Midi-skirts and dresses - should I give up? (with pics)

[panticus]

Hello

I'm not much of a fashionista but want to buy a handful of nice outfits to wear over the Christmas/summer period (Southern hemisphere). The shops are full of midi length skirts and dresses but I just can't seem to get them right. I've attached a couple of pics from what I tried on today. They don't look quite right, do they?

Is there some trick to them, or should I just accept defeat and stick with my usual mid-thigh length? I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong (although I am sure the shoes and horrifyingly white legs aren't helping).

Do any of you lovely MNers have any tips on how to pull them off? Is it all about the shoes or is it just my body type that isn't a fit?

The skirt looks lovely on you, I'm not keen on it with the brown top though. It would look nicer with sandals or a chunkier white trainers than the ones you have on.

The dress looks fine but I don't think it does enough for you - you have such a lovely figure and the dress is a bit bland - the colours of the dress are a bit lost.
You will absolutely be able to wear midi skirts and dresses - they just need a bit of tweaking.

Shoes. Get white trainers but something like gazelles or whatever else is in right now

Thank you all again. You have given me lots of confidence to play around a bit with this style, and so many great tips. I am going to make a few notes for the next time I go shopping and possibly put up a livestream of pics on a new thread so I can keep capitalising on all your amazing knowledge

Try a band t shirt with the skirt and trainers?

I think you look nice and think brown is a nice colour for a vest top, especially with a tan.

Looks great to me, particularly the dress. Love the shoes with it, it’s how they’ve been worn over here(UK) in the summer.