Three Way Dressing

I splurged on this beautiful green dress from Shop 515. I love this little boutique in Charlotte because it always has that unexpected clothing item that you won’t see on every other friend. They never disappoint with something cute, and if you don’t follow them on Instagram, you should – if only for the inspo you’ll get from their stories. 

I scooped up this dress (not that we’re going out much right now) in hopes that when we do, I’ll be able to wear it a number of different ways to justify the fact that I bought it solely on how much I LOVED the print and feel of it. It came with a thin belt in the same material, but as I was paying for it, the sweet ladies at Shop 515 left me with an idea. “You know we have another customer who used an animal print belt with it instead,” they said. “And it was unexpectedly cute!” Welp, I was sold on the animal print belt. When I got home, I started a search to find the right belt. But then I felt there were other ways to expand how to wear this dress. I’m sharing a dressy cocktail party look, a going on a date or nice dinner look, and finally of course, a dress it down for shopping, a day out with friends or a casual Friday option (if we also ever go back to the office).

This dressy look is paired with suede Kate Spade platform heels that I got on sale last season. They are amazingly comfortable and make me just a bit taller than my son who is now 5’7”. I’ll take it! The belt was from Anthropologie, and it too was on sale. When you are on the hunt for a specific item like an animal print belt, search it on every website you shop. For that matter, search that specific description on Google and hit the images button. Often I have found exactly what I’m looking for this way. If you click on the image, more often than not, it takes you directly to the website that sells that item. 

This next one, I added a faux fur vest that I bought several years ago and honestly can’t remember where I bought it from, along with a different animal print belt also on sale from Anthropologie. The Vince Camuto booties are the best, and I have worn them for the last two years. They have a sock-type fit, and the heel height is about 2 ½ inches tall which is doable on a daily basis. The faux vest keeps you warm and the booties do too, for that matter. I would wear this look to church, to a nice dinner, to a holiday party and more. 

My final look is the most casual and comfy. I paired velvet blue sneakers and a distressed jean jacket. I would also consider throwing on a crossbody bag and be done for the day! The sneakers are P448’s from two years ago. The jean jacket is from Shopbop. Now, don’t kill me. You can’t get either of these anymore, but the good news is that there are a TON of jean jackets available right now. P448, Golden Goose, Madden and many other companies have a zillion sneakers that could sub in for these. Like the dress, I saw the blue suede sneakers and they had me “at hello.” I didn’t know what I would wear them with. I didn’t want to spend that kind of money on them not knowing if I would actually put them to good use, but my inner voice just kept saying, “Ash, how can you not have those blue suede sneakers?” 

I guess my takeaways for this post are several. Buy what you love. Even if you don’t know when or how you will wear it. Ask the salespeople how they would accessorize the item. They are so creative! Get it in your closet and try it with different shoes, coats/vests, belts. Take selfies in those outfits (It’s totally embarrassing if your kids catch you but just delete when you are done). Just because the dress comes with a belt doesn’t mean you have to wear that belt. Ditch it if it’s not exciting or helping define your waist. Or keep it and tie it on the side, back or front. Lose it and don’t wear one at all. Or, buy an animal print belt and thank me later!

Oh By the Way, I put together some similar looks for you to try since some of the items I mentioned in the post are no longer available.