Styling a bohemian summer dress

Although the shops often seem full of boho dresses at this time of year, I struggle to find one in a colour or pattern that I actually like! This summer dress by Joanna Hope (bought via ebay) is now a favourite in my wardrobe. It’s in a beautiful dusky shade of khaki green and has an off-white pretty pattern all over. Perfect for summer holiday vibes!….

I think khaki green goes brilliantly with dusky pink, so to keep the spring evening chill at bay, I wore the dress with a lightweight cropped cardigan over the top. This one is a few years old from New Look and I wear it all the time. I think a little cardigan like this is a must to keep rolled up in your bag when it’s warm in the day, but there when you need it as the sun drops below the horizon.

I wore the summer dress with my pink suede Converse All Stars (which you are probably sick of seeing by now – sorry!), as I wanted some comfy shoes to walk in, but in hindsight I think the outfit would have looked better with sandals – either white to match the pattern in the dress, or natural brown leather would look nice.

The cropped cardigan is just the right length for this dress as it has an empire waistline. None of my other (extensive collection of) cardigans looked quite right! You do have to be careful with empire waist dresses that you don’t look like you’re wearing a maternity dress; they often aren’t the most flattering in the world, and I’ll be honest, this one isn’t really either! Look out for dresses that are made with lightweight flowy fabric. This one is quite stiff cotton and would probably be more suited to slim figures.

I loved the pin-tuck detail on the bust of the dress. Little things like that make an outfit look a bit more classy I think; and the V shape of the design is very flattering.

The necklace was an ebay buy and I’m sorry, I don’t know the shop it came from. I just loved the mix of stones and beads and I thought it had the ideal bohemian feel to go with this dress.

I also wore my fake septum piercing jewellery as I thought it matched the boho style of the outfit. And the metal wrist cuff is by famous armourer, Terry English, bought at the Glastonbury Fairy Fayre.

Shop the look: (These were the most similar I could find!) Dresses by Free People; necklace by Coast at Asos.

Linking with #iwillwearwhatilike at Not Dressed as Lamb.