Admittedly, summer isn’t my favorite season.

And I can imagine that there are some newly minted winter-lovers with as hot as it’s been, but your secret’s safe with me ;)

One thing I do look forward to about summer are the dresses. Lord, give me a closet full of maxi dresses and I’ll give you a big hug (or would you believe a friendly handshake?)

You can do so very much with a maxi dress, but that’s another post for another time.

For now, I’m talking about maxi’s that are work/church appropriate.

If you can work them into the office clothing rotation you’ll get even more mileage out of the money you spent on it making everyone happy.

So here’s how you do it.

First of all, make sure that it’s not super breezy. There’s a kimono dress I have my eye on at Target right now that’s going to be perfect with wavy hair, some big earrings and a tan…but I digress. Looking at it right off I can tell, it’s not going to be a dress I can transform into office-wear because the material is light, flowy fabric. That translates vacation (by the same token, silky fabrics take the dress out of running by being too fancy).

What you want is cotton or jersey material that translates a 9-5 mentality.

With that, you definitely want to throw something on over it (and again I hope this goes without saying by now, but make sure it’s neither short nor tight). A denim jacket or a summer cardi would instantly make it an easy going staple that wouldn’t get you taken less seriously in a meeting but would also keep you cool and comfortable for say an outdoor lunch.

Leave hanging anything with bold prints like flowers or gingham-you want to avoid all references to The Wizard of Oz.

And the same rules apply for dresses as they did for skirts, if you’re going to go short, make sure it’s structured and or tailored. That’s certainly key.

Also, if it dips low in the front pair it with a cami, or better yet throw a shirt, with a statement necklace or a belt on over it and use it as a skirt!

Don’t ever think it’s impossible to dress for this heat and the office, and when you’re out of ideas just come back to TheSpiff! (even if you’re full of ideas, go ahead and come back…every Monday through Friday, really you should check in just as a good habit ;)