looks so elegant. The best thing about a wrap dress is that it can double as a work dress. It works in both situations so well!

2. The lace dress

Lacey dresses are also perfect for dates. And we all need a good date night dress in our closet, right?

3. The elegant neckline dress

A dress with a becoming neckline is just perfect. It creates this elegant look and it’s also unique. I don’t know about you, but I love wearing things that not everyone else is wearing. These two dresses are bound to be the only two in the room.

4. The classic maxi

I love a good maxi. Like the wrap dresses, maxis are also perfect to wear to work. Here are a few I absolutely love.

Finding that perfect cocktail dress can be difficult. I hope this has provided you with some inspiration. Here are a few of my tried and true tips when looking for a good cocktail dress:

Buy it in your color. I mean that color you love and know you look great in!
Can you think of at least 5 accessories that already go with it?
Will it go with black or nude heels? If yes, perfect!
Will you be comfortable in it?

What do you want in a perfect cocktail dress?

*This post contains affiliate links*

Linking up here today:

Wednesday

Jersey Girl Texan Heart, Shopping My Closet, Pumps and Pushups, The Pleated Poppy, Sydney Fashion Hunter, The Mummy Chronicles, Cappuccino and Fashion, Posh Classy Mom, Living on Cloud Nine

Thursday

Elegance and Mommyhood, Doused in Pink, Curly Crafty Mom, Jaymie Ashcraft

Friday

Two Thirty-Five Designs, Nancy’s Fashion Style, Jeans & a Teacup, Claire Justine, Rachel the Hat, A Poketful of Polka Dots, Forage Fashion, Fashion Should be Fun, Sincerely Paula, Birdie Shoots, Shelbee on the Edge

Dress Picks

5 reasons you need a little blue dress

05/17/2016 4 Comments

Everyone talks about the little black dress. Every woman should have one, they say. Confession: I have like six. Perhaps that’ll be a post I create later. But what about your little blue dress? Blue has always been one of my favorite colors. I simply love blue. So here are my reasons why you hands down, absolutely must have a little blue dress in your closet.

*Note that this post contains a few affiliate links. All that means is that if you like and purchase, I get a small commission which goes into more fabulous creation of this blog!*

5. Who does it look bad on?

We all have colors that are just not “us.” Perhaps yellow washes us out or pink just looks too faded. Not blue. The amazing thing about blue is all of the wonderful shades. With light, dark and everything in between, blue is bound to look good on you!

4. What color looks bad with it?

The answer to this question is all of them. They all look AMAZING with blue. The only thing I shy away from is dark blue tops with light blue jeans. That is the exception and I’m sure someone, somewhere has made that work. When styling your little blue dress, here are some color options to consider:

Black
Brown
Nude
Red
Green
Yellow
Pink
Gold

Hot pink shades? Check! Gold earrings? Check! Black, comfy sandals? Check!

3. What accessory struggle will you have?

None! A simple little blue dress provides you with so much canvass, if you will. You can bust out that statement necklace or bold shoes. It’s your “go-for-it” dress!

With this outfit, I opted for my Perry Street statement necklace I kept from a Rocksbox several months ago.

Here’s another example of some accessorizing with another little blue dress of mine. This was from a post I wrote several weeks ago on how to style a navy dress. Click here to read the full post.

2. Why would you not wear it all the time?

You know those pieces we all have in our closet. We thought that one sweater looked cute but never wore it because the print was too bold. Or those earrings we loved but ended up matching with none of our wardrobe? That is simply not the case with our friend the little blue dress. I promise you that it will go with everything and be oh so wonderful. I personally wear both my little blue dresses all the time.

