Could you survive with a dress-only wardrobe?

[movinghomeadvice]

I’m moving back to my home country in 2026, and the new year has me thinking about the clothes I’m going to bring back with me. I realise that I actually hate most of my clothes, especially my professional wardrobe, and I really only like the dresses and skirts I have.

It got me thinking: Could I only ever wear dresses/skirts for the rest of my life? Jessica Diner, who works at Vogue I think, only wears dresses and she always looks amazing. I love how she describes a dress:
‘It's foolproof. A dress asks so little of you in the morning: it's one piece, pulled from a hanger, then out the door, looking pulled together.’

So, am I crazy to think that I could pull this off? And never wear jeans again!? (Obviously I would still wear active wear to workout and bathing suits to swim etc.)

I don't buy anything without pockets, even pyjamas. I walk a lot, work outdoors and have a practical kind of life so my pockets always have keys, tissues, dog treats, poo bags, shopping list, phone etc in. I guess I care more about practicality and convenience than I do about a sleek line on a daily basis.

Could survive but would find it very impractical. I looked wearing them for work though.

I find them not warm enough in winter plus they wouldn’t work well for muddy dogs walks across the fields with stiles or for bell ringing.

Well, I couldn't go to work in tights or bare legs, so it's a no from me.

Honestly, I find dresses/skirts stressful. The wind catches them, you can't run/bend down without careful consideration, you need to seriously evaluate footwear choices.

It's surprising to me that anyone wears dresses. I was desperate to buy my own clothes as a teenager, so I never had to wear them again.
They are so impractical and I hate my legs being cold, or the thought of flashing my knickers!
Dd and others on here have said seperates makes it hard to choose outfits, but that's a good thing for me, more options.

You wear what you like - I only have one dress for formal occasions myself but couldn’t imagine asking “is it ok to only wear trousers “

I am a dress fan for sure and coats.
I do think the two always look put together.
I'm sure a couple of comfy pants/teeshirts that are never seen in public could fit in the back of your bag too, for emergencies.

Winter is tough for dresses.

you can wear them but if you’re going to be outside for long periods of time you need lots and lots of layers and honestly the dress over the top is almost pointless.

my mum is into birding and by the time you are into hour 4 in an unheated hide dresses don’t really cut it.

Nope.
I generally feel overdressed in a dress,
I feel a bit exposed in a dress with just underwear but an under slip is often too hot and tights are sensory overload and annoying,
I find coats look odd over a dress particularly a wet weather coat and it rains a lot here,
Long dresses which are my preference are quite cumbersome for doing housework in.

I used to only ever wear dresses. I love a frock! Then I moved to the countryside so in winter I wear mostly jeans. In the summer I still wear a dress, very occasionally linen trousers.

Dresses are so comfortable and so pretty in my opinion.

I find the opposite, under wear bottoms, top and trainers/boots = done. I have smart and casual tops and bottoms, everything goes together.

A dress for me needs the right underwear for a start, then the whole will I need tights? Then the faff or putting them on if yes, or should I have shaved my legs if not. Also my legs are deathly pale with dry skin from the shaving and have terrible varicose veins so that’s always an issue to contend with.
Will I need a cardigan? Does the cardigan go with the dress?
Is it going to rain? Yes, so what coat will go and keep me dry?
Then the footwear, boots need particular socks, will my sandals rub? Will my flats make my plantar flair up? Do I look ridiculous in a dress and trainers?
Total faff and I don’t feel comfortable all day.

Pockets are merely practical! Like a PP, I am more into practicality than looking sleek... but perhaps that's because I don't wear fitted skirts/dresses, so I don't have to worry about unsightly bulges in terms of pockets.

I use pockets to carry tissues/handkerchiefs, keys/purse/phone, things that I've taken off the pets/young relatives because they're unsafe, bits that I've taken out of other pockets when I'm bundling things into the washing machine, etc. I'm not into handbags, and don't see why women should feel the need to carry one, when men fit everything into their pockets.

I love my dresses. I very much tend to live in them. I have leggings and a pair of jeans (plus 2 pairs of old gardening jeans) and one pair of black trousers and a 2 pairs of white trousers, but they all rarely see the light of day.

Interestingly l’m told that as a stroppy lovable 3 year old l absolutely refused to wear trousers.

It's foolproof. A dress asks so little of you in the morning: it's one piece, pulled from a hanger, then out the door, looking pulled together.

Says a woman who’s never had sweaty thighs.

