Lookbook summer 2014: All you need is spunk (and a dress)

Summer = dresses in my book. Well, actually, any season does, but as soon as the first rays of summer sunshine start peeping through my windows I automatically reach for a dress. If I go through the laundry I did in the past couple of weeks I’ve worn a total of 10 – 12 dresses on average over the coarse of 14 days. That’s like 95 % of the time. I just throw one on, pair it with a fun pair of shoes and I’m out the door. I do not faff about with accessories: if it’s too hot, I don’t care much for necklaces and the like as they will simply make me feel sticky. These aren’t per se my favorite summer dresses, I will be sharing those with you next week, but for now I show you some fun summer dresses I own that have a bit of a quirk to them. Be it a bright color, a fun pattern or a cool detail, these are dresses that are guaranteed a second look from passers by. Hence the title.

1.) The floral tulip dress

Floral tulip dress (H&M)
Yellow belt (New Yorker)Yellow flats (New Yorker)

I’m not saving the best for last this time. This dress not only has a fun floral print, but also pastel and bright colors all mixed into one. It reminds me of an Impressionist painting. To top things off, the shape of this dress follows the shape of my body perfectly AND it has a silky shiny finish which makes it look a lot more luxurious than it actually is. To bring out the fun yellows in the dress I paired it with a yellow belt and shoes. It instantly lifts the whole thing into summery spirits. When I wore this to work one of my colleagues commented: ANOTHER fun and bright dress, I love it! And I love it too.

2.) Clean meSH

Cream dress with mess polka dot insert (H&M)
Tan strappy flatforms (H&M)
Tan belt in first picture (H&M)

While I was taking pictures I realized that I liked this dress much better without the belt. So off it went! There are two things which I have gotten into this past year: a) creamy white dresses and b) wearing my hair swept to the side. Especially the latter is a summer thang and fairly recent, but I just love the look of some side swept bangs. The rest of the outfit is plain and simple. The dress has the coolest mesh with polka dot detail at the top which makes it not suitable for wearing necklaces as it would simply take away from the dress as a whole. The fit & flare shape fits my body quite well I think and I went with nude flatforms to keep things nice and clean.

3.) Rockin’ Peach

Peach shirtdress (H&M)
Leopard print sneakers (H&M)

Again something nice and simple. I love shirtdresses but unfortunately they never fit me very well. Neither does this one, I know. Plus I had some bra issues while taking these pictures. Oh well, that’s life I guess. Despite all that, I love the color of this dress and it’s the reason why I love wearing it. It has a bit of a rockabilly vibe to it, yet the color makes it cute and girly. And it is super duper summer proof. I added a pair of leopard print sneakers to add a bit of interest to the whole outfit. The dress itself is so plain that I knew I wanted to go with either a statement necklace or a fun pair of shoes. I chose the latter and I think the print amps it up just enough without overdoing it.

4.) Pure Mint

Mint green filigree dress (Forever 21)
Tan wedge sandals (Van Haren)
Belt (H&M)

Quite possibly my favorite dress in the bunch is this mint green dress from Forever 21. It’s cute because of its color but the textured toplayer makes this anything but a boring ‘here-we-go-again’ mint green dress. It’s also a mint color which pulls more blue than green and I always think those are the best mint colors. It’s fresh, not too young looking and the fit and flare style makes for a dress that hugs your curves in all the right ways. The tan sandals add a bit of much needed height and elongate my legs without taking the attention away from the center piece of the outfit: the dress.

5.) Mrs. Brightside

Neon pink tank dress (H&M)
Grey checkered flats (Invito)

This dress does not win the prize for most flattering clothing item in my wardrobe, but boy is it a fun one! It’s bold, it’s bright and it’s just how I like it. It even has pockets! What else could a girl want. If you’re looking for a dress that will turn some heads wherever you go, try a neon pink one. The ‘boom’ in your face color needs nothing else to stand out and make a statement. For a more sporty vibe I added these checkered flats which look a bit like sneakers. Both items are ancient and were on sale when I bought them. This entire outfit cost a whooping 15 euros in total (the dress was only 5, the shoes 10). Who’d ever think you could wear an outfit that could potentially blind people for such little money, eh?

What are your fun dresses to wear?