The shirt dress

Shirt dresses are a very cool way to strike a balance between easy-casual and put-together chic.

Often based on the construction of a men’s dress shirt, shirt dresses usually have enough structure and detail – like a button-down front or collar – to make a statement on their own without much accessorizing. A well-placed belt if your dress has a little too much volume, one bold piece of jewelry and a great pair of boots for fall, and you’re good to go.

{ This Need Supply Co. dress (above) is similar to this T by Alexander Wang }

I’ve also seen a lot of variations on the traditional shirt dress, like henley, baseball, safari, polo and chambray shirt versions. These two aren’t really “shirt dresses,” but I just had to include these cute trench “coat dresses.” They’re really a sweet twist on the same idea.