How to a Denim Skirt in Summer with 30 Wears: Dark Wash Straight Skirt
- sallyinstpaul
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
Today I am featuring a denim skirt from Lands End that I like for its dark wash, knee length, and simple, classic silhouette. I consider this my warm season denim skirt because the length is perfect without tights. For cold weather when tights are the order of the day, I wear my somewhat shorter, more traditional "jeans-look" Levi's denim skirt (see Part 1 and Part 2 of my Levi's 30 wears post). A denim skirt is a great substitute for jeans in the summer, and it is more polished and put-together looking than a pair of denim shorts. Honestly, I think a denim skirt is also much more comfortable than jean shorts, so it's an all-around winner in my view. This denim skirt is very clean and neat in appearance, so I wore it to work at my business casual job in the summers. As you'll see in the photos below, when worn, the skirt gives some "navy pencil skirt" energy.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I have OOTD photos for 21 of my 38 wears of this skirt. Let's see how I've worn it:
1: Bright Solid Top (and Scarf)
In these two cases, the "bright solid top" in question was a knit peplum top, also from Lands End, that I bought in turquoise blue, bright pink, and black (not shown). While you can wear the bright top as a stand-alone piece, I used it as a backdrop to feature a bright print scarf! Scarves are a big trend for this summer so pull out any lightweight ones and see what you can do with it. Don't know how to tie them? Check out this no-tie scarf post and this genuinely easy ties post for some ideas.
2: Bright Cardigan
If you love layering (as I do), can easily adapt your fall outfit formulas for summer by substituting lightweight pieces like I have in these two looks. I love a colorful summer cardigan for brightening up a simple column of color (left) or pulling an accent color from a print (right). I just noticed that I matched my necklaces to my cardigan colors in thtese outfits; it is an easy to make the cardigan color choice look harmonious and intentional. I let the cardigan color really shine in these outfits by creating a dark column underneath rather than a third color that would compete with the cardigan, but a white top would be another very easy way to wear this formula.
3: Striped Top & Floral Scarf Print Mix
This is one of the easiest-to-get-right print mix formulas out there: striped top + floral scarf. I'm sure you could create one that looks weird if you tried but generally, if you make sure your scarf repeats one or both of the colors in the striped top, you'll be successful. Wearing this combination with blue denim (the ultimate neutral) gives the eye a place to rest and brings the attention back up to the area framing your face.
4: Graphic T
Summer is a great time to pull out those graphic Ts, and if you want a bit more polished of a look than shorts, a denim skirt can keep your combination on the casual side...or will still work if you want to dress up a graphic T + denim outfit with a blazer, etc., like you would in spring/fall with dark wash jeans.
5: Linen Print Top
I own several boxy linen print tops from Lands End that are great for when it's hot and I just want a stand-alone top that (1) allows good air flow and (2) looks interesting enough to carry an outfit on its own without layering toppers, scarves, etc. These linen tops pair perfectly with a denim skirt.
6: Other Print Top
Obviously you don't have to buy a linen top to work this formula - any stand-alone print top is worth trying in combination with a denim skirt. The blue striped peplum skirt on the right is sleeveless, so I tied a scarf as a very lightweight topper.
7: Navy Topper ("Suit")
Blue denim in a medium-to-dark wash often looks like navy, so it's easy to add a navy cardigan, jacket, or open button up shirt to create the outer column of color/"suit" color formula. In these three outfits, I kept a limited color palette in mostly shades of blue, but you could add any color/print top that works with navy to your "suit."
8: Print Button Up Shirt as Topper
Summer layering fans, rejoice in the outfit formula of denim skirt + knit top (sleeveless or short-sleeved) + open print button up shirt as jacket! In these three looks, I've used lightweight cotton button up shirts in classic summer check/gingham prints as my top layer. Colors, neutrals, some of each, print mixing...it's all good. Huh, I just realized I wore a scarf in my hair in each of these looks, and that's not something I do all the time. But I guess it I just gravitate so strongly to scarves that when I'm not wearing one around my neck, I sometimes end up with one in my hair! The aqua-blue scarf in the aqua check outfit is a square silk scarf, the white print scarf in the red/white/navy outfit is an infinity scarf, and the white striped scarf in the black/blue outfit is a long rectangular scarf, so clearly there is no single kind of scarf that can be worn in your hair.
I also wear this striped button up shirt as a lightweight summer jacket frequently, and with so many colors in the stripes, it's quite easy to match to things in my wardrobe. In this outfit, I used green as my accent color...even though there technically isn't green in the stripes (it's definitely a mint color rather than a true green). But since it looks like there could be green in the print, it works.
I really enjoy this short-sleeved shirt as a lightweight jacket too. This one was more expensive than my usual top purchases ($42) but I just fell in love with it - I am a sucker for a navy-based floral print, after all, and the soft spring-like colors are so pretty. I have actually reached the 30 wears mark with this shirt (37 so far) but am still waiting for the cost per wear to reach under $1 before it gets its own post.
9: Print Jacket
Finally, there is always the option of just wearing a jacket as a jacket! This is one is summer jacket perfection with the 55% linen/45% cotton blend, the texture, the stripes, the gorgeous colors...the story of how I had to FACEPALM when I thrifted this jacket in a verboten brand is here. The jacket looks great with the denim skirt and even shares that dark blue stripe to make it even more coordinated.
Do you own any denim skirts? What style of denim skirt do you prefer? Do you wear jeans in the summer? How about denim shorts? How do you like to style denim bottoms in the warm seasons? Do you like blue denim, white denim, other neutral denim, and/or colorful denim in summer? Have you gotten aboard the Summer 2026 scarf train? How are you styling scarves this season?
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