Kelly Clarkson Showed Us How to Repurpose Summer Dresses for Colder Months with One Staple Piece

Welcome to The Blueprint, where we break down the celebrity looks we want to wear right now and build them back up, piece by piece. 

Since my summer dresses have been, well, gone and packed away, I’ve really been missing them. But maybe I don’t have to move on after all. 

Kelly Clarkson recently wore what looked like a white button-up shirt and a sleeveless sweater dress for a day filming her talk show, and it totally blew my mind. In my eyes, her dress would have been a fall or winter “no-no” given the sleeveless situation. But with the addition of a long-sleeve layer, it looked warm and seasonally appropriate.  

Not only did it send me searching for similar styles for both, but something also dawned on me: This hack could be used with any short-sleeve dress, not just cozier celeb-inspired ones. In other words, my breezy spring and summer styles are fair game, too, since an extra layer was the only thing needed to falli-fy them. 

Kelly Clarkson’s Outfit Blueprint

• Shirts: Evaless Button-Down Shirt, $30; amazon.com
• Btfbm Satin Button-Down Shirt, $33; amazon.com 
• Mango Cotton Button-Up Shirt, $50; nordstrom.com
• Old Navy Classic Button-Down Shirt, $30; oldnavy.gap.com
• Dresses: Zeagoo Sweater Vest Dress, $30 (orig. $32-$37); amazon.com 
• Karen Kane Plaid Shift Dress, $168; nordstrom.com
• Vince Camuto Sleeveless Rib Midi Sweater Dress, $80 (orig. $119); nordstrom.com
• Gap CashSoft Rib Mockneck Maxi Sweater Dress, $98; gap.com
• The Drop Gabriela High-Neck Sweater Dress, $40–$50 (orig. $44–$50); amazon.com

Evaless Button-Down Shirt

I get a lot of use out of my versatile button-ups, a celeb-worn shirt style, but I’ve never worn one under a dress — though that’s about to change. I have a whole collection sitting in my closet already, but I do think the puffy sleeves on this one are more feminine than a sharper-cut suit-like one, so it may very well be my next purchase. Plus, when shoppers call it everything from “beautiful” to a “head turner,” it’s hard to resist. 

Zeagoo Sweater Vest Dress

I plan on using this hack with dresses from my own closet first, but I also found a few similar to Clarkson’s, too. This one is like the dress version of Kate Middleton’s sweater vest, and it’s pretty loose around the midsection, so it wouldn’t show the outline of a button-up underneath. I also think the two together would be cooler than a dress made of entirely thick sweater material. It’s available in sizes S to XXL and rings in just under $40. 

Karen Kane Plaid Shift Dress

Another style I may have to splurge on is this plaid beauty, which looks a lot like a certain designer brand. Taylor Swift, Jennifer Garner, and Clarkson herself have all been opting for the seasonal pattern lately. 

Keep scrolling to shop more button-ups and more sweater dresses inspired by Kelly Clarkson now. 

Btfbm Satin Button-Down Shirt

Mango Cotton Button-Up Shirt

Old Navy Classic Button-Down Shirt

The Drop Gabriela High-Neck Sweater Dress

Vince Camuto Sleeveless Rib Midi Sweater Dress

Gap CashSoft Rib Mockneck Maxi Sweater Dress