With the city temps at an all time high, looking remotely professional definitely becomes a challenge.  As I mentioned in this recent post, my go-to look for sweltering city days is a lightweight dress and polished sandal combination. When Modcloth approached me to test drive their workwear collection, I, of course, stuck to this fool proof equation.

On their site, I perused through lots of breezy yet refined dresses and office-appropriate footwear that works just as well after-hours as in the corner office. In the end, I selected this classic shirtdress and paired it with t-strap sandals and my everyday bag that fits everything but the kitchen sink (literally…). Scroll down to see more of this look, plus how I styled the dress for a Summer Friday at the beach. Turns out, playing hookie isn’t so bad after all…

Style Tip | To create a skirt out of a shirtdress, remove the dress and tuck the top into the skirt, leaving the arms out. Step back into the skirt you have created, and tie the sleeves around your waist. Pair with pom-pom covered sandals and a bold bikini top for best results.

in the mood for: more office-friendly frocks

Look 1 | Modcloth dress, shoes and earrings (sold out), Clare Vivier tote bag 

Look 2 | Modcloth dress (worn as a skirt), sandals and swimsuit top (sold out, but love this one too!), J Crew hat, Marisol tote bag

This post was in collaboration with Modcloth and ShopStyle. As always, all opinions and styling are my own. Thank you for supporting all a-listed collaborations!

Photos by Andrew Morales