I love coming up with ideas of how to “fix” things. Ideas like how to style a dress that is too short. Because in all reality, a dress is just a category of our clothing and not the only way we can wear things.
Or as I love to say, “We are the boss of our clothes.”
Quote of the day: “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Recently, I wore a dress with a skirt UNDER it (seen on Tuesday of this Daily Outfit post) and decided that this could be a great time to give you options on how to style a dress that is too short.
Why would you want to do this? Most of us don’t buy dresses we consider too short. But in reality, what is the difference between a short dress and a tunic? Maybe nothing. And since I recently talked about if tunics were still in style, I thought this would be appropriate.
Besides, it’s so much better to come up with fixes of how to style a dress that is too short as opposed to sending it to the landfill. Even if you donate the dress to thrift stores, many items don’t get sold in the first place. That’s why I consider it better to make our clothing versatile.
If you love this idea of getting creative with what you have, you’ll love some of my previous articles.
My Too Short Dress
Here’s the dress that I would consider too short at this stage of the game. Realistically, I could wear my cute, ruffle boy shorts under it and still be covered, plus I have shorts that I wear that are this length. But some days, it can be beneficial to have some tricks up our sleeve on how to style a dress that is too short.
1-Layer a Too Short Dress Over a Longer Dress
Just because one item is “called” a dress doesn’t mean you can’t layer it with another dress. We do this with 2 tops, by layering a turtleneck under a sweater (among many other examples).
I did this once with my slip dress article and loved how it turned out.
Insider tip: If your too short dress isn’t fitted, don’t be afraid to layer it over a dress that isn’t flat. I might have thought the tie on this pink dress to be a deterrent for layering, but you didn’t notice it at all under the print dress.
2-Layer the Too Short Dress Over a Skirt
If you can layer a too short dress over another dress, it only seems obvious that you could also layer it over a skirt. Just think of all of the possibilities with this. I think I had over 10 different skirts that would have worked marvelously for this concept.
3-Layer a Long Skirt over the Too Short Dress
The next idea of how to style a dress that is too short is to treat it like a top. Take a skirt and layer it over the dress. This is the concept of making your dress into a top that I have showcased many times in the past.
Insider tip: Do you have trouble keeping a top tucked in? This is a great hack because the dress stays tucked in better since it’s longer.
Related post: The hows and whys to layer a skirt over a dress
4-Make Your Too Short Dress a Top
Depending on the material and silhouette of your too short dress, you might be able to scrunch up the extra material and make it short enough to be considered a top.
Insider tip: I gathered the extra material from the inside of the dress and used a hair elastic to hold it in place.
5-Wear the Too Short Dress With Pants
This example may not be my favorite for this set of outfits, but that doesn’t mean it won’t work. There are many factors that can decide how the pieces will look together.
I wanted to experiment with wider pants, so I chose a pair of culottes. I think the length is okay because if they were full length, you might have a half and half proportion.
So maybe a different color would have been better?
Insider tip: Don’t give up if one outfit doesn’t wow you. I’m sure this would look fabulous with some of the other pants from my closet. Try them on and see. Make sure to take a photo to check it from a different perspective.
There is no risk to trying on all types of outfits because you may find some winners you never thought about.
6-Dress Worn as a Scarf
Now here’s one I bet you didn’t see coming. I rolled up the dress and wrapped it around my neck.
This is a video to show the method of how I connected the two ends, but there are multiple ways that would work depending on how much material you have.
I hope this gives you ideas of how to style a dress that is too short. I hate to be limited if I see beautiful material, and hopefully, now you won’t be limited either.
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Welcome to Jodie’s Touch of Style. I’m here to prove that it’s never too late to look great. Clothing and style are meant to showcase your inner personality. So let’s have fun and try new things.
