Making Dress Shirt Dresses

A belt and a sewing kit can make a shirt a dress.

The shirt dress trend combines the masculine design of a dress shirt with the curves of a feminine silhouette, sometimes accentuating it with a belt at the waist. Iin 2007, FabSugar, a division of the popular Sugar, Inc. blog family announced that shirtdresses were on "Trend Alert." In 2010, Alixrose.com, another fashion blog, declared that the shirt dress trend was coming back in the spring and summer. They cited an editorial page in the January 2010 issue of Harper's Bazaar that was captioned "Sex Appeal," featuring a model stark in a Calvin Klein dress shirt dress.

Things You'll Need

• Men's dress shirt
• Needle
• Thread
• Scissors
• Measuring tape
• Sewing machine (optional)
• Waist belt (optional)

Instructions

Styling a Dress Shirt

1. Put on the men's dress shirt, ensure that the shirt is long and large enough to adequately cover, as a dress would.

2. Adjust the shirt to your own liking. FabSugar suggests styling it by unbuttoning a few buttons on the top and/or bottom of the shirt. FabSugar also suggests adding the belt at your waist to complement your body's womanly curves.

3. (Optional) If you find that the shirt is too loose in any area you may want to sew darts into the dress shirt to complement your figure.

Tips & Warnings

• If you choose to sew darts, make sure to measure the darts to adequately fit the body of the person that will be wearing the shirt dress before cutting and sewing the material. If you would like to sew darts but do not know how you may watch the eHow: How to Make a Dart Video, or follow the steps in the eHow: How to Sew Darts in Clothing article.

References

• Alixrose.com; Spring Summer Series: The Shirt Dress; March 22 2010
• Sugar, Inc.; FabSugar: Trend Alert: The Shirtdress; July 20 2007
• Hearst Communications Inc; Haper's Bazaar; January 2010

Resources

• eHow; How to Sew Darts in Clothing
• eHow; Sewing Basics: How to Make a Dart