Karen Walker dress, Kate Sylvester skivvy (this is a great alternative!)
While I’ve parted with my fair share of summer dresses since first starting the wardrobe cull, those I do have, I love enough to want to be reaching for them all. year. round. But backless dresses, cut outs and bare legs are far from the first thing that comes to mind when planning my winter wardrobe.
We’re lucky to have relatively mild winters here in Sydney, but for those dresses that I’m not quite ready to retire during the colder months, I’ve taken to layering, to make them go the extra mile.
A thick sweater loosely thrown over the top of a dress (cinched in with a belt) or a sleek skivvy worn underneath basically e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g, plus a pair of opaque black tights for good measure. It’s a fail safe that’s seen me through the last two winters, and works just as well with a dress that is cut close to the body as it does with one that’s a loose fit.
Given I’m one for a wardrobe that sits on the more discreet side of the fence than one that’s loud and proud, I make a rule of tucking away anything that isn’t navy, dark grey or black for warmer days – a white floral dress will always look better with sun kissed skin and bare legs than it will with a skivvy and tights.
My go to has been a black semi fitted skivvy from Kate Sylvester that I nabbed in the sale a couple years back, but Everlane and Uniqlo have some great options for those of you on the lookout; because trust me when I say, a little layering goes a long way.
