Where to Shop for Affordable Spring And Summer Dresses for All Occasions + Styling Tips

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Affordable Spring and Summer Dresses —

This was a patience fest for me.

I scoured the internet to bring you some detailed research that is both digestible and affordable.

I’ve talked briefly on Target and Walmart, and I will have a few options from Target in this post ..

But I wanted to bring in a site I have never shopped before, and a site that I feel gets overlooked, and have only shopped once, almost ten years ago.

From there, I want to share my style tips for when you find a dress you love, but you don’t love it on you.

As a society, we need to remember that how pieces are sold and created are just suggestions.

Consider how you can adjust it to your desired pace — that is up to you.

You probably have a closet full of clothes you love —

Sometimes we just need to rework some creative edge into those pieces — Also known as styling,

Red Dress

The first site I want to go over is Red Dress. 

It’s an affordable, millennial fever dream, meets Tuckernuck website.

You can brunch, weddings, and look polished in the designs they offer.

Review of First Order & Dress Quality/Sizing

My final review — pay attention to the details in the photo on their website, because they do advertise the pieces as they are. 

My gripe is with the chest size and the unfinished lace on the waistline, so it will be a very delicate piece to keep. 

Another issue I have is something I can fix. Actually, two things.

First, this dress is not in my color season, so I want to get new satin straps put on that are white, emerald, and a pink color in my season. Three options in total…. I want to be able to switch them in and out, so I want to get snap attachments placed in the front and back of the dress (on the interior).

My next issue is that this dress, and perhaps the website in general, does not cater to bigger chest sizes, so while I can get the dress on (it’s a tight squeeze), and I could absolutley use a zipper expander to make more room for my chest area. 

You can see my chest and arm area fighting for its life in this dress — it is a cute dress, but not a total winner for me.

If you have a D cup like me, this dress likely needs an expander.

You can get the dress here. 

Fashion Nova

Holly Madison did a try-on for a video she did a few weeks ago, and it got me thinking — how quality are the dresses? 

They have two dress fashion lines on their website, it seems.

Fashion Nova and Luxe. I ordered from both lines.

If you buy their tweed dresses, I would size up.

Another thing that I experienced, again, is that chest boning in the bodice of their dresses does not cater to larger chests, so again, the sizing is really hit and miss for the chest in their brand of dresses. 

I will say, the lining on most of the dresses is done very well, with minimal support added to the chest area’s.

You can buy the Yara Dress here.

It is size up recommended for bigger chests, and is a comfortable fit. 

Chest Size Inclusion – Affordable Spring and Summer Dresses

Next is a dress I really loved on the website, but it’s probably my least favorite IRL. 

IRL, it did not fit my chest at all, and the chest detailing is flimsy, so it really needs to fit you well in order to work.

If you size up, you will need to get the waist taken in.

You can buy the dress here.

Finally, the Fashion Nova Luxe dress.

This shift dress is a really fun fuchsia pink color, with really structured fabric and lining that does feel more quality than their normal line of dresses.

You can buy the dress here.

I sized up and will need to get it taken in at the shoulders at the very least.

Final thoughts on Fashion Nova dresses — I think they offer great quality, and if you are proportionate in your bust to regular sizing, I think most items should work for you. 

However, if the rest of you fits in a different size and your chest is bigger than that size — it can get tricky.

Quality-wise, I think it is as expected, with sprinkled in moments above expectations, here and there. 

Target Dresses & Styling Tips

I loved these dresses online, but once I got them on myself, I was no longer as enthusiastic.

That is, until I added things to make them more styled to my Kibbe body typed frame, which is a soft classic.

The first dress from Target is this floral, empire waist dress.

Empire Waists & Kibbe Body Type Soft Classics

Empire waistlines do not work well on a soft classic frame, but are better for soft naturals.

I added my grandma’s brooch to one side, and it totally felt more customized to my frame, and brought emphasis to my waist, breaking up my bottom and top half, which is crucial for a soft classic.

Adding Personalized Touches to Mass-Produced Clothing 

I would absolutely wear this dress to a wedding, as it looks and feels more elevated and has both texture at the waist and the bottom half of the skirt of the dress, whereas before, it was textured just at the bottom half of the dress.

Note: Be warned, this August Sky dress took about a month to arrive after it had been ordered, as it seems to be outside the Target distribution brands.

Brooch Styling

Now, how I really want to style it is with two matching brooches, so I will do a blog post about fun accessories soon.

This is my favorite way I think. It looks like it could be very chic. Idk. I will have to play around with it.

Balancing Your Frame with Accessories

The next dress works well for a soft classic, but the sharpness of the collar clashed with the roundness soft classic frames look best in.

The top half also did not fit as loosely with my bust size, so I opted to try it fully buttoned, and then I unbuttoned a few. In a real life situation, I would consider a lace cami or bra that covered any cleavage. 

Cutting Out What Isn’t Working

Next, I ditched the belt it came with, as it looks cheap, and throws off the balance of my proportions —

To make sure I felt my best in the dress, I incorporated a wider belt and added a scarf to the belt area to give more dimension, texture, and depth. 

I would love to try this with a few other belts.

Embracing Roundness, Curve, and Proportions as a Soft Classic

I prefer how the dress looks with the top half unbuttoned more. 

A surprising feature is how well-lined and of high quality the fabric feels.

You can buy the dress here.

The final dress from Target does not have styling. I had to at least try it.

I have to say it is not a great dress for a larger chest. It is cute though.

You can buy the dress here.

Target has some great tiered dresses and satin dresses that are perfect for wedding season, so you should absolutely check those out.

Currently, I have this in my cart.

I will do a best of Target round-up, where I just compile my findings that I have committed to.

Happy shopping your closet, happy affordable finds, and happy styling.

xx,

Nikita