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Striped Maxi Dress for Summer Parties + Life Update

Happy hump day, friends! I’m sharing another look from my photo shoot in Florida last month, and today I’m going to do the typical fashion blogger thing and share all my photos first and then talk about my outfit and give a quick life update.

Oh, and also. No Facebook Live today… see the Life Update at the end. We have a lot going on this week!

I absolutely love how these photos turned out. I know there are a lot of them, but I had a hard time deciding which ones to leave out. Martina moved around a lot and took pictures in several locations with each outfit, so it was hard to narrow them down.

This striped maxi dress is perfect for summer parties or events, and it’s 30% off and fully stocked at the moment. The multi-directional stripes are fun and flattering, and the body-conscious silhouette and side slit create just enough drama without being too revealing. Also, the cutout on the back is a big trend this year and makes for a fun unexpected feature when you turn around.

I wore black strappy sandals and carried a white bag. This actually would not be my first choice of bag for this dress, but I got to Florida and realized I hadn’t packed one. I’d probably go for something a little bit dressier — perhaps a clutch or a more delicate crossbody. Maybe even a fun color.

Now I just need an event to wear this to!

maxi dress // sandals (option) // cuff bracelet // pearls // similar crossbody (option/option)

photo credit: Martina’s Photography

Life Update

As far as the life update goes, it looks like we’re going to be moving! It’s a local move — just a couple of miles away, actually. We weren’t even looking, as we are quite happy here, but we’ve talked about some day wanting more entertaining space and a larger yard with more mature trees.

My husband occasionally peruses Zillow for fun, and a few weeks ago he came across this house and sent me the listing. I liked it as much as he did, so we went to their Open House. In a nutshell, this house checks all our boxes and some we didn’t even know we had.

We hemmed and hawed for a few weeks, researched the comps in the area, and prayed a lot. I kept thinking I was going to wake up one morning and find out it had sold, and that would make the decision easy for us, but three weeks later it was still on the market and we couldn’t stop thinking about it so we put in an offer last weekend, and we are officially under contract.

We still have to get through the inspections and all of that rigmarole, but in anticipation of moving this summer, we’re putting our current house on the market this weekend.

It’s been a crazy whirlwind, and I’m a big bag of mixed emotions. We have such great memories in this house and great friends in the neighborhood, and with my son going to college this fall, it will be a lot of life changes happening at once. But I have a really good feeling about this new house and and I’m excited to make it our next home.

All that to say, the next few months are going to be quite hectic so if I’m not as responsive as usual, or if my posts get shorter and more perfunctory at times, that’s why.

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83 Responses

  1. Jo-Lynne! Wow, that striped maxi looks stunning on you!!! All your running and workouts have paid off!!! Love the back cutout. Good luck with your move, that’s a LOT of work, but there are five of you to join in the process! May your new home continue your special family memories and bring you new relationships. Will you be closer or further away from the KOP Mall? HA HA!!

  2. That dress is beautiful! You look awesome. Moving…..so exciting. I’m so happy for you and your family.

  3. Love that dress. It’s super flattering. You look great. What size are you wearing for reference. Also, congrats on moving to a new home. Bet that is super exciting!

  4. Beautiful dress! And the best of wishes for a smooth transition into your new home! My Hubs wants to move too, locally. Me, not so much. We have 2 graduating seniors ( college and HS) this spring ( one this weekend!!)  and my oldest son is getting married in November so our family continues to change. Of course our 12 year old daughter keeps us busy too! It’s a crazy time here as well!!! Good Luck with everything! 

  5. Wow Jo-Lynne! You look AMAZING in that dress. SO fit! What workouts are you doing these days? Congrats on the house! We’ve been looking for something with a little land for our goats but haven’t found anything yet. That’s super exciting! I hope you share pics when you get all settled in.

    1. Thanks, Alison. I’ve been working out with a trainer for 5 or 6 years now, and I still run but not as much as I used to. I’d love to start adding on miles again, but I keep saying that and it never happens, ha! I do 2 or 3 a few times a week. It’s enough to keep my mental health balanced. 🙂 And, yes, I will definitely share house pix!

  6. I wondered about the move after seeing your spring cleaning IG stories and it seemed you haven’t been on as much. I hope the transition and both sales go smoothly! The more important thing is…will you be getting a bigger closet?? Lol!

    I absolutely LOVE all of your outfit photos today. Such great locations and the dress is beautiful on you. I’m sorta happy I didn’t see it in petite or else I might have ordered it and I have nowhere to wear it lol! 

    1. I will be getting my OWN closet! I cannot WAIT. It doesn’t have a closet system, though… I love mine here. But I will add one down the road… just not this summer.

      1. Ooh! There’s an idea for s post, closer organization! Now that you’ve got us all dressing better. How do we organize all those clothes?!

        1. I’m spoiled here with a custom closet design – I actually won it in a contest years ago! 🙂 In the new house, I’ll have to start over. But that will actually be kind of fun. 🙂

  7. Pretty maxi dress!  I like the cross/cross pattern and solid down the side.  I think that gives it a slimming effect for those of us who need it (talking about me LOL).  

