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One skirt can be worn in multiple ways and with different levels of formality. In this post, we are going to talk about how to dress up or dress down a skirt.
Do you have a “church skirt” section and a “causal skirt” section in your closet with a very strict No Crossover Policy?
I admit I do too.
Obviously, there are materials and styles that don’t work well for everyday life. For the most part, though, a skirt can change a lot by what you pair it up with.
The benefit to this is getting much more use out of the skirts you have and potentially lightening up your closet.
By nature and by culture skirts have been deemed “fancier” than pants. It bothered me to walk into a room full of denim pants or shorts.
I felt out of place in my skirt. I wanted to fit in with the casual, comfortable vibe. Over time I learned that
- What you pair the skirt with i.e. sneakers instead of leather boots or flats makes a huge difference in how dressy or casual the outfit is.
- It doesn’t matter how well I fit in or not as long as I am COMFORTABLE in the outfit.
I know. Serious personal growth was happening. I am so glad it did!
Flash-forward to the present, I have recently bought 2 new skirts for winter weather. I love them so much I’d hate to resign them to the church only category.
So I shopped my closet to come up with at least 1 dressed up outfit and 1 dressed down outfit.
Not overly ambitious I know, but I’m a little new to this as well! Let’s figure it out together!
To start with, here are the 2 skirts that I purchased from Amazon.
- Can’t argue with the price.
- The print is so bright and perfect for winter mix and match
- It is a wool blend so think WARM
- Its fully lined
- It has pockets!
- Pricier but very well made
- Trendy shade of pine green
- It comes in 7 other neutral shades
- Fabric is a very fine Corduroy
- EASY to move in and buttons can be worn to the side or down the middle.
These pictures are active links, if you are interested in purchasing these for yourself, click the picture and it will open a separate tab for Amazon in your browser where you can look closer at the details and choose a size.
I actually had purchased a third skirt but true to holiday/COVID chaos my order was lost. Bummer. I haven’t given up on it though, so I will share it with you later!
On to the mix and matching!
Outfit #1
What makes this outfit classify as “causal” is the top and the shoes. The top I am wearing is just a long sleeve t-shirt. No collar, relaxed material. Untuck to make it even more casual.
The shoes are lace-up boots. I can run errands in these and stay warm, dry, and move with ease. To me, the laces bring it down the scale of “dressy” to practical and causal. But still so cute!
Note: Please meet my cat, Suki. She was very hard to get out of the picture.
Now let’s take the same skirt and dress it up!
I have added a red cable sweater, tucked in. Short black leather boots and for fun, a hat.
Another option would be a white button-up blouse with a red cardigan. Or the same blouse underneath the cable sweater.
Outfit # 2
An ankle-length skirt can feel formal as it rustles and swishes when you move. I have grown fond of the sound.
Emphasize the elegant look with short black boots. To me, a black turtle neck is timeless and sophisticated.
So you’ll notice I’m not doing anything earth-shattering in switching my tops and shoes around. But the simplicity of the approach is its selling point.
In this photo, I have gone back to my reliable long sleeve t-shirt and lace-up boots! And yes, please mix black and brown!
Throw in a print, try a black and white stripe shirt. Or pair the plain black top with a houndstooth vest!
This last picture is a BONUS! It was a last-minute inspiration. Like any creative pursuit, sometimes it takes a few so-so attempts before you hit on genius.
This outfit has been logged away in my brain for several years. I saw something similar while pursuing inspiration on Pinterest.
I’m going to call it “Eclectic” because although nothing matches, somehow the randomness makes a complete picture.
I’m wearing a tucked in chambray and my lace-up boots and polished off with my favorite hat!
I hope you enjoyed this first attempt at styling one skirt multiple ways! Let’s do it again!
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