Wear it, drape it, layer it. A gilet and shirt dress to enjoy freely in 3 ways

A dress that flutters in the breeze is an all-purpose item that lets you achieve an effortless style with just one piece.

Beyond color and pattern, dresses come in a rich variety of forms too—with or without a collar, with or without buttons. A dress that connects top and bottom into one continuous piece also has the effect of making the silhouette look longer and leaner.

Easy to wear as a single piece. But the tricky part of a dress is that the way you wear it tends to fall into the same pattern every time. There's also the question of whether dress styling can really only be enjoyed during the warmer months of the year, since thin fabrics and short sleeves limit the season—meaning the window for enjoying dress style might actually be quite short.

The key to getting more mileage out of a dress you can wear so casually is to broaden the ways you wear it. Among such solutions, the shirt dress and the gilet offer styling that dispels these very concerns.

Three styling lessons using a shirt dress

Among dresses, the one that broadens your styling options the most is the shirt dress. A shirt dress has a collar like a shirt, a crisp construction, and buttons down the front. This time, we'll explore how to style two shirt dresses with different designs.

Shirt dress 1: Striped Shirt Dress / ZUTTO

The ZUTTO original Striped Shirt Dress is made from high-density cotton. It has buttons down the front, but the key point is that from the second button down, they are hidden buttons (a fly-front construction). The fine stripes reinforce the straight, elongated silhouette, giving off a neat, put-together air.

Shirt dress 2: Shirt Dress / Les Olivades

The shirt dress from Les Olivades is patterned using the toile peinte (printed cotton) technique, in which motifs of the plants and animals of France's Provence region are carved into wood blocks and printed mainly with plant-based dyes. Despite being covered in an all-over pattern, it gives off just the right balance of vividness and freshness.

① The basic style: "Wear it"

Let's start with the basic way of wearing it: "wear it." Here we look at wearing the dress as a single piece with the shirt fully buttoned.

Bangle: Snake Design Bangle/196 / L’INDOCHINEUR, Bag: HORSE LEATHER DRAW STRINGS POUCH/S (Drawstring Shoulder Bag) / ARTS&CRAFTS, Shoes: MUKAVA Inner Wedge Sole Sandals / chausser ※Coming soon

This way of wearing it shows off the distinctive collar of the ZUTTO Striped Shirt Dress. By setting the tenhaba (the width across the back of the collar) generously wide, there's room around the neck even when the top button is closed. It's this collar that achieves a dress that isn't "too stiff."

With the Striped Shirt Dress, since the hem falls around knee length, you can wear it alone with a petticoat underneath, or pair it with slim leggings. Wearing it as a dress keeps the legs looking neat and creates an elongated silhouette.

Bag: Circle Raffia Bag / Sans Arcidet, Shoes: Flat Shoes JazzShoe White / CATWORTH

When all the buttons of the Les Olivades shirt dress are fastened, the pattern is shown off to full effect, heightening the sense of vividness. The slits on the sides add a lighter, breezier feel. Pairing it with white shoes and a basket bag ties the look together with a fresh, clean impression.

② Surprisingly easy: "Drape it"

The second way of wearing it is to "drape it." It might seem tricky at first to turn an item you think of as a dress into something you drape over your shoulders, but once you try it, you'll find this styling actually pairs surprisingly well with all kinds of outfits. For example, a t-shirt and pants combination that might feel a little too casual on its own instantly gains a touch of maturity just by draping a shirt dress over it.

Watch: Field Watch Sterile Desert Tan / MARATHON, Bag: Handbasket 008 / MUUN, Pants: Half Pants / Fileuse d'Arvor, Sandals: MACI Clog Sandals BLACK / dansko ※Coming soon

The cotton Striped Shirt Dress looks light and airy too. You can drape it over your shoulders the way you would a thin long cardigan or a spring coat. Since the fabric has some body to it, rolling up the sleeves lets you enjoy the crisp, crumpled texture with a nice sense of dimension.

Bag: Basket M/BE / TOINO ABEL, Cut-and-sew top: Cotton Round Neck Cut-and-Sew Top / MAJESTIC FILATURES, Pants: Chino Trousers BEIGE / ZUTTO, Sandals: MACI Clog Sandals YELLOW / dansko ※Coming soon

Les Olivades (レゾリヴァード) shirt dresses remain the star of the show even when worn open as a light layer, drawing the eye wherever they go. Pairing them with vivid earth tones like blue, yellow, or green strikes a nice balance. If you're pairing one with longer pants, tuck the top hem into the bottoms, raise the waistline slightly, and add heeled shoes—this keeps you from looking shapeless.

③For a fresh new mood: "Layering"

The third styling approach is "layering." By adding a cut-and-sew top over the shirt dress, you can create a fresh mood that differs from the basic dress style. The key to combining a cut-and-sew top with a dress is creating contrast in color and material.

