How to Style a Slip Dress for Now and Later

The slip dress has been around for some time and has become a classic. Lately, fashionistas have been finding new ways to style them, making this style much more versatile.

Case in point: the Nordstrom sale catalog. In the fall preview, you can see slip dresses styled with tops underneath, lots of pattern mixing, and with sweaters and jackets over them. You can really create a lot of new looks from one basic slip dress.

The original image of this dress that comes to mind is a ’40s starlet flaunting a rich-colored silk one with a long cigarette holder, right? Or was that the ’20s? Haha! Just goes to show you this look has been around for a while and there’s been a resurgence in the last few years.

Celebrities first started styling these dresses at award ceremonies and today, they’ve become street style looks! You can even wear one with sneakers! Hmm. Something to try. Maybe…

This is the second post in my #NSale series. I picked up this very inexpensive slip dress with the notion that I would give some of the styling options a go. While I’m not quite ready to go crazy with patterns and a top under the dress, I did try it with a sweater over–and I like it!  Surprise! Once again, stepping out of the fashion box can be fun and enlightening!

The Slip Dress

A slinky slip dress goes from casual to classy with a simple change in accessories, making this style a versatile piece in your wardrobe.

Of course, the thing I love best about this one (besides the price!) is the leopard pattern on the fabric. While many slip dresses are made of beautiful silk and satin fabrics with that gorgeous sheen, this one is polyester and unlined. That makes it machine washable, which I personally love!

These dresses now have adjustable straps, which makes fitting them so much easier. How many of you recall the days of having to put a stitch in your straps to get the sizing right? Oh, yeah.

Of course, this slip dress was such an amazing buy that it sold out in the first few days. So I’ve scoured some other sources and here are a few of these striking dresses in leopard at various price points:

Style a Slip Dress as a Casual Summer Dress

Hey, it’s still summer, right? So, for now, a slip dress does the job all on its own. Here I’ve styled it for a casual summer day. You could wear it for a summer party, a pool party, or a casual evening dinner.

To keep the look casual, I’ve added a straw fedora Sam Edelman sandals that are perfect for summertime.

A slip Dress and Sweater Outfit

Is there anything that doesn’t look great with a cashmere sweater? I was in doubt as to how this outfit would look, but after giving it a try, I love it!

You can get many looks by adding pieces you already have in your closet to a slip dress as your base layer. A cashmere or other soft sweater over a slip dress gives you a whole new look.

I loved the rusty shade of this sweater with the leopard print, but it would look equally good with a gray, black or white sweater. Or perhaps a vivid yellow or pink sweater that you already have! Experiment and see what works for you.

Sorry to say that this particular sweater is close to sold out since early in the preview days. I’ve looked up a couple of similar rust-colored sweaters, as in these faux wrap sweaters:  Madewell sweater (on sale!),  and this cotton-blend sweater (also on sale). There is also a very cute gray vee-neck sweater by Halogen on sale.