Ask Angie: (and everyone else too!) Dressing mixed media dress up and down

I need to attend a wedding in a few weeks so I decided it as an excuse to nab a formal dress that I could dress down on an occasion for casual wear (I hate buying one time use party dresses! No more!) So after a while of stalking dresses, I settled on this one:

http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/ha.....38;cm_mmc=

I believe it's classy enough for a November wedding in chilly NY so long as I wear a suitable topper (probably a blazer but I'm not really fond of wearing them because of how stiff they tend to look with the rest of my wear... I don't even own one yet so I have to look for one too...).

Assuming quality and fit will pass the test when it gets here, I have no idea how to make it look more classy for the wedding aside from that blazer or how to dress it down for casual wear. I can think of maybe having an open cardigan thrown on it (maybe one with a hood to make it even more casual) but apart from that I have no idea how to entertain the idea.

Would greatly appreciate it if anyone could toss in some ideas, thanks!

12 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

You could put a denim jacket over it and wear it with tights and booties to casualize it...maybe add a scarf....but I'm not sure it would really be at its best like that. The whole point seems to be the strong simplicity of it. It almost wants to be worn alone with some killer shoes and a clutch plus some fab earrings and a cuff, maybe. But you'd freeze in these temps.

So depending on the level of dressiness of the wedding you might want a blazer or at least accessories that add a bit of shine.

Anonymous

Very nice dress. For dressing down adding a denim jacket always works. Some ladies add blouses or turtle necks under the dress. As for dressing it up, if you don't like blazers what about a cropped cardi that has beading or a shrug. I also think the shoe you pair with it will have big influence on the dressy factor.

Angie

Fashion Stylist

A soft boyfriend cardigan worn open with scrunched sleeves will soften the look and dress it down for casual. Add slipper flats or flat booties to further dress down the frock. Here's a smashing cardi:

http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/me.....&cm_p

Beth Ann

What a great plan --- and what a beautiful dress!

I love the idea of the cashmere sweater (the mint color is particularly beautiful). I also wonder about a embellished sweater for the wedding, or perhaps a ponte or softer silk jacket --- I think oxblood looks fab with black, or ink blue. You might try a bomber style jacket, or a kimono, as well.

carol3012

Active Member

@everyone and Sue in particular: Those are really interesting ideas.. and I'm really hoping I can get away with just a clutch, dress and shoes for the party. I really don't want to spend any more as is. I think it's really fab by itself too.

@Angie: The cardigan that you posted Angie is beautiful too...I might go for the mint or pink colored one though, it'd be lovely to see how cashmere would clash with leather..should be a fun combination!

@Beth Ann: A ponte might work really well for classying it up (and I was thinking oxblood too! Was going to get a clutch actually just so it would complement the whole leather aspect of it). But ink blue is just as nice and I love it just as much....

Thanks for the advice so far though everyone, I really appreciate it! Gives me some good ideas to toss around..

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