1. Why would you not want another dress?

The number one reason to buy a new dress is to have another one in your closet. Duh. That is always the best reason and probably the reason your significant other will love. Just kidding …

Here are a few little blue dress picks for you:

Linking up with these ladies today:

Jersey Girl Texan Heart, Shopping My Closet, Pumps and Pushups, The Pleated Poppy, Sydney Fashion Hunter, The Mummy Chronicles, Cappuccino and Fashion, Posh Classy Mom, The Red Closet Diary and Twenties Girl Style

Thursday

Elegance and Mommyhood, Doused in Pink, Curly Crafty Mom

Dress Picks

2 maxi dresses worn two ways

05/15/2016 18 Comments

Maxi dresses are one of those things that grew on me. I’ll admit that when they first became popular again, I was hesitant. Perhaps I was unsure of floor-length dresses in everyday life? Perhaps I was worried that as a tall girl, they’d end up far too short on me. Whatever it was, I kept away for close to two years.

Last Spring, I was planning for a move to Nicaragua. What I knew about where I was going was that women don’t wear shorts. When traveling, I always want to do what is culturally appropriate. Nothing says American tourist more than someone who does not do a little Internet research before visiting a new place. You’re in their land and you should always show some respect.

I knew Nicaragua would be very hot with little to no air conditioning. A maxi dress seemed like the perfect thing. You really cannot offend anyone in a floor-length dress. Furthermore a dress would allow for more breeze than some hot, stuffy pair of jeans would. So I stocked up on a few maxi dresses and skirts. This dress was a part of the collection.

Also you should check out my Pinterest board all about maxis. It’s another great place for some maxi dress inspiration.

My maxi

Dress: Target (similar)

Amber’s maxi

This was from a photoshoot we did several months back. Amber bought this dress for Easter Sunday. It really is perfect for that!

I also just love her belted look. She pulled that deep hue right out of the dress with that cardigan. The entire ensemble is complete with her necklace.

Maxi picks

Here are a few maxi dress picks I found perfect for this season. The great thing about a maxi dress is that you can save or splurge.

Under $25

Under $30

Splurge

Thanks for reading along!

Also linking up with these ladies today:

Monday

Birth of a Fashion Blogger, Sincerely Jenna Marie, More Pieces of Me, Fizz and Frosting, Still Being Molly, Beauty by Miss L, Michelle’s Paige, Not Dressed as Lamb and Not Dead Yet Style

Tuesday

Live Randomly Simple, Sandy a la mode, Two Peas in a Blog, I Do deClaire, The Fashion Canvass, Walking in Memphis in High Heels and Elegantly Dressed & Stylish

Wednesday

Jersey Girl Texan Heart, Shopping My Closet, Pumps and Pushups, The Pleated Poppy, Sydney Fashion Hunter, The Mummy Chronicles, Cappuccino and Fashion, Posh Classy Mom, The Red Closet Diary and Twenties Girl Style

Thursday

Elegance and Mommyhood, Doused in Pink, Curly Crafty Mom

Dress Picks, H54F

The 5 most versatile dresses for vacation

05/05/2016 11 Comments

I leave for vacation Saturday and I am excited. I’m headed down to Indian Rocks Beach, Florida for four days/five nights with my family. I think with all that has been going on in my life, it has not hit me yet that I will soon be on vacation. I’ll soon be at a beachfront condo swimming in the ocean.

Packing is always a daunting task, especially as someone who has so many dresses. When I think the beach, I think sundress. When you have maybe 10-15 of them, it can become daunting. So I decided to share with you the five dresses I chose and why.

OH! And have you seen our printable, free guide to packing light and fabulous? I just compiled a few things that help me focus when packing. Get your’s here.

Alright, so back to the dresses …

1. The black floral dress

This has been one of my favorites for a long time. I bought it at Kismet OTR’s sister shop Pangea several years ago for a wedding. I have gotten more use out of it than I ever expected.

I’m bringing this dress because I love it. Also, both of my main sandals go with it and it’s black. It’s incredibly important to bring things that you can match easily. After all on vacation, you don’t have your entire closet with you.

2. The simple navy dress

I have a lot of royal reds in my wardrobe. This navy pairs great with it.

3. The maxi

It’s not a beach trip without a breezy maxi dress.

