Fashion Problem #2394: You fall in love with a skirt, but it’s way too long for you. The material is also way too delicate to have it hemmed shorter, but you can’t just give up on it.
Solution? Wear it as a dress.
This gorgeous skirt (from Mango – and it’s on sale!) is one that my Grandmother picked out for me. Upon realizing that it was too long, my mom and I tried to hem it, but didn’t want to risk damaging the silky fabric. I’m quite stubborn about making things work for me, and my fashion sense tends to be very thrifty, so my immediate solution was to pretend that the piece was never meant to be a skirt in the first place, and wear it as a dress.
The next issue was styling the makeshift dress – since the skirt was originally a shift-skirt, the dress was quite shapeless and reminded me of being a kid and making gowns out of bath towels. The waist of the skirt also didn’t look great sitting against my chest – not that it looked horrible, it just wasn’t as interesting as I’d hoped it would be. For one thing, the base colour of the skirt seemed to blend in to my skin, and for another, the waist caught my underarms in an uncomfortable position. However, both issues had easy fixes. To give the dress shape, I cinched my waist using this belt from Boohoo – also a snakeskin print, which I loved because it added interest and texture without being too bold against an already bold print.
To fix the top of the dress, I layered it over a simple black crop top (from Garage, but long ago). I kind of bounced between a black or white top, but it came down to whether I wanted the look to be edgier or more feminine, and going edgier gave me more shoe options.
The boots are also from Boohoo, and have been featured on the blog before! I absolutely love them and the height that they give me. I had originally planned to style the look with my Doc Martens, but found that they looked too clunky instead of sleek and lean as I’d intended.
To finish off the look, I kept it simple with a pair of statement sunnies (from Chickaberry Boutique), a sparkly eye and a glossy lip.
I loved this look and totally plan on wearing it again. I’m also looking forward to finding new ways to style this skirt-dress, especially because I spent the entire day running my hands over the silky fabric – very satisfying.
Thanks for reading! Give me a shout if there are any trends you’d like to see me chat about or style – or both! Also, look out for my posts on College Fashion from now until December.
xo,
Raye
What Raye Wants 