Tartan Invaded Trends - The Shirt Dress

Our Tartan Invaded Trends blog post series aims to bring Tartan to the forefront of fashion, illustrating how subtly including hints of tartan in your outfit can be as on trend as the latest fashion trends themselves! This week we discuss The Shirt Dress.

Timely of course as we have just launched our very own tartan shirt dress on the website and we think you are going to love it. Named as a top 6 style for 2016 by Stylecaster and spotted on the fashion runways throughout the Spring we think the shirtdress is seriously underrated. So easy to wear 9 to 5 or for weekend brunch but also easily transformed into evening with some carefully chosen shoes and accessories.

The tailoring of the collar and adjustable tie-waist is flattering on every figure, different fabrics such as denim or lace or ditsy prints make finding your style easy, you can add your own belt to completely change the look, go longer or shorter, and of course with our Shirt Dress you can choose from over 500 tartans covering every clan in the country and ever colour combination you can dream of.

1. Add heels to take your shirtdress from day to evening wear. We love the simplicity of this outfit with the pops of colour from the accessories. If you like your tartan but don't want the whole dress in it you could switch that belt for a tartan one and add tartan accessories. And before you ask yes of course we can make the belt for you. Email us!

Alternatively go all tartan with your dress and wear a simple pair of heels.

2. For a vintage look go for a much longer length. Eva Mendes loves her shirt dresses and there is a good reason for this. Doesn't she always look effortlessly stylish? The matching heels look very elegant but remember that you can also carry off flat pumps with this dress if you know you will be on your feet all day. We have some very cute tartan pumps you can have made in your own family tartan if you want to liven up a plain shirt dress.

3. Go casual and layer over jeans. It doesn't have to be trendy ripped jeans but skinny jeans or leggings work best to give you shape, and leggings look particularly good with a shaped shirt dress.

4. Wrap it up - wear a simple top underneath and wear your shirtdress as a jacket.

5. Choose a floaty fabric and wear your shirt dress loosely buttoned over your bikini for a trip to the beach. Oh to live in Florida and not need a woolly jumper and a bobble hat when you go to the beach in summer!

Prints, plains, stripes, denim or tartan the choice of fabric and pattern is yours. The simplicity of the shirt dress lends itself to fabrics that fold and hang easily, and the unfussy cut means that if you are hankering after a wild pattern then this is the garment to do it with.