Cut-and-sew top: V-neck pullover / ZUTTO, Bag: [Special Order] Canvas Bag SCCF 001 BLACK/GREY / SUNSET CRAFTSMAN CO., Shoes: Tap Shoes Star Tap Shoe Black / CATWORTH

A thin-striped shirt dress pairs well with a slightly thicker cut-and-sew top. Combining them in monotone keeps things elegantly cohesive. Let the shirt dress peek out casually at the collar and cuffs as an accent. The swaying hem of the dress adds a stylish touch.

Cut-and-sew top: KARINA Cotton Sweater / FilMelange, Bag: Small Pack GREEN /  FILSON

If you're layering a Les Olivades shirt dress with a cut-and-sew top, choose something thoroughly simple to bring out the appeal of the dress's pattern. A cotton sweater with a somewhat coarse knit lets the dress show through faintly, so even though it's a sweater, it won't feel stifling. Since layering creates a slightly more casual look, you can pair it with sneakers and a backpack for a well-balanced outfit.

"Layering" takes the lead. Putting it into practice with a gilet, an arrangement for temperatures from 15°C to 25°C

Another item within the dress category that can be applied to a wide range of styling is the gilet. Written as "gilet" in French, this originally referred to a sleeveless inner garment. Since it's closer to a vest, it was meant to be worn with an outer layer on top, showing at the chest.

The Vlas Blomme Linen Jersey Long Gilet is a dress-type gilet made of soft, fitted linen with a lengthened hem. Since it's made of a thin, comfortable material, it's a very useful item for the "layering" approach among the three ways to style a dress. This coordination applies not just to spring but can be used all the way through the height of summer. It's a versatile item that will serve you across the seasons.

①A gilet for 15°C, when there's still a slight chill in the air

Inner: Wool Round-Body Rib Long-Sleeve High Neck / ZUTTO, Bag: Reed Shoulder Bag /  CANDRIA TOMMASO, Shoes: Professional Black Oiled / dansko

Spring is also a rainy season. On days when there's a slight chill, we recommend a coordination that layers an inner top with bottoms of 10-minutes length.

The trick is to choose an inner that's not too thick like winter wear, but not too thin like underwear either. Cotton inners are of course easy to pair, and thin wool inners like ZUTTO's Wool Round-Body Rib Turtleneck can keep your body appropriately warm as well. For your legs, which tend to get cold easily, we recommend pairing with slim pants or 10-minutes length leggings. When heading outside, layer a thin outer garment over this coordination to keep both your style and warmth just right.

②A gilet for a mild 20°C

Inner: Wool Round-Body Rib Long-Sleeve U-Neck / ZUTTO, Necklace: Chain Necklace/564 / L'INDOCHINEUR, Shoes: 2337T Lace Slip-On / JOYKS

On days when the sun is out and the weather turns mild, you'll want to head out without an outer layer.

This is where the gilet comes in handy—when a single top alone feels too chilly, but an outer garment feels too warm. Drape it casually over a U-neck top that leaves the neck open, and it helps regulate your body temperature. Pairing it with 7-minutes length leggings creates a look that's fresher than the 15°C coordination and perfectly suited to the weather. The vivid blue Linen Jersey Long Gilet has a striking hue reminiscent of the nemophila flowers that bloom from April through May.

③A gilet for 25°C, as early summer approaches

Bag: Rattan Shoulder Handbag / CANDRIA TOMMASO, Shoes: CHARLOTTE Sandal CAMEL / dansko

Top: Plain V-Neck Short Sleeve black / MOULIN NEUF TEXTILE, Skirt: HENIN Skirt / FilMelange, Necklace: Necklace 1628 / I.Ronni Kappos, Bag: Quilted Shoulder Bag pouch / PATRICK STEPHAN, Shoes: MACI Clog Sandal BLACK / dansko ※Coming soon

And on summer days when the temperature climbs to 25 degrees, short-sleeved inner tops finally get their turn. A sleeveless gilet pairs easily with short-sleeved inner tops, and you can match your bottoms with not just pants but skirts as well.

Here's an advanced technique: match the colors of the inner top and skirt so that the inner layer looks like a one-piece dress, and the gilet looks like a cardigan. Wearing the gilet open, with all the buttons undone, gives your outfit an even cooler, breezier feel. Show some bare skin at the ankles for a clean look, and the gilet you've been wearing since spring will keep working for you right through early summer.

Even a one-piece dress, which can easily fall into a "same old look," opens up a much wider range of styling possibilities once you try leaving a button undone or layering another piece over it. Why not start enjoying coordination with an easy-to-wear shirt dress or gilet?

▽ Shop one-piece dresses and gilets here