    Congrats on the new house!  An exciting time for you.  While you may have a lot going on just remember change is good and God has it all under control.  Will be praying for a smooth transition.  

  8. You do look stunning in this darling dress. Congratulations on the upcoming move and hope your house sells quickly. Loved the pictures in this post but you mentioned “like other bloggers”. Your style is what keeps you above and beyond the others. Please don’t change. I think I can speak for us all when I say we can always count on JoLynne. Thanks 

    1. No worries! I don’t intend to change my format. There were just so many pictures and not a lot to say about the outfit so I figured it worked for this post. 🙂

      1. Can’t wait to see it. This dress looks beautiful by the way. You are a true inspiration for me to stay in shape and be more trendy.

  9. First off, that dress looks so good on you!! Super flattering! And secondly, how exciting about a move!!!! I moved to my dream house two years ago now and it was a very stressful, exciting, busy time. So I am with you on all of those emotions. I hope everything goes smoothly for you all, your inspections and appraisals come back good, and your house sells quickly! 🙂 Good luck!

  10. This dress is very flattering on you and the pictures are fabulous. Congrats on the house but you had mentioned it to us a few weeks and I thought it was a no go? If it’s the same one, I’m glad it all worked out. It must have been meant to be! And now you and Cyndi both will be in a new home for the summer. 

    1. It’s the same one. We couldn’t stop thinking about it, so we decided to go for it. It has some improvements we want to make, but we’ll do it in time.

  11. These photos are amazing, so vibrant and colorful. And that dress! So super flattering on you!
    How exciting about the house! I bet you all are full of all kinds of emotions, but I’m sure it’ll be great once it all settles. Best of luck with the sale and upcoming move!

  12. First of all what a nice dress, and it looks absolutely stunning on you.!!!! The pattern is very flattering for having horizontal lines. I’m sure you’ll find a place to wear it. lo.l Secondly congrats on your upcoming move. We have built 3 houses and I know the meaning of stress when it comes to moving, but take the time to enjoy this new season in your life along with the changes. I know its hard to leave those memories but you will soon be making new ones in which sounds to be a beautiful spot. Have fun with it all and think of new decorating you may want to do. Wink Wink

  13. All of the pictures are great!  I see why you had a hard time making your selection.  Good luck with the purchase of a new home for y’all!  You know, I think moving as your son is leaving for college is probably great timing.  You will be busy getting the new home decorated and all set up like you want it, which will give you something to focus on other than him leaving.  And you won’t be in the home where so many memories were made, involving him.  🙏🙏. I will understand the temporary changes in your responses and posts!

  14. That’s exciting! I hope you will show us this new home once you have it to your liking. Enquiring minds want to know. 😉 I think moves are good. We tend to get stagnant staying in one place. Kinda like Groundhog Day. 
    Your dress creates lovely curves. I think it will sell out quickly. Love the green background. It’s quite vibrant and fun.

  15. Wow, that dress looks fabulous on you!  What a fun summer dress to have! Thanks for showing us all such great things to wear!

  16. Well how cool! Congratulations! We just moved this past week into our new home and there’s so much to put away and organize, a bit overwhelming but fun all at the same time!
    Great photos too!

  17. You look amazing in this dress.  💗 every photo.  Congratulations 🎉 on the new home.  Will keep you your family/move in my prayers.  Can’t wait to see pictures of the new home.  

  18. First thing, beautiful pictures and I love the dress.  So many maxis, I feel, are very casual but I feel this one steps it up a notch.  Very sophisticated!  Secondly, I’m so excited for you and your family!  I do hope you will share the process, and pictures.  🙂

  19. That dress is perfection on you! Love it! Congratulations on the exciting news! Best of luck on a smooth process.

  20. Congratulations on your exciting move!  It is definitely fun to have a bigger yard…but somehow I don’t see you styling outfits on your new zero-turn lawn mower…haha!  Still, I can totally relate…that’s how we found ourselves where we live.
    Now all the fun starts : )    Best of luck with all of it!  I will enjoy following you even more with this added adventure!
    (Loved the maxi, btw!) 

  21. Beautiful pictures! That dress fits you perfectly.  I’m glad to see maxis are still around!  And how exciting about your move!  I will pray that your house sells quickly and your move goes smoothly.  Looking forward to seeing pictures!

    On another note, I ordered the white sneakers from Target that your reader suggested. They are so comfy and cute! 

  22. Moving is SO stressful!  Hope it goes well for y’all!   Can’t wait to see pictures of your new house! 

  23. These pics are gorgeous. Love this dress! And as a devoted reader, I am feeling very excited for your family’s move to a new house. Hope you share lots of pictures.

  24. I love this dress! But how do you find a bra that stays where it should with nothing showing for a dress like this? I struggle with all the sleeveless summer dresses with this problem.

