I was going to title this one, ‘Not Your Mother’s Plaid’ but my Mom hates that phrase, not your mother’s. “What’s wrong with your Mother’s?” she says. “Is it so bad to be like your Mother?” Fair point, Mom. And truth be told, if I searched hard enough through the 1232 photo albums that my mom has had piled up in the guest bedroom as an “organizing project” for the last ten years…I’d probably find an old photo of my incredibly stylish Mom wearing something that looks like this exact outfit. If there’s anything I’ve learned by now it’s that nothing is truly new.
One trend that feels new-ish (within a 2018 context) is plaid. Instead of the ubiquitous plaid shirt that dominated my early new-mom years (was that actually a trend, or just a nursing-friendly requirement? #nobodyanswerthat)…this season plaid has gone all sophisticated and refined*. Instead of bright buffalo checks, the more subdued glen plaids and herringbones are having a moment. So yes – prepare to see plenty of gray, plaid blazers with skinny jeans and graphic tees….and even some sweeping glen plaid trousers (office workers, go nuts). But the plaid trend that caught me somewhat unawares was the rather genius twist of taking the staid glen plaids and making them….flirty?
It turns out that these rather refined plaids make one hell of a minidress.
* there’s also some microtrend of big plaids being done in rainbow colors. I haven’t decided how I feel about that one yet.
Outfit Details
dress: Intermix Rosalyn Plaid Mini Dress (size 0 for reference)
boots: Jeff Campbell Coma Booties
bag: vintage
Fall Trend: Plaid Goes Feminine
Shop Flirty Plaid Dresses
I love my little plaid dress. I’ve obviously been wearing it on its own because, summer, but plan on layering a little white tee underneath it for Fall. With my Adidas sneakers. For winter, I’ll switch to a black turtleneck and OTK boots. That’s really the power of these plaid dresses: the print is, inherently, a print that screams winter, so layering these up over turtlenecks and under woolly things totally works. (If you’ve ever tried to layer a true sundress for winter, it often looks a bit off. Not so with plaid.)
Shop Pretty Plaid Separates
As I was perusing the internets, I came across a few plaid separates that had that flirty vibe I’m talking about. So fun.
Warmer Plaid Dresses
These are more like the plaid shirt dresses we all know and love…but with a little feminine twist. These aren’t exactly the trend I’m focusing on, but close enough.
xo,
S
