Trouble with most of these little trendy, crazy-printed dresses of this style is that they're honestly a bit shapeless and can look a bit "too much" where the print is concerned if it's a bit louder like this one.
Which brings me to my main accessorizing philosophy-- Use accessories to toughen up "sweet" outfits. This dress would also work perfectly on a 4-year-old (ahem in a MUCH smaller size). But with the right accessories, it works for my personal style and looks a bit edgier and appropriate for a grown-up like myself...haha.
Don't get me wrong, it's super cute on it's own, but when the print is this loud, sometimes it's just screaming for something to break it up a bit.
Since these types of dresses usually fall a bit short on me, belting them and losing a few inches is definitely not an option. Then we'd be left with a whole new set of inappropriate problems, guys.
So to make it work, I like to throw on a jacket to break it up a bit. Especially when the print is super loud like this one.
Ahhhh much better.
SO much more "me". Leather jackets are genius. If you have a nice lightweight one like this, you can throw them on anytime, anywhere and they always work. Especially on cool, rainy Summer days.
So a bit of leather, a spiky necklace, and a chain-handled handbag did the trick. No longer 4-year-old appropriate.
details:
dress: Dress Up Boutique (shopdressup.com)
jacket: Tinley Road
purse: J. Crew Factory
necklace: BCBG
shoes: Forever 21
