One Dress Investment - Four Ways
It’s a fairly well established method to remix an item of clothing to create multiple outfits. This is done through versatile shoes and bags mostly. I’m starting to do some visual exercises on what that truly looks like and as a jumping off point, I decided to pick different locations one might find themselves traveling to - whether for vacation, an event or work - and create looks with one dress as the foundational item.
This is where shopping your closet is born. Purchasing things that you love wearing and finding reasons to wear those things. I often purchase things without a specific reason in mind besides the fact that I know it’s a piece that is right for my body type, it’ll be a piece that can last season after season and then I’ll make it work for what comes up in my calendar. When an event or trip pops up that I’d like to use a main piece in a different way than I have in the past, I’ll often rent accessories to change up the outfit. I don’t always purchase a stock of accessories to be in my personal collection. It’s always weighing whether that piece is something I truly love or if it would only be serving a one time use purpose.
I started with this camel colored Faithful the Brand Tropiques Convertible Linen-Blend Maxi Dress as the foundation. The neutral base gives a great way to layer lots of options with it. The linen/rayon blend makes it ideal for dressing up or down. It's also highly easy to change the fit of with the smocked back panel and the halter ties that give personalized fit. It’s not a dress that I can say is meant for a specific purpose or occasion which means we can prescribe the occasion as we go.
In reality, a few of these outfits could work for more than just the location I assigned it to. I tried to think of what else you might be doing in that area which would dictate the style of shoe. I figured plenty of walking around Charleston and Marrakech which meant I looked for flats. I preferred the play on contrasting camel and black for Marrakech’s refined aesthetic while Charleston was a more neutral feel. Lunching on a patio in Paris felt like wedges would be more fitting but still allowing for walking ease. If this were a real trip, I’d make sure those shoes were super walkable and reusable with many outfits since they would take up so much packing space. For Jackson Hole, boots are de rigueur and paring it with a western style hat is a must. Option to keep a denim jacket around for warding off evening chills.
Let’s see this dress around the world!
