1 Dress, 5 Ways

Before I started blogging about plus size fashion, I would often hear comments such as, “I love the combo you have on today,” or “oh, I never thought of wearing a vest with a dress like that.” I never used to think much of it and would simply say, “thank you,” and then walk away with an extra spring in my step for the next hour or so. Then I realised that perhaps these comments was the universe speaking to me. The universe wanted me to do more with my ideas than just say ‘thank you’. So, today I am going take these comments as inspiration and give you a few very simple ideas of how you could possibly have 1 dress and style it 5 different ways with a few simple accessories or add on items of clothing and end up with 5 different looks.

To demonstrate these tips, I have a brand new [gifted] dress from ‘My Boutique Curves’ – the Olivia Dress in the ‘Island Life’ print. My Boutique Curves is an online company created from a gap in the market for stylish and affordable clothing for the curvier woman.

The first thing that grabbed my attention was the colours and the geometric shapes of the ‘Island Print’. They just popped and instantly made me feel bright and cheery. MBC have exclusive prints that have been designed in-house, which means you’ll be able to buy a piece of clothing from them and not see it everywhere you go.

The second thing that grabbed my attention about this dress was the high-low hem line. It allows the dress to float along and always seems to make the person wearing it appear graceful.

All clothing from MBC is loose fitting and is generally a larger fit to ensure you aren’t worried about something arriving at your doorstep that is too small. For example, in these photos I am wearing a Size 20. It is a larger fit on me, yet still looks good. I could possibly go down a size to a size 18 in this particular dress, but the floatiness may be compromised a little.

So let’s get back to the tips on how to style a dress like this.

Tip 1

The thing we tend to do the most with a dress or outfit is to just wear the dress on its own… and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Sometimes we do need to let the dress do the taking. On its own, just by design or by the type of fabric, it might be its own statement piece. If you feel a little bare or under dressed wearing the dress on its own, try accessorising it with jewellery, perhaps even tie a knot in the bottom corner of it.

Tip 2

Wear it with a vest. There are many different types of vests you could style it with. I have chosen to style it with a dark blue, denim vest from Rockmans a few seasons ago (Autograph currently have a vest that would work as well).

Tip 3

Try it with a blazer/jacket/bolero. The trick here is to pick a colour that brings out one of the colours in the print. This particular print has a red outline around the blue diamond. I have teamed it with a red blazer from the girls at The Birds Nest. I find this blazer very versatile and I wear it a lot during the cooler months. A jacket can also create a little more shape around the bust, yet still allow the floatiness around the bottom half.

Tip 4

Believe it or not, a belt can change the style of your dress, particularly with one that is typically larger size or a straight cut (like this one). Many people are scared of wearing a belt, but adding a belt can give you shape. If you are someone like me who has a waist, it shows it off. If you are someone without a waist, it can help to give you shape.

Tip 5

Why not try combining the belt with the vest or jacket? Wearing both these things can give you shape in both your top half and your waist at the same time.

Of course there may be many other ways you can style a dress such as this. There are no rules on how to do it. If there are, break them and find your own style! Most importantly, have fun with it! Finding your style should be fun. When you find it, I’d love you to share your photos or style tips in the comments below.

Happy styling, Sistas!