Shirt Dresses: A Wise Decision? I think not...

I live in a southern city along the Atlantic coast. Because of its proximity to the water, I believe it is okay for women to get away with wearing clothes that are similar to what most people would call "beach wear." However, there is one particular item of clothing that has become popular especially within the female population of our local college. It is the "shirt dress" and it's widespread use has reached epidemic proportions. I don't know where it came from, and I don't really care, but it needs to go.

I'm not even kidding, I've seen girls wearing shirts like the one on the right with Ugg boots and no pants...bleh!

This doesn't mean that I poo-poo on girls who want to showcase their legs. If you've got it, flaunt it...but please please please do it tastefully. It has almost become a spectator sport for my friends and I whenever we walk around downtown to see these girls who obviously looked in the mirror that morning and thought: Can I get away with wearing no pants? And their answer to that loaded question was a big YES! Thankfully, once the weather starts getting cooler (which doesn't happen till late October around here) the girls will start pairing those "dresses" with leggings or tights.

Please note that I put quotations around "dresses" because in my opinion, these items are shirts and not dresses at all. For proof, I can cite trying on a shirt at Target. Want to know how I knew it was a shirt? Well, for one thing my posterior would have caught quite a considerable breeze without britches, and lo and behold, the darn tag said "t-shirt" plain as day. Not a week later, I'm at a concert and I see a girl wearing that same shirt as a dress. Now, her body was great, but the combination of heavy drinking and stripper shoes really took away the legitimacy of her outfit as a dress. And here's an example of the ever-skanky lingerie dress:

Keep it in the bedroom darlin'

So, ladies, my point is that you can be sexy without showing everyone your business. Try for a little mystery. And I realize men reading this will probably disagree, but too much leg says trashy, not high fashion. And I can't see how constantly worrying about a rogue breeze lifting your skirt up on a windy day is a good thing.

What's better than a shirt dress? A shirt dress dancing on a table at a bar!

Unfortunately for me, the girls at this college spend more time shopping than they do reading, so I don't know if I will ever see an end to this trend. But for the rest of you, perhaps there is hope.