Styling my green lace dress: help! (pic heavy) ETA pic w/ oxfords

I bought this emerald green lace dress (pic 1) during the summer sales and now I'm a bit unsure about how to style it. It is a fit and flare style, which I have never worn before which may be what is throwing me off a little. I am also new to wearing dresses and this one is just so girly and sort of fancy that I am afraid I will style it all wrong.

The first thing I am confused about is footwear. I feel like ballet flats look best with this style, but I have only two at the moment. My sandals look okay, I think. Not sure about oxfords with such a feminine style, but I did try one pair. Would black ballet flats work?

Also, what toppers could I wear this dress with? It seems to work well with my cropped denim jacket, but nothing else. Would it work with cardigans?

This colour is also new to my wardrobe, so I am not sure what other colours 'go' with it! Any suggestions?

Sorry for sounding so freaked out! I love this dress, despite how I may sound. The colour is perfect, it shows off my waist and my husband picked it out! I just don't want it to become an orphan.

Here are the many different ways I tried styling it today:

Pics 2-6 show it with my belt wardrobe.

Pics 7-9 show some different shoe options including rose oxfords, floral flats and red flats.

Pics 10-12 show some jewellery options. Sorry one of the pics is blurry.

The last two pics show the two toppers I tried. Not sure about the blazer but the denim jacket looked okay, I think? Sorry the blazer pic came out so badly.

What do you think? Do any of these looks work or am I completely off? As always, I am going not for dressy but for a stylish yet casual vibe. I would also love any suggestions re. how to style this dress.

Thanks!

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14 Comments

  • replied 11 years ago

    I love the shoes in #9...#14 is a great casual look...and I love the red flats in #8. I'm not crazy about it belted. I think it would be great with a variety of pretty sandals, cardis and jackets. Again, the striped jacket clashes with the pattern in the dress, at least to my eye. It's very pretty and versatile! ;)

  • rae replied 11 years ago

    Hm, you have a lot of possibilities here! I like all of the ballet flats and necklaces.

    I DO like the belts, but they need heavier footwear to balance them out, I think. What about an obi belt with combat boots on the bottom?

    I think the dress would also look really cute with a cropped moto and nude/brown oxfords.

  • kimlee replied 11 years ago

    Love this dress and the potential it has to offer. I really loved the belt in picture #2. However, I agree with Rae's comment that you need heavier footwear to balance things out.

  • Kirti replied 11 years ago

    Thanks shabbychick :-) I should look for some cropped cardis to go with it.

    Thanks rae! Glad the flats and necklaces work. I wish I had some boots/booties to balance the obis. Do you think the black obi would work with black ballet flats? I did try it with my brown oxfords, I'll just post a pic.

    Thanks kimlee! I don't have anything heavier, but I will be on the lookout. :-)

  • Kirti replied 11 years ago

    Since rae suggested it, I'm adding a picture with my brosn two toned oxfords. Does this work?

  • Jem replied 11 years ago

    I like it with the oxfords and ballet flats. I like Rae's idea of boots with the belts. I love it with the jeans jacket, too.

  • Kirti replied 11 years ago

    Thanks Jem! :) I should look for some boots this autumn!

  • shiny replied 11 years ago

    Lovely color on you, and I envy your belt collection.

    Belts: I think the dress w/belt would work great with boots. For fun what about bare legs and cowboy boots? That's the first thing that came to mind, though I don't know if you're into that. I prefer the brown Obi belt to the black -- something softer about it with that dress color. Have you tried belting over the jacket? Do you have a skinny belt? I'd love to see how that might work.

    Shoes: hands down favorite is the red ballet flats. So adorable with that dress!! I also like the metallic sandals.

    Necklaces: all of them work. I would love to see the coral necklace higher, filling in the space between the dress neckline and your neck. Can you tie a knot in the back to shorten it up?

    Jackets: the jean jacket is totally precious. I also like the blazer too -- would love to see that worn with the coral necklace, and possibly belted.

  • Kirti replied 11 years ago

    Shiny: Thank you for your lovely suggestions! I have no boots unfortunately, so that is something for my autumn-winter wishlist. I do think the obis would look good with boots. The orange necklace does need shortening, I am planning to get it done on my India trip. I will try it with the blazer. Thanks again :)

  • JR replied 11 years ago

    I haven't read the other responses, but I give thumbs up to all the ballet flats and the silver sandals. The flipflops don't work well, looking a little too casual and clunky for the prettiness of the dress. The oxfords are okay, but not wonderful

    The jackets are great, especially the denim. Love the denim!

    The necklaces all work, but I wasn't overly fond of the orange one. I think that was mainly because of the colour; the length is good.

    I liked it with the belts also, although I'm not personally fond of the red-green colour combination.

    All of this is according to my personal tastes, of course. It is a lovely dress.

  • Kirti replied 11 years ago

    Thanks JR! The flip flops are house slippers, oops! I wouldn't wear them outside :-P Thank you so much for your input. I was wondering about red and green looking too festive, but I sort of liked it :-)

  • Scarlet replied 11 years ago

    I like it unbelted with the red ballet flats or the metallic sandals. Very cute with the denim jacket, but I don't like the blazer as much--the proportions aren't as good to my eye. I don't think you need to do a lot to style this dress. It speaks for itself and lets you shine at the same time.

  • Kirti replied 11 years ago

    Thanks Scarlet :-)

  • RunnerChick replied 11 years ago

    This is such a pretty dress in such a pretty color - you really don't have to do much with it. IMO, shiny metallic accents work well with this color (It's a color I wear often, and my favorite accessories are a pair of dangly green earrings set in silver.), and my favorite look for this dress is with the gladiator sandals.

    I also think it looks good with denim jacket, and I'm wondering if you have tried it with your darker denim jacket (that one was too dark for the coral dress, but might work better with this one). My least favorite look is with the blazer.

    You really rock the dresses, Ki! I'm having such fun commenting on your posts this afternoon.

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