  25. You look so pretty. Love the dress on you and the photos. How exciting for you. A new house will be fun. You will have to share photos with us. I bet your neighbors are sad but a few miles away is not much at all. Cyndi S moving also so busy times to come for you both. Have a great day. 

  26. Hi Jo-Lynne! This dress is spectacular on you…and how I love stripes! I’m just not sure where I would wear it. I suppose the shoes would either dress it up or down? What do you think? Anyway- love it on you! Also, congratulations on your new home purchase! We did that a number of years ago and within a two mile radius of our previous home! It was a great move and I know yours will be, too! God is Good!

  27. That dress is stunning on you!! Congratulations on the new house! Moving is the pits, BUT, you’ll get the chance to purge and that feels wonderful.

  28. I love the dress it looks amazing on you! I know you say you work with a trainer, but I would love to hear more about your workout. The pictures are amazing and I am glad you shared them all. 

      1. This is what she said to tell you. LOL! We do full body workouts using large muscle groups focusing on Olympic lifts like cleans, dead lifts, squats, bench. We also incorporate TRX and some body weight exercises sometimes.

  29. COngratulations on the new house! How exciting! Can’t wait to see some pictures of it. Love he dress also!

  30. Congratulations on the new home. Fashion Beauty once again with the striped dress and the locations are beautiful.

  31. Congratulations on the upcoming move! I hope it all goes well, as it can certainly be stressful. Now, that means you’ve got to share some decorating stories with us!

  32. I agree with Ginger about the timing of your move. You will be focussed on making necessary changes and decorating so that (hopefully) your mind will be on pleasant events, not on how sad you are that your son is leaving home. Plus, I believe you said that your daughters were excited about this new house so it gives them a distraction and positive change too. Now on to that dress….absolutely stunning! The stripes, colour blocking, and cutout add so much interest to the dress and it is sooooo flattering. You mentioned the outfit needing a clutch to take it to the next level but I’m also thinking that this dress would be an easy one to dress down. Maybe with white jean jacket and flats or Toms. I hope all goes well with your move and I can’t wait to see the pictures.

  33. Congratulations! I hope everything else falls into place nicely for you! Love that dress on you. It’s so funny, this weekend at church one of the women had it on & I admired it from afar. Now I know where I can get it too! 🙂

  34. Gorgeous dress, pics and lady! The dress is stunning on you!! All the hard work eating well and working out paid off. Good luck with packing and moving; will pray for an easy move! Your family will make wonderful, new memories in your new home. Remember, the only constant in life is change . Congratulations on your new home!

  35. First of all love the dress!
    So fun for spring parties!
    Excited for your move …so love how you
    Said prayed about it and waited!
    I’m in that waiting and praying period now!
    Final downsize for me and looking forward to
    Gods next leading! Happy Spring!

  36. Girl- you are totally rocking that dress!! I wish I was a curvy body type just so I could wear that dress! I’m a Pear, so I’ll stick with what works for me, and you can wear that striped black maxi for me! All the pics are so good- especially the ones with the vibrant green in the background. Congrats on the new house as well. 

  37. That dress is awesome and you look awesome in it , Congrats on the new house , hopefully all will go smooth and you can get ready to star the moving 

  38. Looking svelte in that dress, Jo-Lynne!
    Great news about the pending purchase! Fingers crossed for good inspections, and for your house to sell quickly too. Having worked in real estate law for 18 years, it has its moments but it’s exciting as well! 

  39. Beautiful dress!! Congratulations on your move!!! I highly recommend Steve Shreiner or Shreiner Tree Care for your trees at your new place. Great team for mature trees. (I live on the Main Line–I think they are out of KOP–and they give a discount for winter work–so best to have them assess in the Fall & schedule for January) Best of luck as you get ready to move. And I know it is hard to leave your memories at your old house, but I’m sure you’ll find that home is wherever your family is living. 🙂

      1. Ha, ha…yes…the same thing happened to me when we moved from new construction to a 100+ year old house. It’s a whole new world. But it’s great–I find that I much more patient with my old house than I was with my new house. Houses are like people in that way. 🙂

  40. Hi Jolynne! Loved that striped maxi-dress; ideal for Sunday brunches with friends and a date night too. Wishing you the best on finding the perfect home, I am sure it will be great.

  41. I’m thinking about this for a graduation ceremony.  It’s a little chilly in the arena, what would you wear over it?  Thank you and congrats on the house!

    1. I’d go with a white denim jacket — as long as you’re okay with dressing it down a bit. I’m afraid a shrug or cardigan would look dowdy, but perhaps one that is thin with a slender cut would be ok.

  42. First off, that dress looks incredible on you, almost like it was built for you 🙂 I have several maxi skirts that I wish I could wear more often with how comfortable they are but I cant find underwear that won’t cut into my soft bum and show my panty lines to everyone 🙁 I cant wear thongs because then my rear gets realy jiggly 🙁 what underwear bottoms do you wear under formal fitting dresses like this one that doesn’t show? Any suggestions are much appreciated and thanks so much in advance

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