Dresses Worn Outside The Box: Magnificent 8

It's another Magnificent 8 post! Every quarter a group of us from multiple different age groups pick a theme and all style it in our own unique ways, showing you can be stylish at any age! This time we are sharing ways to wear clothes outside of the box. With it being a hot summer I wasn't going to layer up or wear anything drastically different, so I ended up falling back on my usual go-to way of mixing things up - taking a dress and wearing it a little differently!

Today I'm showing you how I wear a shirt dress as a kimono, and also how I wear a dress as a top. Such simple outfits but it really changes up the look of the dresses! I did wear these outfits a while ago, as I only take and share photos of outfits I actually wear on the blog and for some reason I had the wrong date in my head and this post was supposed to be last week, so I wore the outfits in advance of that!

What I wore:

Jacket: Atmos&Here Nigella collarless shirt dress (worn as kimono)
Necklace: Lovisa silver love knitted heart pendant necklace
Tee: Zalora Basics maroon stepped t-shirt
Shorts: Jeanswest Heather Bermuda short in black
Shoes: New Balance Coast women's running shoe in black 
Bracelets: the usual plus Hermes Kelly double tour bracelet in rubis
Bag: Rebecca Minkoff Love cross body bag in grey

Why I wore it:

I wore this on the day our 3 day lockdown was announced in Brisbane. Unfortunately when I heard the news I'd been wondering when the best time that day would be to go out and get another loaf of bread as we were about to run out. I wasn't the only one suddenly needing groceries that day...had to join the longest line and wait over 35 minutes just to get into the grocery store. Thankfully I still had my pick of bread, they were restocking lots over the store and everyone was polite - I saw most people like myself only needing a few things, no overflowing trolleys. 

Did like my outfit for the day though even if it was a bit of a confusing day that definitely didn't go as planned. Having to tell my kids that our weekend plans and much looked forward to party were cancelled was pretty tough but truly 3 days was nothing! It was a nice long weekend at home before the lockdown was lifted as expected when there were no more cases.

I've worn this dress as a kimono before, and have worn it with this tee before too! Sometimes I worry this shirt dress can be a little short with the curved hems, so wearing it as a kimono over shorts instead is a great alternative. And it does work so well with this burgundy tee! The black Bermuda shorts matched the black in the print of the dress, as well as my sneakers. I wore my New Balance sneakers as my intention was to go for a walk around my favourite trail after quickly stopping at the grocery store but I decided it was probably best to get home and have an early start to lockdown after that hectic and time consuming experience! 😂


Last worn: printed shirt dress, burgundy tee, heart necklace, Hermes bracelet, black denim shorts, New Balance sneakers, Rebecca Minkoff Love bag.

Other ways to wear: printed shirt dress worn two ways, burgundy tee in a capsule wardrobe, black denim shorts and print mix, Rebecca Minkoff Love bag worn 30 ways.

Perfect for pregnancy: burgundy tee and hidden second trimester bump, Rebecca Minkoff Love bag in third trimester.

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Other Ways I've Worn These Dresses:

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What I wore:

Dress: Atmos & Here Willow printed tee dress (worn as a top)
Shorts: thrifted Jeanswest distressed denim shorts
Shoes: Converse Chuck Taylor All Star coast blue
Bag: Chloe periwinkle small Paraty

Why I wore it:

This was another rare kid-free time! Again the boys were with their grandparents and I had a massive to do list to tackle so I dressed simply with my comfortable Converse and another pair of denim shorts. With the blue Chloe small Paraty bag this would be a bit monochromatic so I thought this tee dress would be a fun way to add a bit more colour, with the bright floral print!

Again this isn't a new combination for me, this tee dress felt a bit short when the kids were little and crawling around everywhere, so I'd wear it as a top then. It also looks great worn under a pencil skirt for the office, where it would definitely be too short to wear on its own! It did seem to bunch up a bit when I was taking a photo but I didn't mind as I wore this through the day - it was so comfortable and the bright print so cheerful!

Unlike the day above, I managed to get a lot done in the precious few kid free hours I had on this day!

Last worn: floral tee dress, denim shorts, Converse, Chloe Paraty bag.

Other ways to wear: floral tee dress layered for winter, denim shorts and kimono, Converse and culotte shorts, Chloe Paraty bag and maxi dress.

Perfect for pregnancy: floral tee dress in second trimester.

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How You Can Wear It:

You don't have to wear a dress simply as a dress! Shirt dresses can be unbuttoned and worn like a kimono or duster depending on the length of your dress. A cute printed dress can be tucked into a pair of shorts and worn like a top too - great for a busy day of running around where you don't want to be tugging at the hem of a dress all day, or just for a way to change up how you style a favourite dress.

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The Magnificent 8

The Magnificent 8 is a collaboration of 8 stylish women, ranging in age from early 20’s to early 80’s. The mission of this collaboration is to showcase how ageless style is. There are no age restrictions on style. So wear what you want, when you want, add a smile, and strut your style with confidence. And be sure to check out all 7 of these other amazing ladies!

• Grace of Graceful Rags
• Mica of Away from the Blue
• Roxanne of Glass of Glam
• Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge
• Rena of Fine Whatever
• Eugenia of Age of Grace 
• Lesley of Jodie’s Touch of Style 
• Charlotte of Jodie’s Touch of Style

Every quarter, the group chooses a theme and each create an outfit that suits our own personal tastes and fashion choices and we post them on the last Wednesday of every third month. So be sure to go check out everyone’s posts with the links above for style inspiration at any age as they show you their take on ways to wear things outside the box!

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