ou know how sometimes you buy a cheap dress and you kind of never really value it because it didn’t cost much so therefore it’s a no-big-deal-day kind of dress? I have heaps of these dresses and lots of them are actually quite lovely if I dress them up a bit so I thought I’d show you how I make a cheap-as-chips-dress look a bit more respectable.
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Wearing
ASOS Wiggle Dress (I got mine on sale for $45)
Shoes from TrippenÂ
OCC Lip Tar in Pretty Boy
Earring and rings from Thailand, India and Bali
Worn ForÂ
A sprightly walk to my office, grabbing a coffee and spilling it all down my front when a bus farted at me on the street, a lunch time walk to the river, a productive day of getting shit done and then dinner at Veggie Bar with my girls. Very pleasant day.
Style Notes For A Making Cheap Dress Look ClassyÂ
* Choose a classy cut. Nothing makes a cheap dress look cheaper than a tonne of visible thigh/butt/boob/back
* A patterned fabric will hide early deterioration of a cheap dress better than a solid colour
* Wear it with your most fabulous and spendy shoes and no one will even notice that your dress cost $45
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What are you wearing today? Explain to me Claudia Kishi style…
Example – I felt very lady like this morning so I wore my 1950s style wiggle dress. It’s white with a pinkish-red paisley flower design on it. I paired it with white strappy wooden heels and my signature hoop earrings. To top off the look I piled my hair in a messy bun on top of my head and added a dab of hot pink lip stain. I also put on several silver rings and painted my nails with a deep pinkish-red nail varnish.
27 Comments
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Pah – you writers – not all of us have your descriptive skills. Today, I am embracing Spring in a Sandwich dress – pink, red and taupe floral on a white background. Whilst having breakfast I am pondering whether to wear my taupe sandals or my brand new love them to bits block heel hot pink sandals. Taupe ones comfy as heck, but well, hot pink! Love your Asos dress – hope it survived the coffee shower. Xx
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Author
Ha! I love this description! It did survive the coffee shower… thankfully the stains didn’t show in this photo!
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Feeling French / boho chic today in my floaty black maxi skirt, with a black & white stripe loose shirt and a tan leather braided belt. Wearing my super comfy tan (wish I had bought the other pair in black / grey pebble textured leather) Country Road ankle wrap sandals. To add polish I have layered it up with my stone ‘shades of white & cream’ Anthropologie tassle necklace. My hair has a sleek finish and as a final touch I have my geek glasses on, simply because otherwise I would be blind as a bat……
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Awesome! Kishi would approve… I’ve had my eye on the Country Road wrap sandals! Comfy? Could you walk really far in them?
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I love them to bits. They took a few days to break in, as I have super wide feet, but after that they were brilliant. Mine are the flat-as-flat ones. They had the platform ones at the same time, which I was not keen on at all. Looked like you had pavers attached to your feet. Very versatile though as they are black on the innersole, so I can wear them with all black, or any other colour without them looking strange.
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Totally agree with the shoes point, many an op-shop dress has impressed others for me because of what was put with it.
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Definitely – I also stopped scrimping on shoes years ago because I walk so much I just need good support and good materials.
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I love this post Smags, but I would have loved it even more if the title had been: How to make a dress look (heaps) classy.
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That would have been a heaps good title…
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My word, you do look lovely!
This morning I discovered it was to reach a scorching 38 degrees in Adelaide-town, and so I selected a sweet yet simple floral dress, strappy sandals and swept my hair up into a high ponytail. The weather may be hot today, but I am most certainly keeping my cool.-
‘Selected’!!! That’s SO Claudia… and ‘swept’ – lets all quit blogging and get jobs as Ann M Martin Ghostwriters!
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Love this look! I agree. If you have the right shoes, the right accessories and the right attitude, you can make the dress look a million bucks!
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Ah! I should have added that… it’s all in the attitude! 🙂
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Stoked that I just bought a monochrome Charlie Brown stretchy dress with waist ruching / details (to hide my poochy beely) at the Salvos for $4.25. Yeah!!!
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Love that rushing!
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Nice one! Nothing like a bit of ruching!
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twice i typed ruching – spellcheck can be very bossy!
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Since I actually left the house today, I did get dressed. Even though I’ve got a ton of dresses in the wardrobe, my go-to dress for leaving the house lately is a black and white modcloth dress with a telephone print. It’s so simple to wear. Also wore my ladybug Hot Chocolate shoes because they make me feel happy – I had to go to Centrelink today so I needed something to cheer me up 🙂 And a black and white bandana.
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Ladybug Hot Chocolate shoes sound awesome.
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I love this dress on you Carly. You look amazing as always. V x
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Thank you! xx
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The right accessories make such a difference! And keeping on top of dress maintenance – I have a dress that looks fab but the fabric is so cheap it pills like nothing else, so I have to keep going over it with a razor.
*ahem* I was feeling dramatic today so I pulled out my favourite dress – it’s a black shift dress with a white yoke at the front – and paired it with my tallest wedge sandals. I swept my long hair into a clip so that my signature crystal drop earrings could stand out, and to complete the look I chose a striking pendant necklace that matched my red lip stain and nail polish. Then I ate 18 chocolate bars and passed out from the sugar rush (or was that Dawn?)
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Oh no that was definitley Claudia… Dawn only ate healthy food. And that description ROCKED!
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Your “when a bus farted at me” comment made me laugh out loud and nearly snort my coffee out my nose. I have never known what to call it when a bus makes that ridiculous noise and your turn of phrase is PERFECT! You crack me up 🙂
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It’s always a good day when I make someone comedy spray their beverage. I’ve always called them bus farts. They’re horrible and they scare the shit out of me every time!
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