maxi dresses // fall inspiration & patterns

since summer probably going to be winding down a bit soon, i'm looking for nice transitional outfits to seamlessly blend into slightly chillier fall weather.  style-wise, fall is my absolute favorite season.  this summer, i've loved the maxi dresses and maxi skirts, and i think they can move their way into fall pretty easily, just by adding a cropped jacket, boots and maybe a more substantial purse/satchel.



acne zig zag print & equipment shirt dress

looking around the internet, i bookmarked so many cute and transitional maxi dresses from my-wardrobe. my favorite things are: the styling, the prints, the cuts and the fabrics. i think you could take any simple maxi dress pattern (or even a mini-dress that you extend) and make it out of an interesting print, and have it look spectacular.  you can't see it but the zig-zaggy one above is just a simple tank at the top.  and i LOVE the shape of the shirt dress extended to maxi length.


madeleine thompson cashmere dress & splendid tye dye dress

this idea for this next one is amazing.  it's like wearing a gigantic cashmere sweatshirt.  like a snuggy, but beautiful.  i think wearing something like this in public would be the equivalent of daytime pajamas.  and the last, again, i love prints and especially tie-dye.  so great for summer-to-fall.

the patterns...

so after getting inspiration from those pieces, i pulled some of my favorite patterns.  the easiest way, of course, is to find a dress pattern already in maxi-length...although, i think the selection of those may be a bit more limited.  another approach is to find a suitable shorter length dress and easily modify the pattern to make it maxi-length.  this opens up the door for so many more pattern possibilities.


burdastyle: maxi and shirt dresses

of course, burdastyle has a dress for everything.  the first is a very elegant and regal looking maxi dress, slightly reminiscent of what an 8 year old would wear to a christmas party...for adults.   the next one is just a basic shirt dress pattern, which would need to be modified slightly to make it long (not hard!).  there's also a great basic shirt dress pattern in the Built By Wendy dress book too. 


vogue: casual & dressy

next are the vogue maxi patterns. ok, looking at the illustration of the first one, i cringe.  but then once i squint to avoid the stepford face, and think 'cashmere, not 101 dalmatian print' things start to look a little brighter.  i think it could definitely come out looking like the madeleine thompson version.  and the second one is a bit dressy, but could be the perfect maxi dress!  and finally, a simple tank dress would be pretty simple to make from a basic sloper, or a basic tank pattern, like this one at burda.

what are your favorite maxi or maxi-convertible patterns?