Do you tend to keep pieces from year to year in your closet or do you purge and refresh your wardrobe? I like to purchase quality pieces that I love so I tend to keep items for years that I may only use infrequently. Items that I overuse tend to get worn out and those are the ones that I have to refresh more often. But I have a couple of sweater dressed in my closet from years ago. One is a Banana Republic sweater dress with puff statement sleeves. Talk about back in style! The other is a simpler straight knee length sweater dress with a cute stipe print and solid bottom. If you have any of these sweater dresses sitting in the back or bottom of your closet… time to dig them out! They are back in a big way this season!

Sweater dresses are everywhere this fall in all kinds of style, colors and prints. They are incorporating the latest trends, from off the shoulder, to statement sleeves and turtlenecks. (Yes, turtlenecks are coming back too.) Chances are if you’ve held on to items over the year, you probably have a sweater dress or two lying around. This is one of things that I love about trends, they come back around and you can always incorporate what you have back into your closet rotation.

While I love the versatility of the sweater dress for almost any occasion, I am here to give you a little advice before you throw it on and head out the door. The sweater dress for all its comfort lacks form. It takes on your form. So be conscious of the fact that your sweater dress may require the appropriate undergarments to look its best. Yes, I’m taking about spanx. No matter what most of us can use a little “smoothing out”. All we’re looking to do is get spanx to smooth out the bumps. That sweater dress will reveal and highlight your gorgeous form. A pair of spanx will help to enhance that. Undergarments are key to ANY outfit.

So what if you’re new to the sweater dress game? What to look for this fall? You have your choice of necklines, colors and textures. There’s a style for everybody! If you’re not sure what will work best on you, try on a few different styles. Simple is probably the most versatile but you can find sweater dresses with any variation of detail that might interest you. I would recommend sticking with a solid color opposed to a print. A print on a sweater dress can be overwhelming due to the lack of form.

If you’re wondering where you might find these dresses the answer is …everywhere. Right now, I’ve seen sweater dresses in almost every retail store. You don’t really need to go looking for it because I promise it will find you.

Here is some inspiration to give you a feel of what you might find in stores. Happy shopping!

Ann Taylor Options:

Off The Shoulder Bell Sleeve Sweater Dress

Banana Republic Options: