Saturday, June 30, 2012

What To Wear On A Summer Date

Yesterday I decided to pass on the white Lilah dress that I was tempted to buy, but after much deliberation and thanks to your feedback, I left it in the store for another happy buyer. You can read about my dilemma in yesterday's post. Anyway, since I was thinking about white dresses, I remembered that I have another white dress that still had tags on, waiting for a special occasion to be worn.

Well, I decided the special occasion is today. We are currently 'childless' for a couple of weeks having dropped my younger daughter at the overnight summer camp in New Hampshire and my older daughter vacationing with friends, so it is easy to go on a date. We thought we would go to the city, watch a movie, have dinner and meet some friends for a few drinks.

What do you like to wear on dates like that?  I usually end up wearing a pair of jeans and something fun for the top, but I cannot wear jeans in 90 degrees plus weather, I feel like I am going to melt and suffocate. In the summer, I prefer black jersey dresses, not very original, but it works. I thought of wearing my Kari dress and it would have been perfect, but I can wear it some other day. In the summer heat an ivory light dress would be perfect.
 
Dress au naturel
I bough this Surf Blossom Crinkle Chiffon dress in 2010. It has been sitting in my closet for two years with tags on. Normally, I would say this is a sign of something not working, but I really LOVE this dress. I stalked it in sale section and scored it on a popback and final sale, without ever trying it on previously. Fortunately, my regular size 6 turned out to fit me well and I love the color and cut.

The dress is made of silk chiffon and it comes with a matching slip, also in silk. It feels great against the body, light and airy and perfect for a summer date. I love this drop-waist shape which reminds me of the flapper dresses. To me this seems effortless, comfortable and pretty.


with blue Repettos and fun causal purse

I think the reason I did not wear it yet is because my idea of styling it was wrong. I was thinking pearls and light color shoes and elegant purse. That would all be perfect if we were attending an upscale summer garden party which did not happen. We had five First Communions instead, but that is one of the occasions when this dress was an absolute no-no.

Only this year I thought about wearing it differently. I don't know why it never occurred to me to wear this dress with a blazer and casual shoes (even boots) and accessories.

chambray cover up for the evening
I will bring my chambray shirt for an evening and for the a/c in the movie theater.  The trick I have for wearing this kind of shirt over dresses is that I flip the collar under, I like it better this way.  A slight sheen of the shirt makes it more elegant and the dots actually match the color of the dress.
  

toughen it up wih black


If it was a little colder, I would wear a black blazer with the dress, I really like the look but it is supposed to be over 90 F. This is my version of boy meets girl style, meswear inspired jacket and a girlie dress. This is MacKenzie (sp?) blazer from couple of years ago, it is perfect because it is light and unstructured and it has a nice drape, but I tried it with supefine cotton longer blazer and it also looked well. I love how the ruffles are peeking out from under the blazer.  If I was wearing a blazer, I would go with all black accessories and shoes.

love those ruffles peeking out
I feel like this outfit reflects my style well and I feel comfortable in it. I think I was right to pass on the Lilah dress and stick to what I have in my closet. It still hurts me a little to think of this dress not being mine (sniff, sniff) I but I will get over it.

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That's all folks!

What do you like to wear on summer dates?

Please share, it would be no fun without you!!!

18 comments:

  1. Oooo I love the dress paired with the blazer - very chic. I definitely think that summer date night uniforms should be white dresses, they are always so beautiful and work well on everyone :)

    Tasia

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  2. Oh so pretty ajc...the dress is beautiful on you! I think it is a perfect summer date dress, too. :)

    If hubby and I get lucky enough to go on a date, then I always opt for a pretty dress and sandals. I also take along a cardigan or jacket since it is always chilly inside here due to the a/c.

    Have fun on your date...it sounds like a wonderful time! Btw, just in case you didn't see it, I responded to your question about the hoop earrings on my blog.

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    1. I saw it FFM, thank you! I will definitely check out some hoops now.

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  3. I think this looks very chic! I tend to not be so inventive, so I am definitely going to try this with some of my fancier dresses!

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    1. Hi WMM, you'll be surprised how well it works and in your climate you can use it even more often.

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  4. That dress is a stunner! I've got the top version in yellow but have only worn it once, I have no idea what to match it up with. I envy all of you with kids, when you have time together it's date night, we have way too much time on our hands.

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    1. Oh Tabs, we all envy you of course. But I do have to say now that she is away I am missing my whining, opinionated, all attention sucking, always negotiating munchkin so much, it is not even funny!

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  5. Oh so pretty for date night! Adorable. I missed out on your post yesterday to weigh in on the Lilah, but I think you made a good decision. This one is very pretty and I think now that you've figured out how to wear it more casually, you'll reach for it more often. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thank you shopwithm! Your review of Lilah was making me so tempted you look great in it!

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  6. The dress looks great on you and i love it with the chambray shirt.
    In the summer i love maxi dresses and this year i wore my jersey maxi skirt from jcrew a few times for going out.
    i dont own a white dress,so it is def. on my buy-list!it is just so hard to choose the right dress online.

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    1. Thank you Ina. I love maxis but my husband hates them so I never wear them for going out.

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  7. I am having a date night too tonight, maybe we are going to the same movie :-)..
    I never know what my husband is going to like so I end up dressing for myself more than for him (unless he really says that he hates what I am wearing, in that case I am going to change). A restaurant date night is easier than a more casual date night IMO (you can wear a LBD and call it a night) , I find it hard to find the balance between dressing down for tge movie and dressing up for the after movie (the romantic part). I am leaning towards a maxi for tonight even if it could be too much fabric for the heat. I have a dress similar to yours, the Playa dress from some years ago, the one in linen with tiered ruffles. I have it in white as well and I never wear it because it feels too occasion-y (I wore it once to a Baptism), I should steal some of your ideas and try to wear it with something more casual (if it still fits).

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    1. we went to see 'From Rome with Love'. It was not the greatest but very funny. I felt good in my outfits and I was surprised how many women in NYC were in dresses, I loved seeing it! YOu should try Playa with a blazer, don;t you have the same one too?

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  8. By the way, I bought the Madewell anchor belt this morning with the free shipping promo, I really love it on you. Let's hope it fits (fs).

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    1. I hope this works for you Ema, a nice navy belt is hard to come by.

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  9. So sweet on you . Have a great night ... reality will be back soon

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