How to Dress as a Young, Fly Church Girl: 5 Different Ways to Style a Dress Shirt
Welcome to my New Series; How to Dress as a Young, Fly Church Girl!
My intention is to show you all how we can be fly and “current” while remaining pretty modest. This is especially for all my church girls, but really any girl looking to elevate their style and incorporate more modesty into their every-day. In no way am I the spokesperson for modesty, I just like to look cute and not feel like a grandma, when I’m covered up. When it’s time for that I like to show-off, but it’s important to be able to pull off multiple looks, know when it’s time to reel it in and be able to still feel like yourself with your whole body covered.
Unintentionally I have been wearing dress shirts every Sunday of June and half the Sunday’s in May. I clearly have a thing for dress shirts lol. I’ve been in my dad’s closet on a rampage wearing his shirts hoping he doesn’t catch me. I love dress shirts because they are just super easy to throw on with any look, it’s always a different way to wear it, so I’m never bored and it can elevate any look. I want to note, I am not a stylist, nor claiming to be, but I always get a lot of compliments on how I dress and present myself, so I am just sharing what I like to wear, how I like to wear it and maybe you’ll get some inspiration from it for your next outfit. Let’s get into this look-book and how I chose to style them (with links to some!). Starting from the left:
LOOK 1: The Everyday
I actually just wore this outfit this past Sunday. I typically have an idea in my head of the “look” I want to give for wherever I’m going or I’ll have an article of clothing in mind the night before that I want to wear. In this case, I felt like wearing something I could throw on, I didn’t really feel like putting in a whole bunch of effort because I had to wake up early the next day for church. This brown dress was perfect because everything was covered up, but it didn’t give “nun”, she still had some shape to her (you will notice that I give gender-specific pronouns to stuff that is not living or breathing, nor has pronouns to identify with lol). Picking the dress was the hard part, so really everything else kind of picked itself. I just threw on some sneakers that had a touch of tan/brown in them to go with the brown in the dress. I needed something on my waist because just a body-con dress to church wasn’t really the vibe I was going for, it was a little too casual in the wrong direction, if that makes sense. This dress in particular was just a little too body-con. I don’t really want any extra attention to my “assets” when I am going to have an encounter with God, so the dress shirt was just a cute way for me to not be a “distraction”.
SIDEBAR: I know there is a lot of back and forth with the idea that women shouldn’t have to alter how they dress because of the male gaze and that men should be able to control their own eyes. While I absolutely agree with the sentiment, I also understand that it is human nature to look, especially at things ‘on display’. I also am a champion of the idea that I can control what I can control. So, no, I can’t make a man not look at me, but I do have the power to limit what he can see. I do have the power to control what is outwardly visible, so I take advantage of that and only show what I feel comfortable with being looked at. In that setting, I want the focus to be God, so I don’t make any contributions to an atmosphere that would contradict that goal. Anyways, I digress.
I chose a blue dress shirt cause I just like how the colors juxtapose each other and it was giving me ‘spring vibes’ (my favorite season). The glasses are actually prescription lol, people always ask me that, I just don’t wear my glasses on the regular because I feel like eyewear is lowkey a scam! I feel like if I wear them, my eyesight will get worse, like it’s tricking my eyes to be weaker (this is not something backed by science nor did I research it… but I still feel strongly about this, so I’m sticking to it!) Anyways, the glasses completed the ‘smart’ vibe I was going for. Someone made me that beaded bracelet before I went to college, it says MSU, I’m such a sentimental girly, so I always try to wear it whenever I remember. This outfit is like an easy everyday outfit for me, something I know I can just throw on and still look like I put in effort and still be appropriate for church.
Dress Shirt: My Dad’s Closet
Glasses: Zeelool, Frames called “Rodz” in black
LOOK 2: The Dress Up
I wore this purple outfit on Mother’s Day. She was a moment. All of my outfits kind of just come together on their own, I always happen to find something that just goes. The theme was 100 Women in Pastels at Church, so I had to find something within the limited amount of clothes that I had brought back from school. I’ve had the long purple dress shirt for years. I knew I wanted to wear that purple silk dress, but I also knew I was going to need something on my arms for church. I also wanted to wear something that would still be breathable and I wanted to play into a super feminine dress juxtaposed by a more inherently masculine piece, a dress shirt. I love the small dress; big shirt vibe. And I liked that the colors were an almost exact match. These were the only heels I brought back with me, so I wore them, but I probably would’ve chosen them regardless because I wore silver jewelry. I wanted to wear closed-toe heels and I liked how it contributed to the look overall, made it more classy.
