Shirtdresses: An alternative for a chic, modest fashion.

FashFaith's Pick

Beside other basic wardrobe items popular amongst Muslim women, such as tunics, long-sleeved tees, or maxidress/abayas; shirtdresses can become a chic alternative for your modest fashion's style.

According to wikipedia, a shirtdress (or sometimes called shirtwaist dresses) is

a style of dress which borrows details from a man's shirt. These can include a collar, a button front, or cuffed sleeves. Often, these dresses are made up in crisp fabrics like cotton or silk, much like a men's dress shirt would be.

As they are typically cut without a seam at the waist, these dresses often have a looser fit, usually relying on a belt to define the waist. Button fronts and a forgiving fit make this a flattering look for most body types.

In regard to my observation, the usual tunics and long sleeved tees mostly fall right below the waist or on to the hip, differ to shirtdresses that fall down below the hip and sometimes fall grazing the knees, also cover your thighs. It makes the shirtdress a better choice for Muslim women if they want more coverage while wearing a pair of jeans or pants.

A shirtdress also usually looks more flattering on most women and gives much more style than a typical tunic or long-sleeved tee. It gives a girly or feminine touch (from its A-line or skirt-look bottom's shape) that most tunics and tees can not give.

That's why I love the shirtdresses.. :)

A vintage shirtdress, late 1960s-early 1970s.

A 1950s vintage "shirtwaist" dress.

(Images source: wikipedia)

Below are some of my favorite shirtdresses:

1. Boy. by Band of Outsiders - Shirtdress

2. Madewell - Wayward plaid shirtdress

3. Yigal Azrouel - Silk shirtdress

4. Diane von Furstenberg - Cynthia shirtdress

5. DKNY - Harper print shirtdress

6. Thakoon addition - Button front shirtdress

7. Thakoon addition - Gathered waist shirtdress

(Outfit styling: Ashfi Qamara, via My Amethyst)

Hijab styling tips:

• You can wear either pants, jeans, or a skirt, underneath the shirtdress... then pop up your headscarf, and you are ready to go! ;) 

• Shirtdresses can be worn in many ways... You can wear a shirtdress as an outerwear with the buttons open over a sleeveless maxidress.. and then accessorized the look with a loose skinny-belt over the shirtdress, like this:

• Or wear a sleeveless shirtdress as a vest over your "tight" outfit to give you a modest look. 

Thakoon addition - Sleeveless print shirtdress.

• Or the opposite, wear it as a base-layer underneath your edgy outer wear such as a leather vest or edgy jacket like shown by the image below:

(Image source: teen.com)

A sleeveless shirtdress worn by Selena Gomez, and Ashley Greene worn the same shirtdress as a base-layer for her edgy jacket added with a scarf..

What do you think? Do you love shirtdresses, too?

Fashioning Faith's Updates are on Twitter - Facebook - RSS - BlogLovin