The best black dress for travel + 3 ways to wear
Today I’m joining my friend Cindy to share our new favorite black dress for travel and sharing 3 ways to wear it! The dress I am sharing today is so easy to wear and who doesn’t love a one-piece easy dress for those days when you say…I have nothing to wear as you stare into a closet full of clothes!
You only have to lose your luggage once on a two week surf trip to France to never again check your luggage. At 5’10” and a size 10.5 shoe I am not the easiest to fit and least not happily. My daughter can look at something and know if it will fit and it always does. I’m not that way. So now, I only do carry-on no matter how long I’m traveling. Having one black dress that I can wear multiple ways is key.
What I love about this dress from COS
I have been wearing COS dresses ever since I worked at Serena & Lily. They are my go-to for dresses or tunics that I can wear over jeans. I saw this dress on Instagram on a much younger, adorable woman and she showed how to wear it through the seasons! I am showing how I plan to wear it through spring and summer. I’m sure I’ll keep wearing it in the fall and winter too!
It’s 90% cotton and 10% elastane. It is a wash and hang-to-dry kind of dress. And when I say wash, I mean you could wash this is the sink and hang it up and it looks great! I love pieces like this for travel. It folds up easily and doesn’t take up a lot of space.
What is the fit like?
I’m tall and I still feel like this midi dress works. I’ve seen it on women that are more average height and wearing it with everything from a fun sneaker to a bootie. It has toggle ties on each side that can easily adjust to make the waist the perfect size.
It’s easy to wear as is or layer under with a long sleeve t-shirt or striped-shirt for a spring look. Even thought the sleeves are full, the material is soft enough to wear a coat in the winter or thick cardigan over it without having it feel bulky. Like I said, this dress is very easy to wear!
1. I love this dress with all black
Spring has come very slowly here in the northeast so I’ve been layering a long sleeve black t-shirt under the dress. I love these long and short sleeve t-shirts from Lululemon for layering or to wear on their own. If you’ve followed me for more than a minute, you know I only wear flats. These are Oxfords from Cole-Haan and very old. Here are a few oxfords that I love currently.
2. A black dress with brown shoes and bag
I love mixing brown and black. It’s like mixing metals in your home. I’m all for it. Both the bag and shoes are old. The bag is a Goyard that we got in Paris a very long time ago and the oxfords are Cole-Haan. They no longer make them, but The Office of Anglea Scott makes the most gorgeous shoes and specifically oxfords that I have on my wish list for when I need a new pair! Mine are similar to this pair at Nordstrom!
3. This dress can be worn with almost anything and that includes Birkenstocks
I love the new Big Buckle Birkenstocks and I think they are perfect with this dress for running errands around town, in the city or anywhere I travel. On the left, I am wearing my Kule boyfriend fit stripe shirt under the dress. I am wearing it with Birkenstocks, but I think it would be cute with sneakers like these too!
I received this bag from Uashmama a little too late to include in the post. But I will be wearing my navy tote with my COS dress too! I love black and navy together!
I can’t wait to see the black dress Cindy found to share! Let’s go see!
Cindy Hattersley Design
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You look like a witch … your friends won’t tell you but I will.
Perfect! Now I have my Halloween costume! I just need a hat! haha
I LOVE that dress! Genius fabric content for travel and the drawstrings are so smart. I wonder if I could wear it? I am so long-waisted. I always have problems with waisted dresses, but this one looks like it could work. I love the Birkenstock look. It is my favorite. Annie that is your dress. I guess I need to start following some young girls for fashion tips. That is a clever dress!
I wish I could wear a dress like this. It reminds of long ago when embroidered peasant blouses from Mexico were all the rage. Now that I am gained a few pounds (ahem) I avoid anything gathered around the neck as it adds lbs in the chest area. It is darling on you and you have inspired me to add a few black pieces to my summer wardrobe! I adore oxfords too! Thanks for a great post!
Hi Marcia! I know the tops you are talking about and I can’t wear those either! This dress is sort of a one-size-fits! It’s a lot of dress, but I do think I’ll get lots of use out of it over the year. I do love oxfords!! xx
You looks so French in that dress…brilliant all the ways you show to wear it. It looks comfortable and chic.
A carryon…for two weeks. Impressive. I don’t think I can do it.
Mary Ann-After losing my luggage for 2 weeks, I decided I would rather do laundry than take the chance of losing my luggage again!
Annie I adore that dress on you and the way you styled it. So cute with long t-shirt. I hadn’t thought of doing that on cold days! I have an issue with gathered waists as I have a short waist and maybe this is too much info, but low bustline. I usually have the gathering hit me right under it. I wish I was tall like you and we had a COS store. You look fab. Love your bags, and the Birks. You know you will wear this so much and I hope you bring it on your Europe trip- will look so chic! x Kim
You are so sweet and supportive Kim! I’m getting a lot of Handmade tale comments…and a witch! haha
Annie … what a carefree and easy dress but also sophisticated. Perfect travel dress. And I feel for you on the lost luggage thing. Still, it’s so hard for me to pack a carryon. I must get better. Ok, so you’ve styled this dress with many great options, but my favorite with with the stripped tee underneath and the Birks. So good! xo
Juliet, my luggage showed up on the last day just before we departed after 2 weeks! I wore my son’s t-shirts and bought a few things at a surf shop and Monoprix, it really does remind me of how we can do with less if we need to! But I would have loved to have had my things!
Annie…this is such a great dress on you! I love your style, especially with the stripe shirt peeking out. Of course, I’m a sucker for stripes so there is that. It will look amazing with your new navy bag and the gorgeous scarf that is hanging next to it. I spied that scarf on your Sunday Favorites post and instantly loved it.
This dress is artsy, feminine, edgy and “witchy” too! What a cool dress to style so many ways! I just ❤️It!