Summer in December

I’m so excited to share this dress with you I can hardly stand it! After being featured in IFB’s Links a la Mode a few weeks ago, I came across a fellow LALM-er, The Curvy Elle. I looked around her Etsy shop, and came across this great Rothschild dress. Growing up, I wore a lot of Rothschild outerwear, so I immediately recognized the brand. Though they’re not as well-known anymore, I was happy to see that they still do exist! Seeing the dress in a picture, was one thing, but when it arrived, it was even more beautiful!

I have to tell you that this is probably not the best time of the year to wear this dress (at least in Washington!). It’s cold, wet, and rainy here, and this dress is super sheer. But look at the beautiful colors of blue, green, pink, and purple! I am absolutely in love with the gorgeous vibrant colors, and the beautiful watery pattern. I was so excited about this dress I just couldn’t wait till summer to wear it. What’s a girl to do with a beautiful dress that she doesn’t want to wait 6 months to wear? Style it for fall of course!

While I’d most likely wear this dress with strappy sandals and let the dress speak for itself, in order to style this dress for fall to make it wearable in the cold weather I needed to incorporate darker colors and make the dress a little warm so that I wouldn’t freeze when wearing it. I’m of course wearing my signature cardigan sweater (I won’t be caught dead without one!) to add warmth and a solid block of color to help calm the loud pattern. I always recommend adding a cardigan sweater, especially if you’d like to cover more of your upper arm, because at least for me, it’s not as toned as I’d like it to be!
Instead of opting for leggings or tights, I went for wearing cognac colored boots with the dress to incorporate a darker fall palette. Boots are great for fall and withstanding the rain and wind. A tangent on the boots – if you have larger calves like I do, these are a great option for full length boots. I picked them up at Nordstrom and them punch a few extra holes in the strap so they fit my calves more comfortably.
For accessories I added a cognac colored braided leather belt to tie-in the brown of the boots as well as create a more defined waistline. The rose gold jewelry, with its warm tone also helps to tie in the browns, but also lends to the bright warm colors of the dress.
Do you have a great summer dress you want to wear this fall? Here’s my simple formula for making it ready for the colder weather:

Summer Dress + Cardigan Sweater + Boots

(and a dash of darker colors)

Dress: Rothschild (from The Curvy Elle); Sweater: B.P.; Necklaces: Nordstrom Long Circle Link Necklace & Nordstrom Pendant Necklace (similar here); Belt: Tarnish Skinny Braided Leather Belt; Boots: Steve Madden ‘Intyce’ in Cognac