I bought this dress 2 years ago at Ross Dress for Less, and have never worn it! It was ridiculously cheap (like $12), and I thought it would be fine to throw on for a low-key day at the office. However, when I put it on, I realized it was just a bad buy. It was too thin, too short, and too busty-mcbusterson.  It actually doesn’t look that bad in pictures, but y’all know what a cheap dress feels like, and how you feel in it.

The weird waistband hit right under my girls, and it kept riding up when I’d walk two feet.

So, how do you save a bad buy?? You keep adding to it! I grabbed a vest I got at Forever 21 earlier this year, which added an extra layer (so the dress didn’t feel so thin), and diminished the over-exposed bustline.

Then, I added a belt over the vest, at a more flattering spot at my waist. This gave me more of an hour-glass shape, and added more depth or dimension to the dress. I also added boots over the black tights which saved the dress from appearing as short as it was. Even though these tights look way sheer in the flash than they did in real life…

So, with these few additions, I made a bad buy better…still not great, but a definite improvement. I need to keep working with this outfit, and maybe I’ll come up with something that redeems the whole purchase. lol.

That’s one thing I always keep in mind when I get dressed in the mornings: I build on previous outfits and try to add one more thing or change something up so that it continues to evolve. And I’m open to suggestions! What would you do to make this bad buy better? Tell me!