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Home » 10 Ways to Wear a Blue Dress

10 Ways to Wear a Blue Dress

March 18, 2019

So the yellow dress was, in many of our opinions, hard to wear… I suspect that’s why our heroine wrote to me in the first place! But the overall idea of figuring out at least a few ways to wear a dress is still a pretty smart way to get your money’s worth from a purchase… Someone asked that I address the same dress, but in blue; that seems like a good idea.

But – the dress color is hard to assess – the dress on the model looks VERY different from the full-length photograph of the dress on its own. AND… the dress is supposed to be dry cleaned; if there was ever something that was going to keep it hanging in your closet (and not on your back!) is that knowledge in the back of your mind that you have to have it cleaned…

How about a washable blue dress, in a ponte knit and a lovely simple cut? With POCKETS!!!!! (AND it comes in yellow, and of course black…)

1. blue sleeveless ponte dress from Lands' End

Dress – Lands’ End

I’m staying with the guidelines that I use when I’m looking for a simple dress, upon which I’m going to try a variety of accessories:

2. guidelines for buying a versatile dress

At first glance, I thought that this would be the easiest blog post EVER – just take off the yellow dress, put in the blue one, and make a few small adjustments! How wrong…

Blue and black look great together – I swapped for a handbag that sort of makes the outfit:

3. royal blue dress with black accessories

Cardigan – Halogen; onyx hoop earrings – Loren Stewart; bag – Isaac Mizrahi; bracelet – Caputo & Co.; dress – Lands’ End; pumps – Paul Green

Blue and white aren’t tough to wear together either:

4. royal blue dress with white accessories

cardigan – Nic+Zoe; earrings – Catherine Canino; tote – Anya Hindemarch; scarf – Talbots; dress – Lands’ End; sandals – Jeffrey Campbell

I was afraid, when I started out, that the navy and royal together was going to be difficult. In fact, it turned out to be the ONLY color in this post for which no changes needed to be made. The scarf works just as well with the blue dress as it did with the yellow…

5. royal blue dress with navy accessories

cardigan – Halogen; sapphire earrings – Bloomingdale’s; crossbody bag – Longchamp; scarf – Nordstrom; dress – Lands’ End; navy sandals – Taryn Rose

I’m not sure about this particular blue and brown together… But this is as good a time as any to point out that the men’s department often has lovely pocket squares that make a lovely little addition to some outfits…

6. royal blue dress with brown accessories

cardigan – Acne Studio; earrings – Etro; pocket square – Kiton; dress – Lands’ End; boots – Bella Vita; bag – Fossil

This scarf speaks to me…. I do NOT need another scarf…. sigh….

7. royal blue dress with grey accessories

cashmere cardigan – Lands’ End; earrings – Lagos; bag – Baggallini; scarf – Christian Lacroix; dress – Lands’ End; pumps – Calvin Klein

How cheery is this – the colors of grass and sky?

8. royal blue dress with green accessories

cardigan – Prada; earrings – Aqua; bag – Frances Valentine; bracelet – Kendra Scott; dress – Lands’ End; sandals – Tory Burch

And if you are smitten with a summery bag:

9. royal blue dress with orange accessories

cardigan – Madewell; earrings – J.Crew; bangle bracelet – Alexis Bittar; bag – Tommy Bahama; dress – Lands’ End; sandals – Via Spiga

It took me surprisingly long to find a scarf with yellow and this dashing shade of blue. But this would be glorious in the middle of the summer…

10. royal blue dress with yellow accessories

cardigan – Banana Republic; earrings – Design Lab; scarf – The Met Store; dress – Lands’ End; bag – Aurora London; sandals – 1901

Here’s a way that those of us who wear LOTS of black can incorporate some color into our wardrobes….

11. royal blue dress with print cardigan and green accessories

cardigan – Tory Burch; earrings – Kendra Scott; bag – Simon Miller; dress – Lands’ End; sandals – Violeta by Mango

Or maybe you’ve gone completely overboard buying a fabulous cardigan to wear through the summer, with white. The addition of a dress gives you all kinds of new versatility….

12. royal blue dress with striped cardigan and white accessories

cardigan – Barrie; earrings – Kenari; dress – Lands’ End; clutch – Rebecca Minkoff; floral ring – Desi Antari; sandals – Lands’ End

What can we learn from this?

  • If you’re consistent in your favorite color(s), and you purchase things with those colors in mind, you can use accent pieces in all kinds of interesting ways,
  • buying something “major” in an accent color isn’t necessarily a bad idea, if you plan ahead just a bit, and
  • it is entirely possible to pull together an outfit with NO NEUTRAL COLORS at all.