Dress: Ross or TJ Maxx
Long Dress Shirt: Forever 21
Heels: https://www.ebay.com/itm/354001095413 (not the link I purchased from, pretty sure I got them from Dillards)
LOOK 3: The Flip-Over
I started with that dress because once again I was being lazy, had to wake up early for church and wanted to wear something flowy that lowkey still gives body. I knew I wanted to try that hack from Dana Rose’ tiktok where you basically button the shirt behind you to keep the silhouette of the dress you have under it while still wearing something on your arms. Being that this dress is strapless, it was the perfect time to try that hack because I wanted to wear that dress to church. I chose the yellow purse for a pop of color and the sandals, obviously because they are black and go with the dress. The flip-over hairstyle I had really was the true star of the show, she was giving me all the rich auntie vibes and I felt like the outfit contributed to that feeling.
Dress Shirt: My Dad’s Closet
Sandals: Target
Bag: Guess (this isn’t the actual link I purchased from)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/166057362110?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28
LOOK 4: The Kimmy
I call it “The Kimmy” because, I don’t know why, but the silhouette of the outfit reminds me of a kimono. This outfit didn’t actually start like this. Initially, I had on a pink body suit to wear with the jean skirt (hence the pink shoes), but on the way to church I got makeup all over my shirt. So, once I got to church I got one of my dad’s over-sized shirts. I wanted to keep the shape of the skirt, so I tied it up in the back and kept the top buttons undone because I wanted it to look more casual, I wasn’t trying to give business exec that day. It really just depends on my mood that day how I choose to wear the dress shirt. All these outfits have cuffed sleeves because 1) it’s hot, but 2) because I don’t like the fit of dress shirts when they are buttoned all the way down. I had just bought the purse, so it was my purse for the week, but it also matches with everything.
Dress Shirt: My Dad’s Closet
Sandals: Surprisingly enough they are from Cracker Barrel. If you don’t know, I used to be a hostess there and they have a small store inside the restaurant that occasionally had some good stuff, hence these sandals.
Crossbody: (this isn’t the actual link I purchased from) https://www.ebay.com/itm/394676147975?hash=item5be4881707:g:OY8AAOSwuzNkh3Ug&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA0Mcx12URy9PRjCV%2BIu%2F3r6%2FDUQMcqxOiwVqfQpOKIWjXcsG6MV2OHgi4fhGzC1SwrXHqYE56ecyNVaXweRCGxs8bBlJ5ZFJ4ga9vYZB51T3z1MU3HibXDgDKol2CkJVhjL7x%2BqUmooPCof6q2zip86wq3uSa2Aeu0DhEhnGjgZhPiskmN7IwgLIKFfYlOQzGBghfuNKXXNA2gH%2FY9WlaAwEPYEo2vR0aBuNIY21IDAxh2bO4ufIcbSmJPofs%2B9C7RA3bSBxIYzMjTBSMevnaiBo%3D%7Ctkp%3ABFBMzvDBnLNi
LOOK 5: Rich Auntie meets Country Girl
This outfit I kind of just had the idea I wanted to wear something like this; I knew I wanted to wear those flare jeans with a belt. I also was planning my announcement of this blog, so I wanted to give “kind of professional, but still reachable and casual”, which is the kind of space I operate my blog in. I wanted to wear a white dress shirt because it’s so classic with the blue jeans and brown belt. I just happened to open my drawer one day and saw the belt and was like I have to wear it, this was just the perfect opportunity. I chose the loafers because I was sticking with the ‘micro professional’ vibe. The hair just fits perfectly with the rich auntie vibe already. I don’t know why, but this outfit makes me feel like I own three horses and three businesses simultaneously.
Dress Shirt: My Dad’s Closet
Jeans: Shein, but they’ve been removed. (I bought them years ago)
Belt: My mom gifted it to me
Purse: (not the actual link i purchased from)
As far as accessories, hoops are always a must for me. I get them from whatever beauty supply store I’m near. The bigger, the better. I’ve always worn super big hoops, the biggest I could find. I just like what it adds to every outfit and it’s always an accessory that goes with almost anything.
If you can’t take dress shirts from your dad, your local thrift store or salvation army has some great options for the low.
Moral of the story: It doesn’t have to be expensive to look nice and it’s not what you wear it’s how you wear it. Ross, TJ Maxx, your local thrift store can all look expensive depending on how you play it up. This was actually a lot of fun remembering the days I wore these clothes and why I chose them. Let me know if this is something you want to see more of. The next time hopefully it will be with clothes I can actually provide links to lol.
The best thing about this is that all of these outfits were worn to church. I am so excited to launch this series “How to Dress as a Young, Fly Church Girl” because so many people think you can’t dress with personality if you’re going to church. For the next week we’re talking all things personal style, modesty and the intersectionality of it all. Come back on Thursday where I’m going into how I found my personal style while remaining modest and true to myself, then Saturday we’re discussing what’s “appropriate” and how to add personality to your outfits! Leave a comment below and tell me your thoughts! Do you love dress shirts as much as I do? Are you in your dad’s closet like I’m in mine?
