Tie-Dye One Dress Spring Capsule Wardrobe

4/4/2025

A navy short sleeve t-shirt, a blue jean jacket, a navy knee-length skirt, a navy zip-up hoodie, tan no-show socks, off-white canvas sneakers, tan sling-back platform sandals, and navy slip-on sneakers surround a short-sleeve knee-length tie-dye empire-waist dress in an orange and blue colorway

This post is for those who want to have “a style,” but don’t relate to what they see from style influencers. It is for those who dress simply, but also want a bit of quirky without jumping into the middle-aged art-lady archetype. Read the rest of the Background and Disclaimers in the intro to this post.

There are all kinds of reasons someone might want to wear one dress for a week. Maybe:

You’ve entered a 1-dress challenge
You are traveling personal-item only
You are reducing the number of clothes you own
You want the creative challenge

Whatever your reasons for building a wardrobe from a single dress, this post will suggest some ways to wear a colorful, tie-dye dress all week. And if you only wear the dress once a week, you’ll have seven weeks’ worth of options. Either way, I hope you are inspired by what I’ve put together.

If you were to wear one dress for a week or longer, you would need to be sure the dress is made of a fabric where the armpits and any visible dirt can be handwashed each night and air dried overnight, or you would need to be comfortable with whatever odors and soiling accumulated. Either option is certainly doable and travelers often do either.

The Clothes

Short sleeved knee-length tie dye dress with a pointed shaped waist and blue and orange colorway

The base of this wardrobe is a knit rayon-jersey tie-dye dress. I made this dress from Sinclair Patterns Yasmin Dress Pattern with this fabric from Boho Fabrics. Search “tie-dye knee length dress” to find similar items on retail, although most of the dresses I found have less waist definition.

The cotton-blend short-sleeve t-shirt was made from SBCC Patterns Tonic Tee. The photo is mine. My shirt is black, but I think navy or dark blue would be an ideal coordinate for the colorway of this particular dress.

The Star Blue Apparel jean jacket is one I found at a thrift store years ago. I was unable to find this brand online. Many modern jean jackets are available from multiple retailers in the spring of 2025. The photo is mine.

I made the knee-length jersey skirt from a self-drafted pattern based on the SBCC Patterns Sunrise Joggers. The photo is mine. My skirt is black, but I think navy or dark blue would be an ideal coordinate for the colorway of this particular dress.

I made the wool zip-up hoodie from the SBCC Patterns Brooklyn Hoodie from a wool-blend jersey from Nature’s Fabrics. The photo is mine. My hoodie is black, but I think navy or dark blue would be an ideal coordinate for the colorway of this particular dress.

The tan no-show socks are some I found at Target years ago. Similar styles are easily available from a variety of retailers. The photo is mine.

The off-white canvas sneakers are Lem’s Chillums. The photo is mine.

The tan platform sandals are from Børn. The box says "Stone," but I can't tell if that's the color or the style name. That style is no longer available, but Børn tends to have some type of tan sling-back platform sandals each year. The photo is mine.

The navy slip-on sneaker loafers are from the Easy Street brand. It appears this exact style is no longer available. Macy’s has a similar style with a white sole.

Bras and underpants are stock photos. You know where to buy what you like and what’s suitable for your anatomy.

I did not include thigh-savers, but you’ll know if you need them and your preference for what type. If you sew, I make mine by turning the SBCC Sunrise Joggers into shorts and sewing them with negative ease.

The Outfits

I put together 7 outfits. The variations focus on the shoes. Jewelry and other accessories could easily add more variety to the base outfit. Spring can waver between hot and cold, so I made a few outfit options with several layers on top. Stockings/tights or leggings can always be added to keep the legs warm.

These outfits are generally casual, but I could see them working in some business casual workplaces, especially with the more formal shoes. Even swapping the jean jacket for a cardigan could make the dress more work appropriate if it feels too casual as-is.