Lacey, sort-of Duro dress; 6 different ways

Oooh, I do enjoy doing these more than is healthy.  Playing about in my wardrobe, I mean.
I made this dress, a modified version of Simplicity 3745 out of white dotted swiss voile and a crocheted lace for the border and bodice trim about two and a half years ago and have worn it tonnes of times since.  I'm sure I will wear this one to death.  I was inspired by a minor infatuation in the fashion world for the Duro dress. The funny thing is that initially I wasn't one hundred percent happy with it.  The shape of the dress with its V-neck and gathered areas both in the bodice and in the skirt was new for me.  I felt the bodice made me look a little bit matronly in the bust.  This is kind of hilarious as I am really the complete opposite of matronly in the bust area, so yeah, the dress was a new experience.  But initial "is it really me?" thoughts notwithstanding, the dress has had plenty of outings.  So I guess it turned out to be "me" after all.  The presence of lace helped, probably.
White is sometimes seen as a difficult colour to mix and match, a prima donna colour much the same as black which can swamp and downplay any other colour.  But I had no troubles playing with this dress and creating six different seasonal looks.  In fact it was heaps of fun!


The light colour, airiness and laciness of the fabric says "summer" all by itself, so in the warmer months the dress is ready to go with a colourful scarf as its only adornment, below left.  To be honest, the lowness of that neckline does mean a scarf makes me feel a lot more comfortable in this dress...
If a fancier summer ensemble is required the all-white look is always elegant, with a little cardigan, heels and an elegant bag all that is needed to dress it up for a half glamorous soiree, below right.

For a casual day, a few drab neutrals downplay the rampant femininity of that frothy white lace at left, and on a cooler day the freshness of white gives a lift to a warm richly textured and coloured scarf, a denim jacket and some slouchy boots, to make a nice outfit for meeting some friends or the husband out somewhere, at right.

On colder winter days, the dress has enough of its own personality than it can stand being toughened up a bit with all-black accessories such as biker boots and a little black leather jacket and a long skinny scarf. Actually I have worn this exact outfit several times last winter but never took a photo for the blog.  And for a smarter day look, the lace border of the dress looks interesting when peeping out from under a winter coat.

Which look here is your favourite look?
(The look I am wearing today is the drab one, with my dog in the picture with me...)