Design Inspiration - The T-shirt Dress

My children have always been a source of inspiration, but yesterday at sunset on the Santa Monica beach, my daughter truly enlightened me on the power of the T-shirt Dress. For the last couple seasons, this trend was heavy on the runways, thanks to Phillip Lim's white knotted t-shirt dress in '07, and it's a trend that is still hovering into Spring '09. After my daughter got drenched by a rogue wave at the beach, she demurely pranced around the wet sand in her daddy's ringer shirt and looked oh so chic I must say. I was dying to belt that t-shirt on her with a wide leather belt and ruche the front a bit. With the slightly off the shoulder, wide neckline, this slouchy t-shirt was the perfect proportion for a casual dress for moi! This could actually be a pretty easy look to duplicate for a grown up fashionista, by simply buying a men's XL tee and belting it to perfection for just the right slouch. Wear it over tights now with short booties (yes, you'll reek of the 80's, but as long as you're not sporting a geometric print on your tee and neon tights you should be okay) and later bare leg with flats into Spring. I'm anxious to design my own take on the slouchy t-shirt dress next Spring in a super-soft 14 gauge bamboo yarn which will feel like silk against your skin. And I think one made up in a black and white space-dyed pattern with a solid scoop neck trim will give it that sporty ringer look reminiscent of Kai's tee above.