Lesson in Layering, Meet Make an Old Dress New Again

I bought this dress from The Outnet over two years ago before a wedding in Mexico. It was the offspring of one of my favorite Stella McCartney shows to date so I was thrilled to have it, which was reflected in the frequency with which I wore it. But as is always the case with peanut butter syndrome, the novelty wore off, the flavor ran bland and it was shelved.

Until, that is, a few weeks ago when Thornton Bregazzi for Preen debuted his F/W 2014 collection in London and there were these skirts — tight until just below the butt and then flowing loosely until mid-shin — that I realized I could totally approximate that look without a) shopping, b) waiting until next fall.

I started with the dress and then layered a tight black mini skirt from All Saints over it, letting the pleats run free like coyotes in the wild. Then I placed a white short sleeve shirt by M. Patmos over the top of the blouse and looked kind of like a disheveled history teacher until I concealed the grubbiness with ye olde (and reliable) black cashmere Uniqlo sweater. I tucked the shirt into the skirt and then performed a half tuck with the sweater.

Next I added strappy sandals — these ones by Stuart Weitzman to give me height and salsa, which was followed by the inclusion of so many accessories, I smelled like the product of a metal factory. The bracelets are Dannijo and the choker is by one Paula Mendoza.

Finally, I cloaked by upper half in a green and white leather knee-length jacket from Club Monaco and a pair of round frames from the Peter Pilotto for Target collab-o-lab.

Then I was ready to run free, so, run free I did.