My neutral-loving heart is going to have to adjust, eh?

love,

Janice

10 WAYS TO WEAR A BLUE DRESS

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03.18.19 10 Comments

Tags: 10 Ways to Wear, accessories, blue, dresses, jewelry, scarves
<<Start with a Bracelet – The March monthly bracelet from Fierce Lynx Designs!Start with Art: View from Bodacke, Liden by Helmer Osslund>>

Comments

  1. Linda M says

    March 18, 2019 at 3:16 am

    You have the perfect vehicle already for adjusting your neutral-loving heart – clusters! I could never get on with your 4X4 system, although I could see it was a great idea, as most neutrals, near my face, don’t really suit me. The ones that do are hard to find – olive, khaki, brownish grey – no lights. When you came up with your clusters, I saw the light. That, along with an accessory wardrobe, is now what I base my buying on. Clusters of colour, and I stick to 2 or 3, with neutrals that go with all the clusters. I’m so happy with my wardrobe now. Linda M

    Reply
    • Linda M says

      March 18, 2019 at 3:28 am

      I forgot to say that you need to choose colours that go together! eg dark teal and coral, dark purple with just about anything…Linda M

      Reply
  2. Katrina B says

    March 18, 2019 at 10:56 am

    I had to laugh at the responses to last week’s yellow dress. I can’t stand it either! It must be a cultural thing, because there can’t be *that* many people who can’t wear yellow. Even color consultants will tell you that almost everyone has a version of yellow. Still, it’s a rare person that will agree to wear it. In the US, that is. In some other countries/cultures, yellow is everywhere and worn by everyone.

    Anyway, this blue is gorgeous! I often wear royal or cobalt with navy but I hadn’t thought about pairing it with charcoal grey. Beautiful!

    Reply
  3. Margery says

    March 18, 2019 at 11:22 am

    Love the pop of colour that dress brings to a neutral base capsule. I could slot it in with any of my grey, navy, black, stone/taupes, whites and it adds necessary variety.

    I adore my strictly neutral base and adding the pops of colour through a 5 piece cluster as per your wonderful French 5 pieces.

    This dress, a couple of silk print scarves, a pair of sapphire blue earrings and a top would be a great little royal blue 5 piece accent group to add if the colour worked out.

    There’s 2 dresses I’m looking at now, this one and the blue & green print Lands End one from your last post on the bracelet wardrobe at a beach house! Love both! And both are machine washable too!

    It’s a great way to add on to the neutral core without making a huge commitment.

    Reply
  4. Sharon says

    March 18, 2019 at 1:05 pm

    Thank you Janice, it was me who requested using the blue dress and you’ve surpassed yourself with this lovely alternative dress. Apart from the Brown and Yellow, I would wear all the other colours in a heartbeat. Fantastic!

    Reply
  5. Sarah says

    March 18, 2019 at 2:11 pm

    I really enjoyed your yellow dress post and I would definitely wear a yellow dress. But what I actually have is a royal blue dress so I went straight upstairs and tried a few things with it and had limited success. But now, so many ideas! Thank you!

    Reply
  6. Robyn says

    March 18, 2019 at 3:06 pm

    What a wonderful lot of other colours can go with this strong blue! And so many of the accessories you’ve chosen are delectable. This is another good “food for thought” series, thank you.
    PS I think you’ve chosen a good shade of brown for an appealing combo.

    Reply
  7. AmandaR says

    March 18, 2019 at 3:48 pm

    I must be one of the very few to like last week’s yellow dress. After a lifetime of avoiding yellow, I had my colours done again, and it turns out that yellow is my exact colour! I had a cardigan in that colour last summer and got so many compliments, I was amazed. Sadly the cardi is looking rather the worse for wear and this year’s yellow seems much more mustardy, which I’d definitely not my colour. So I’d happily wear that dress to the wedding….as long as I had comfortable shoes.

    Reply
  8. Kelly says

    March 19, 2019 at 7:16 am

    I own this dress from Lands End in black and have only worn it for funerals! Now I’m seeing so many possibilities. Maybe a jean jacket and handkerchief scarf with flat sandals in summer or boots in winter. Definitely got me thinking out of the box!

    Reply
    • Janice says

      March 19, 2019 at 8:59 am

      A denim jacket with a black dress is great – I saw a woman in the Tampa airport wearing exactly that yesterday and it looked really classic and lovely…
      hugs,
      Janice

      Reply

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The Vivienne Files is a unique personal style blog with carefully-selected capsule wardrobes based on color palettes drawn from works of art, nature, and more. It helps women buy less clothing, and to love what they buy. Read more...
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