Ask Essie: On Casual Dresses & Dress Stores

I got a question in my inbox the other day from a fellow reader who asked me where I get my casual dresses. (If you follow me on Twitter, you might be a little more familiar with my dress collection because I'm almost always posting OOTD's!) To be honest, I actually don't have much experience with dress stores. I stick to my old-and-true list of boutiques I like to go to, and don't experiment much (although I'd like to start doing so more!). My list isn't all that elaborate as of now, but I thought I'd share with you the stores that I do like going to - because, it's always good being able to see what others like and are exposed to.

As far as online boutiques go, I like:

-Modcloth for semi-casual and vintage dresses and accessories

-Libby Story for "boho" styles

-Ruche for feminine and more colorful dresses

For stores you can find in the mall:

-Forever21 for budget-friendly and trendy dresses

-Wet Seal for fun and modern dresses

-Free People for original and effortless dresses

I would definitely recommend checking all these stores out, but most of all recommend just walking around your local city in search of dress boutiques and secondhand stores. A vast majority of my cutest dresses are surprisingly from thrift stores and local boutiques. A huge plus of these kinds of stores is that there's really only one type of one dress, whereas at Modcloth or Forever21, there are probably 5-6 of the same dresses.

What's your favorite place to shop at when it comes to casual dresses?

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Credits

"Dress Rack"; Twitter; Modcloth; Libby Story; Ruche; Forever21; Wet Seal; Free People

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Want to ask the next Ask Essie question? Email your questions to pinkscriptblog@gmail.com!