Over the past two years I’ve experienced a shift in personal style, away from my uniform of black jeans and cream sweaters and towards vintage silhouettes and classic pieces. The deeper I dive into this new style of mine, the more I find myself gravitating towards dresses. They’re by far the clothing item I get most excited about, and the rail where my dresses hang is always the first section of the closet I look through when I slide open the doors in the morning. I honestly think I could wear a dress every day of my life.
For a while I’d stop myself from doing just that, and try to put together two-or-more-piece outfits instead in an attempt at not “dressing too boringly”. For some reason I’ve always felt a pressure to have a lot of variation in my wardrobe (and a resistance towards it, but that’s a story for another day), and I’ve had this notion in the back of my mind that a one-piece outfit isn’t exciting enough. Nothing could be farther from the truth, though. Recently I finally caved and decided to allow myself to wear dresses whenever I want, no matter if it’s repetitive. This of course resulted in me wearing dresses most of the time, and I absolutely love it. Here’s why!
It’s An Outfit
There are days when I greatly enjoy standing in front of my closet and putting together the perfect outfit for the day; choosing a top and bottom and second layer, and matching them with accessories to create a new and exciting combination. Most days however, I don’t. I feel like I’m not very good at forming creative outfits and trying to do so is a tiny source of stress early on in the day that I simply deem unnecessary. Whenever I do put together a good outfit, I tend to fall in love and just repeat that outfit endlessly. I like the comfort of having several limited but fail-proof options in my wardrobe to choose from, and that’s where dresses come in.
A dress is a fully formed outfit in and of itself. Aside from matching shoes, and some accessories if you like, a dress doesn’t require anything to be complete and wearable. +10 points for time saving!
It’s Flattering
I have found dresses to be the most flattering item of clothing for my body type, and most body types for that matter. Not all dresses will work for everybody of course, but the clothes that I deem most flattering on myself do all happen to be dresses. I prefer when the area between my diaphragm and waist is defined, and then there’s volume directly below. Fit and flare is my jam! The typical vintage-type swing dress meets those requirements, as does the simple wrap-dress with a more voluminous skirt. Whenever I pull out one of those dresses, I feel good about the way my body looks.
It’s Comfortable
Whoever said jeans were more comfortable than skirts must not have grown up wearing low-rise skinny jeans. My go-to loungewear is a good, wide, below-the-knee skirt. So much freedom of movement! So much healthy blood flow! So much coverage of the parts you don’t want the world to see, even when you’re sitting on the floor cross-legged! A well-fitting dress is super comfortable to wear, and just as practical as any other type of clothing in most day to day situations. That’s what I’ve found in my life, in any case. And yes, you can cycle in them :)
Also, an added bonus in the comfort department… I often tend to get bloated towards the end of the day and I’ve found dresses and skirts generally provide much more room for an expanding belly. Life hack!
It’s Feminine
The dress, in varying forms, is the oldest artice of female clothing and has been refined and perfected for centuries. I feel like most people would choose a dress when going for a highly feminine look, and I do enjoy dressing that way myself. Actually, I don’t recall any time in my life where I didn’t want to dress like a princess on the daily, haha! It makes me feel like me.
It Works In All Seasons
A dress is very easy to layer up if you need to dress warmer. Add one or several pairs of tights, underskirts, a thermal camisole or shirt, woolen socks, a sweater or cardigan on top…
And when it’s warm, a dress is a wonderfully airy item of clothing that breathes, flows and twirls. Choose the right materials and you’ll be able to rock dresses year-round, no matter the climate.
It’s Easy To Make
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’ve really gotten into sewing lately. The vast majority of what I’ve made so far have been dresses, and that’s partially because they’re so easy to make. A simple dress can be done in a day or two, made perfectly to size.
Dresses are also really fun to make, as they pack a punch in the “quick results” department. You’ll have made an entire outfit once you finish a dress, which is so satisfying.
I agree so much on dresses being more comfortable than jeans. I also prefer wearing dresses, but skirts as well. Since I’m very short (1,54 m), I tend to go for above the knee length skater skirts or dresses and I feel like they are very flattering for my size and silhouette.
