Antonio Melani “Cork” Ponte Dress – do we love it?

I hate suits. And if that means never getting to be bros with Barney Stinson, then so be it.

Sorry dude. Not gonna happen.

You might be asking yourself, “But Shea, what have suits ever done to you to deserve such spite and vitriol (fancy word of the day!)?” Well to start with, I just don’t think they look very good on me. The jackets accentuate my broad, boy-like shoulders. Also, they are expensive. And while I don’t have a problem spending money on things I love, I really hate spending money on things I hate.

Finally, no matter what color they might be, a matching skirt or pantsuit always makes me feel like an airline stewardess – and not in a retro-fun, Pan Am kind of way. Side note – I am totally digging that show so far. Pretty people, flying to exotic places while wearing fabulous clothes plus a secret spy plot – what’s not to love??

But because I’m a lawyer I generally have to wear suits whether I like them or not. And I usually do that one of two ways – either with a colored or patterned suit jacket over a solid pencil skirt, or with a blazer over a sheath dress. And because these things are expensive, I’m always looking for ways to reuse the pieces I already have in a new way to make new suits.

Over the weekend I came across this dress:

Pretty basic shape in a gorgeous teal blue with a flattering scoop neckline. I was thinking it would be a fun way to brighten up my Fall and Winter suit wardrobe by wearing it with this:

The blazer and the shoes are two things I’ve already added to my Fall wardrobe so I would just need a dark brown belt and pair of gold earrings to finish the look.

So what do we think? Is this a good way to fake my way into a new suit for Fall? Would the dress look better with a black blazer? Or would the gray blazer look better if this dress were a darker color like deep plum or burgundy? Help me decide.