Videos
How to wear dresses for everyday without feeling "overdressed" since I lead a pretty casual life. Alternate title: how to feel comfortable looking "fancy".
It's a thing you just have to get used to.
It's like red lipstick. The first time you wear it out and about it feels so obvious and like everyone is looking at you. But before long, it becomes natural and not wearing the lipstick feels off. You just have to do it often enough that it becomes a part of who you are and how you present yourself to the world.
More on reddit.comWhere to find cute casual dresses that aren't sooooo long - The Chat Board - The Well-Trained Mind Community
Are these dresses too casual for a formal/black tie optional wedding?
My go to casual dresses👗
I love dresses. To me, they are so low-effort in the sense that I can throw one on and it's already a completed outfit, requiring nothing more than shoes, and maybe some complementary jewelry. I'm generally very feminine and like to look and feel pretty. During the summer, I would say I wear a dress 80% of the time that I'm not at work (scrubs) or literally not leaving the house (jammies). My summer dress collection ranges from very casual to appropriate for weddings or theater events, and many fall somewhere in the middle; easily dressed up, but also passable as nicer casual wear.
Recently, however, I have endeavored to add more dresses to my fall/winter wardrobe. I'm typically a skinny jeans, sweater, and boots type of gal, but I love dresses so much that I've decided I don't want to limit myself to half the year with them. The look I'm aiming for is elbow length or longer sleeved dresses with leggings and boots/booties. Shift, wrap, shirt, fit and flare, sweater, print, solid, it's all good. Bonus if the material has a little weight to it. I have a good collection of boots in various heights and colors, and plenty of leggings in a range of colors. I've purchased some dresses that I really like and that fit well, but I find that when I put some of my outfits together I look a little... overdone? I'm not sure what it is, maybe it's the boots, but I feel like I end up looking a little formal when the types of places I usually go on my days off are grocery stores, movie theaters, my parents' houses, and restaurants (this could mean QDoba one day and a mid-end steak house the next). Pair this with the fact that I usually have some makeup on, and I look like I'm trying so hard. This does happen sometimes during the summer, but not as often.
Does anyone else struggle with this feeling? Should I just not care? This whole thing may be exacerbated by the fact that many people seem to equate dresses with "Fancy" and I often get comments about looking "so nice". Not that this is a bad thing, but I definitely blend in more on my jeans+sweater days. Any tips or recommendations are welcome!
It's a thing you just have to get used to.
It's like red lipstick. The first time you wear it out and about it feels so obvious and like everyone is looking at you. But before long, it becomes natural and not wearing the lipstick feels off. You just have to do it often enough that it becomes a part of who you are and how you present yourself to the world.
My major advice is "yah you just gotta get over it" but as someone who finds pants hard, I wear a lot of dresses and do often look dressier my grad classmentes/tiny crumbly town I live in. I rarely get the "what are you all dressed up for" comments now that everyone is used to my clothing choices, and I think I have a generally slightly intimidating aura that works.
This isn't deliberate, but I do find my dresses to be dressed down by my daily no makeup/simple bun/braid which works for me but not everyone. I also almost always wear tights + boots/oxfords/rarely flats with my cool weather clothes which is sort of a uniform styling that I feel comfortable with immediately. I personally associate nicer dress+flats/heels/sandals with events, so when I get in the comfy shoes+warm shins combo I know it's a day look, if that makes sense to anybody but me.