8 Ways To Wear a Tall Black Maxi Dress
There seems to be so much love for the “little black dress” (aka, the LBD), but I’m going to tell you right now I’m *way* more into the BMD. Otherwise known as the Black Maxi Dress. Maybe it’s my mom status now, or just the absolute desire to be as comfortable as I can 1000% of the time. But I will sub the LBD for the BMD any day of the week.
That said, as a tall girl who stands just dang shy of 6’4” in height, I went MANY years without being able to find a tall women’s maxi dress that fit me like it should! I have very vivid memories of being in some mall stores with girlfriends and them trying to convince me that a maxi dress I was trying on was “totally” fine in length. I knew they were just trying to be nice, so I put that NON-tall maxi dress right back on the hanger and left it with the dressing room attendant.
But now I FINALLY have my very own extra long, extra comfy, extra wonderful tall black maxi dress made specifically for peeps like me! Friends, if you are forever struggling to find a dress that hits you in all the right places, be sure to visit this collection of dresses. Especially if you are on the hunt for a long women’s tall dress. We cut many of our styles in two lengths (we are the originators of this line of thinking, the OG’s if you will, wink wink) and so no matter how long your inseam needs are, we have you covered. Maybe you’re a shopping skeptic like I was for most all of my first thirty years on this planet, and if you are, I FEEL YOU. I wish I had a dollar for every time I walked into a store and had a sales person tell me that I “had to try” a certain style on because it was “totally too long for everyone else.” Cut to: me still needing an extra 4” of length. If that resonates with you, I am telling you, you must try these dresses! They will change it all for you!
We decided to add a tall black maxi dress to this season’s collection because it’s just one of those pieces that is so versatile, so chic and frankly, so flattering. On everyone!!! And just to prove how versatile a piece like this is, I challenged myself to put together at least five different ways to style it using what already exists within my closet. I purchased NO new items for this experiment, I merely had fun layering and testing different looks. At the end of the day, I came up eight different ways that I would actually wear this dress throughout all the seasons of the year. If you happened to read this post, you know that I am a big believer in ensuring that you’re always getting a big ROI out of all the pieces that you bring into your wardrobe. I’m less into impulse buys and more into intentional shopping that helps you feel your best. If you’re going to spend money on something, make sure you can wear it a few different ways and to a few different places. That’s easily accomplish-able with a style like this! Let’s review the 8 different looks I did!
#1 – The Accessories
Okay we’ve all heard a million times that accessories make the outfit. But when you have a piece like this long black maxi, that could not be more true. For those hot sticky days where less clothing is actually *more*, some fun coordinated accessories are easy to throw on and can give it a whole new vibe. In this case, I found a leopard print belt that I tied around my waist and then layered on the bracelets!
#2– The Jean Jacket + Hat
I’m a big believer that everyone should have a well-fitting jean jacket in their wardrobe. S-T-A-P-L-E. Talk about return on purchase, you can wear it with virtually anything…..including this maxi. I love the vibe that you get when you pair a jean jacket with a cute hat and some flip flops. It’s quintessential summer and I’m definitely here for it.
#3 – The Floral Kimono
Speaking of summer vibes, you get all that you can handle if you add a fun floral kimono to your look!! This particular kimono that I found in the depths of my closet was actually pretty long, so it didn’t look great if I just wore it open over the dress. But once I tied it up, it was perfect! I found a gold statement necklace that also was pretty long, so I tied that shorter (with a skinny hair elastic) and then added a straw hat to polish it all off. Super fun!!
#4 – The Button-Up Shirt
Continuing on in the “tying shirts” trend, I next used a striped linen shirt that’s also a part of this season’s collection and and tied it up in front, too! The fabric of this particular shirt is a soft ivory & chambray blue color, so to better coordinate the colors, I added a necklace that has some gold & soft blue colors to it as well. And kept on the same hat from look #3! This shirt has sleeves that are full length (tall girls, can I get a Hallelujah?!), but because this was more of a summery look, I opted to roll them back a bit. Don’t forget your favorite summer sandal!
#5 – The Top Knot
Ladies, serious question. Do you have a favorite long sleeve thermal or lightweight sweater that you love? Because if so, you have look #5 ready to go. For this look, all I did was use one of my thermal shirts and again tied it up in a big knot. Truly not sure if it gets any easier than that! And can we talk about how COMFORTABLE it is? Seriously, you will fall in love with this look for that reason alone. Given that it’s not even summer here yet, I’m not wishing for fall. But rest assured when the fall arrives, this will be a staple outfit for me.
#6 – The Moto Jacket + Sneaks
One of the very most beloved and cherished items that I own is this moto jacket for tall women that we did last season. It’s the epitome of cool. PLUS, it’s made from a lux sweatshirt material making it even more comfortable and easy to wear. Given how fast it sold out for us, we definitely plan on adding more fabulous coats for tall women season after season. For this look, I added it overtop my maxi dress and then finished the look off with my favorite walking sneaks! Comfortable meets cool.
#7 – The Belted Cardigan
As someone who binges on all things cardigans, I can honestly recreate this look almost 5 different ways just using all the different cardigans I have in my closet. I’m guessing most of you have at least 1, as well. I tied a belt around my midsection and a small necklace and voilah! This would be a great look for early fall. You could also easily add some ankle booties to the mix if the weather isn’t quite supportive of sandal season anymore!
#8 – The Grand Finale
This one is one of my favorites, I’ll be honest with you. For this look, I used a blouse that I have had for many years and still love. To help give it a little more shape and make it the perfect length, I used a little trick involving a belt. First, I tied a belt around my waist, then I put the blouse on and tucked the bottom of the blouse into the belt. I threw on a fabulous chunky necklace for effect and BAM!
So as you can see, it’s so easy to take one piece and make it look a multitude of different ways!! I came up with all of these in about 10 minutes, just mixing and matching everything that already existed within my closet. I love finding new ways to repurpose old styles, and with a simple canvas like this tall black maxi dress, there’s no shortage of ways you can style it!