I’ve also worn a dress when going hiking. Obviously not on a long and difficult hike, but it’s definitely doable. With hiker boots, trekking poles and some gym shorts under the dress, it’s actually quite comfortable in summer.
Absolutely! I made the decision in 2013 or so to switch to dresses and skirts and haven’t looked back since. I feel so much better about the way I look in a dress and as an added bonus it always looks like I have taken great effort to dress myself flatteringly when all I have done is thrown on a dress. Wearing dresses also seems to have a positive effect on other people and very often people compliment my outfit, which is much better compliment than compliment on my looks since I have a measure of control over how I look, and it feels nice to have people complimenting my taste. I could never go back to jeans again.
P.S I have been enjoying watching your sewing videos lately and perhaps sooner or later I might take time to learn to sew some dresses myself.
I couldn’t do dresses only, but skirts and dresses all the time would be great. I like a lot of variety which with dresses would involve me buying A LOT of dresses
I really wish I could! Especially because I’m at home all the time (I work from home as a nail artist and my biggest dream is to be a mum/stay at home mum), the things I do aren’t restricted by dresses. But I’m plus size and find it so hard to find dresses in my size or that aren’t super expensive (and I always want sleeves). I also struggle to wear skirts because it seems most of the time you need to tuck your top into the skirt (wearing a top over a skirt makes me feel like I’m in primary school or really frumpy lol) but having an apple shape that really isn’t appealing, it just pronounces my tummy. I like A-line/where it flares out under the bust to conceal my middle. I’ve recently started to learn how to sew a dress from a pattern so hopefully I can gradually get enough skill to make my own wardrobe (I really admire how you can sew without a pattern! That seems super scary to me haha, I struggle to understand how the fabric becomes a 3d shape etc) especially because I’m interested in building an ethical wardrobe and I love natural fabrics. I adore really feminine things and styles (I’ve always said I’d wear dresses every day if I could!) but I feel forced to dress very basic and practical (leggings, jeggings, basic tops, Tshirts and jumpers) because of my size.
I long for the day where I can choose clothes based on the style first rather than have to scan first for the size number on the hanger and then see what the clothing actually is. My clothes aren’t ‘me’ and don’t express how I feel inside/my inner image :( Also being larger my thighs rub together so I always need to wear stockings or legging shorts under dresses to stop that/make it comfortable, and somehow I get annoyed to wear stockings at home (they feel like an effort to get on and my two fluffy long hair cats mean they get covered in hair so quickly lol), and I worry the legging shorts sometimes add bulk around the waist area/dress won’t sit well.
On the odd occasion I do get to wear a dress, usually for a formal event, I absolutely love how it makes me feel, so in my element! I’ve been losing weight (30kg down but around another 25kg to go) so hopefully I can find or make more dresses to suit me soon, or get to wear skirts and tops.
All of this, yes! I have not worn trousers (except when doing diy work around the house) since 2000 or so. Especially jeans were always so difficult – I have ample bum and hips but a fairly slim waist, and I could never find trousers that fit everywhere. I do also love a good skirt/top combo, but yes, dresses is where it’s at! I drafted my own sleeveless bodice a little while back and I’ve already made three dresses with different skirts with it :D
I agree – I’ll even wear dresses camping sometimes! I would also love an article or video on how to keep warm in a dress in the winter while still looking cute. Like what kinds of underskirts do you wear, and how do you keep them from getting all tangled up and sticking to your tights when you walk? Thank you! :)
I made a video like that last winter! https://youtu.be/hcCpXu35Qxo :)
Thank you! 😊
I can agree in many points. I recently discovered that wirh skirts and dresses being long and flowy enough they can even be handy as lounge wear.
My problem is that I don’t like the exact same silhouette everyday, so sometimes I want something more flowy on the top and something more fitting on the bottom, then pants and jeans are usually more comfortable then skirts, because you can not bend over or sit down as easily and free as wished.
Thank you :)
Alina ;)