I think it’s lifestyle dependent. I used to live in a hot country and wore dresses 99.9% of the time (only exception was the gym pretty much). The only time I remember it not being great was when a friend commandeered me into cutting his trees and putting up snake fencing around his garden. A dress and (flat) gold sandals wasn’t exactly ideal attire. Although in my defence I’d been invited round for a cup of tea with no mention of slave labour being required!

Back in London now and I still wear a lot of dresses (both for work and at home / play) but in colder weather like now I may wear trousers underneath (Pleats Please style) or just go with a jumper and trousers.

Says a woman who's never heard of chub rub shorts!😉

If your lifestyle fits then why not go all dresses?
I'm not in either camp as my wardrobe is about 50/50 trousers and dresses/skirts.
I love how easy dresses are but sometimes I just need more coverage, like when I'm at the cinema coz I tend to throw my legs over the seats willy nilly!😆

Says a woman who's never heard of chub rub shorts

Not quite the glamorous image being pretended though.

I haven't worn jeans in about 5 years (since before i had my 2nd child)....every time I try them on they make my lower half look huge and make me feel really frumpy so have avoided them.No other trousers seem to suit me either to be honest.

So I live in various dresses/long jumper tops with leggings, which works well for me as it is a good 'smart casual' middle ground and also during pregnancies I haven't had to bother with maternity clothes as they are comfy and stretchy.

In the summer, I wear longer dresses without the leggings and just put some cycling shorts underneath.

Because I am awkwardly short I cannot wear dresses but kudos to you if you can, sounds lovely. (I have a Christmas Day dress, circa 2011 from BHS which I wear with scarlet tights, it is my only dress of the year)

I don’t own a single dress or skirt! I hate them! You couldn’t pay me to wear one! So, people would either have to accept me wandering around naked, in PJs or banish me to my house!

Yes. I don’t have a trousers body. I’d need running tights to exercise in but then could happily never wear trousers again.

No.
I love dresses and have loads especially summer dresses.

Currently my day to day wardrobe is mostly long cord skirts, lanx bootss with a t shirt or chunky fair isle cardi. However for work I tend to wear Rab hiking trousers, t shirts and in the last few weeks my Paramo coat with hats and gloves! No way would I want to be wearing a dress!

I have a black tie event this weekend so I'm looking forward to picking a dress out of the dozens that will be suitable!

I love dresses, but alas they do not love me back. If I looked good in them I would wear them more, but not in the really cold weather when multiple layers on legs are needed, and not for grubby crawling around jobs!

I like dresses, but I don't have the right feet for them.

They're easier in sandal season (but chub rub; shorts are an extra layer which removes half the point). Smart shoes are a nuisence in the summer because you can't pad them out with socks to stop shoes grating half your skin off. Sheer tights escape from being hitched under the bra strap and bunch up in the middle creating rolls and they don't give much protection to feet anyway. Plus leg shaving.

In winter, tights are a pita. I might have to layer socks on tights to make boots fit better. It's hard to layer dresses as well a seperates. They don't work with long johns like loose trousers.

If someone invented my shoe size so that attractive, comfortable shoes were a thing, that would be a game-changer.

Then there's being cut to fit, and I'm looking forwards to hem lines either going up or down, basically being anywhere other than the frumpiness of mid-calf chopping off at the widest part of the muscle which also doesn't help the footwear issues.

Cardigans are another minefield.

For you, @BogRollBOGOF:

https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/7b310f7b-0df4-457e-930d-6bdc365a88dd Why is finding chic, larger-than-average shoes a challenge?

I love dresses and skirts. I've got 5 pairs of trousers for work with the rest of that single cupboard being skirts and then two double wardrobes of dresses, tops and jackets.

I have house dresses to wear around the house which are acceptable to go to the shops. I wear nighties / night dresses.

I do have leggings which are for horse activities and gym. They can be worn with tunics and boots in winter.

I'm in a warm climate, so knee high boots are perfect to keep warm in winter with a knee / just above knee length dress. I can wear a warm singlet underneath if needed. Suit jackets are also good for warmth.

Dresses don't need to be shapeless or fully shaped. I love nothing more than a floaty dress with a defined waist. I've got one style I liked so much that I have it in 8 different colors. They always get lots of compliments. I'm not thin and regularly have ladies asking me where I shop as I always look so lovely, which is really nice of them to say.

I've struggled with shoes as I can no longer wear heels. One of the great post COVID things is the trend away from heels to flats. I've now been able to find non-fugly flats and there is a significantly larger range of flats available these days without bows, sparles or flowers attached. Even flat long boots.