The Shirt Dress

The sequence of events that led to me acquiring this dress went a little something like this:

1. Visit all time favourite blog, Buy Now Blog Later, and see the lovely Laura in a gorgeous light grey shirt dress. Experience dress envy.

2. Go on shopping trip to Leeds with my sister and casually enter Topshop. The first thing to catch my eye was this dress, on the tallest mannequin right in the middle of the store. That's a sign if ever there was one, right?

3. Exclaim, a little too loudly, 'THAT'S LAURA'S DRESS IN RED!!!' and rush over to hunt for my size, totally oblivious to the strange looks I'm getting from other shoppers.

Less than a week later I'm proudly wearing it out and about, and looking pretty happy about it.

Dress - Topshop, Jacket - Warehouse, Bag - Zara, Shoes - H&M, Sunglasses - River Island

There's something a little bit special about this dress. It looks almost boring on the hanger and as though it's going to hang on your body like a sack, yet somehow the cut and substantial fabric make it super-flattering when worn. It looks and kind of feels like silk, though it's actually 100% viscose which obviously makes it a lot more affordable. 

You can dress it up or down quite easily. I've gone for a casual-ish look here, but I still felt nice enough in it to wear it out to dinner with my husband for our anniversary last weekend. (In case anyone is interested, we went back to The Old Weighing Room, which I talked about here. It wasn't really our intention to go back again so soon, but it was booked long before we were invited to the family lunch there, and after some discussion we decided not to change the reservation as we were both so curious to see what the evening menu was like. I'm happy to report the food was delicious - definitely a level up from Sunday lunch!)

Here's the look sans jacket.

I really love the length of this dress, and the stepped hem. It's so easy and comfortable to wear. It's also available in a few different colours. I've seen a bold striped version and a khaki as well as this one and the pale grey. I'm very tempted to pick up another as it's such a versatile piece. I'm going to Mallorca in September and I can see myself wearing this to death there.

£36 for this gem of a dress? Nice one Topshop!

Are you a fan of shirt dresses?

Kate x