4. My favorite

Winter, Spring, Summer and fall are when I wear this dress. It is my favorite and I cannot get enough out of it. Several months back I wore it on my How I Style It: First Date Looks post. I’m excited to wear it on the beach.

5. My other navy dress

I’m so ready for this dress. It’s very comfortable.

I’ll have my camera with me ready for some photos. I cannot wait to show you all in future posts!

Also today I’m linking up with these ladies:

Bright on a Budget, KT Cup of Tea, Della Devoted, The Closet by Christie, Life in Leggings,Style Elixir, Two Thirty-Five Designs, A little Bit of Everything, Liz Adventures, Hello Happiness,

Dress Picks

The dresses of Sara’s wedding

04/12/2016 1 Comment

Last weekend, I was in a wedding. If you follow me on Instagram, though, this may be old news to you. My rehearsal dinner look was one of my favorites and I could not just not post it. So I did.

Over the weekend, I snapped photos of myself and other women in dresses. Here are a few of my favorites.

Beth, my new bestie

Don’t you just love it when you click with a person? The guy Sara married has a pretty awesome sister and she was a bridesmaid. It’s so neat when you have family members in your wedding because you want to, not just because you’re obligated too. Sure, you’re supposed to have the groom’s sister in your bridal party. However I think Sara asked her also because she’s been such a wonderful and welcoming person.

sara dress

Her lovely rehearsal dinner look.

sara dress

Bridesmaid time!

Beth kept joking that as Sara’s sister, she was going to start stealing her things. She decided she was starting with me.

My looks

I wore so many dresses this past weekend. Here are the important ones: day of and rehearsal diner.

sara dress

The dress

sara dress

Jersey Girl Texan Heart, Pleated Poppy, Pumps and Pushups, Walking in Memphis in High Heels, Sydney Fashion Hunter, Shopping My Closet, Elegance and Mommyhood, Doused in Pink, Curly Crafty Mom, Birth of a Fashion Blogger

Dress Picks, H54F

The 5 dresses we wore in Florida

04/01/2016 10 Comments

The Florida dress is a special dress. Last weekend, I had a small girls trip to Jacksonville Beach, Florida. It was not long enough in all honesty. However a good getaway in the sun was just what I needed. It was exciting to look through my closet and pick out the dresses I’d wear. Most if not all of what I took with me were dresses I had packed away for the winter. While it was still a tad cold in Cincinnati, packing my sundresses excited me. I was ready.

I was not the only person ready for some sun, beach and relaxation. My two close friends Kayleigh and Isabelle came with me. I told them to bring their dresses as I’d have my camera out and ready. We took pictures … lots of them. How could you not with the beach and palm trees? So this post is dedicated to our five Florida dresses.

1. The Simple Sundress

And if you follow me on Instagram (which you should go do right now if you don’t), you saw this gem.

Florida dress — Dress: Three Pink Hearts; Shoes: Charlotte Russe

I found the dress at a consignment shop in the fall. It’s so very comfy.

Here are a few simple sundresses I enjoy:

2. That blue dress

Ladies and gentlemen, this is my best friend Kayleigh. She’s a 26-year-old graduate student and middle school Spanish teacher living in Charleston, South Carolina. We’ve been friends for 12 years.

This is the perfect representation of our friendship. Ridiculous things always happen.

Kayleigh is wearing a classic pop-over dress. Here are a few of my favorite pop-over dresses from the season:

3. The breezy maxi

This dress is one of my favorite’s. The material is nice and breathes easily. Here’s a Modcloth favorite of mine:

4. The night out dress

Because when you’re on vacation, you go out.

This is Isabelle. Isabelle and I met through Kayleigh almost five years ago when we were both living in Washington DC. Isabelle had just moved to town and Kayleigh gave me her number because she needed friends, she said. Kayleigh and Isabelle were sorority sisters. Well we did become friends and now we all took a trip to Florida together.

5. THIS outfit

Okay I’m going to break my own rules and talk about a skirt. Izzy’s outfit was just too cute. Our brunch place had a nice mural that we had some fun with.