Pre-Fall 2011: The Floral Dress

Polyvore Set Here. 

Floral dresses are a Summer staple.  But once Fall comes around, most of us put our florals in a box under the bed until the weather warms again.  This is a mistake, because florals, especially florals in Autumn hues like green, purple, grey and orange, can be worn all year round.

For this outfit, I added a cardigan in a darker purple, a complimentary eggplant.  And I made sure that the neckline of the dress complimented the neckline of the cardi.  Nothing irks me more than when someone wears a crewneck tee with a v-neck cardigan or vice versa.  I think the look is much cleaner when the necklines match.

The artsy, pendant necklace also compliments the neckline and adds a little sparkle without compromising the casual nature of the ensemble. 

Also, this is the most expensive cardigan ever to appear on this blog.  I do not expect anyone to spend this kind of scratch on a sweater.  They should save it for a downpayment on a Ford Focus.  But J.CREW, Madewell and others will sell plenty of v-neck cardis this Fall, and one of them will probably be dark purple.

Now, for this ensemble, I would leave the cardi unbuttoned.  Then, I would belt it at the natural waist or just a hair below if you have a long torso.  And I would make sure that the edges of the cardigan didn’t touch, so that you could see two inches or so of the dress running vertically to create a nice line.

I like these boots.  They’re a funky alternative to the basic riding boot.  They also make the look a bit more fun.

And, if this were my outfit, I would wear a pair of dark purple tights.  It’s not a strict adherence to my two-out-of-three rule, but the print is purple, so it’s close enough.

I added an olive bag because olive is very big this Fall, and I’d rather mix in an on trend color than wear a brown belt, brown boots and a brown bag.  Too many accessories in one color can look a bit like your accessories were made by Garanimals.

Breathe new life into warm weather frocks with blazers, cardigans and chunky sweaters.  Just add a pair of flirty boots or tights and booties and you’ll get extra wear out of your Summer dresses.