5 Ways to Wear a Flannel Shirt Dress
I dug into the archives for today’s post! I’m typically drawn to easy and simple outfits in the cooler months and generally only wear sweaters and jeans, but shirt dresses are a fun garment to add to mix things up—and of course, flannel is one of my favorite materials in the cooler months since it’s soft and warm! This is a fun roundup of outfits featuring the flannel shirt dress, which is more versatile than you may think thanks to its easy, classic fit and functional buttons down the front. Click on each of the photos below to be taken to the original post!
My flannel shirt dress is old from Grana, but I rounded up a bunch of other styles from other retailers in the widget at the bottom of this post in case you’re in the market!
How to Style a Flannel Shirt Dress
1) With black tights, a contrasting belt, and matching ankle boots
A flannel shirt dress with classic black tights, a contrasting cognac belt, and matching cognac ankle boots makes the perfect transitional season outfit (or winter outfit for a warmer day/climate). I absolutely love the classic color combination! This shirt dress came with a matching wrap belt, but I opted for a leather belt instead and it’s a nice textural element.
2) As a duster over a lightweight sweater and skinny jeans
Probably the best feature of a shirt dress is its functional front buttons that make it super easy to turn into a duster! For this outfit, I picked a lightweight sweater that’s easy to layer over since the shirt dress arms are slim, rolled up the shirt dress sleeves so the sweater peeks out from underneath, and added simple black skinny jeans and patent leather oxfords. There are a lot of textures in this outfit as well as solid color-blocking to keep things interesting.
3) As a duster (version 2) over a striped tee and indigo skinny jeans
Here’s another version of the shirt-dress-worn-as-a-duster featuring a striped tee, indigo pair of skinny jeans, and black boots. The striped tee adds an extra interesting element (especially with the sleeves peeking out), and the jeans add a bit of a monochromatic look as the color is really similar to the shirt dress. This outfit was part of a winter style sudoku—a small, short-term capsule wardrobe featuring 4 tops, 4 bottoms, 4 pairs of shoes, and 4 accessories.
4) Layered over a sweater and ponte pants
Including a shirt dress in a style sudoku as an accessory made for outfit combinations that played with layering. With this outfit, I started with a base outfit of a black cashmere sweater and black ponte pants. The black cashmere sweater has a boxy fit, but it was able to be concealed fairly easily with the shirt dress layered over top. I added the matching tie to add a little definition to my waist, and I rolled the sleeves so the sweater could make an appearance.
5) As a skirt under a sweater and over pants (or tights)
Another way I love to wear dresses in general is as a dress with a top or sweater layered over top! (See other variations here.) This is another outfit from my style sudoku; I started with the black cashmere sweater again and a pair of black skinny jeans. Since the sweater is boxy, I tied it on the side to cinch the waist and let the shirt dress collar peek out over the sweater collar. I would recommend wearing a pair of pants that are less bulky on the bottom—ponte pants, leggings, and tights would all work best for this look (and feel much more comfortable)!