Easy Tutorial: Styling a dress as a skirt

Left: H&M blouse + bag, Hermes belt, J.Crew floral dress, Target shoes. Center & right details here 

One of the easiest ways to get more mileage out of dresses is to style them as skirts. I almost passed on this dress due to the limiting strapless cut, but it has since proven it's versatility and value for $24. I saw SewPetiteGal's bright outfit with a pencil skirt in this same print, and skipped to my closet to create a similar look.

I like the extra colorful vibe with the emerald green, but also love this dress toned-down with a casual chambray blouse. It's great for "in-between" occasions where a strapless floral number is too dressy, and a blazer on top is too formal or hot. I also enjoy the comfort of a non-strapless bra when wearing this dress in a converted form.

After this post on signature style, I've received numerous requests for a step-by-step on tucking in the blouse. It's very simple, and I've been pointing readers to Elle's helpful tutorial. Cee is also the master of possibilities with this trick. I made a tutorial here with nothing to add, except that I usually tuck the back of my blouse in under the belt. It looks less natural, but since my blouses are often balloon-y, this helps me tame excess fabric and keep it secured under the belt. This also prevents the blouse and belt from shifting apart in the back...thus revealing the secret of the converted dress.
 



I "added" this blouse in an alley after snapping photos for a previous post, thus never got to check the end result in a mirror. It should go without saying to make sure you don't have a gap between blouse and belt as shown below : )

Nail polish below - from Miniluxe, a small chain. Essie Turquoise and Caicos is a similar one I like.

Readers - have you been trying your dresses as skirts? If so, please share some of your favorite combinations!