Elegant & colourful: Budget-friendly retro dresses for spring
You don’t have to spend a fortune to elegantly walk through spring. In the following blogpost, I’m going to show you some wonderful retro dresses for spring for under 30 €, 50 € and 100 €. Furthermore, I tell you my best advice on how to style summer dresses for spring to stay warm – which helps you to save even more money, as you can wear your dress for almost half a year without having to replace it with a lighter one after a few weeks.
*This blogpost contains affiliate links (marked with *)
The perfect retro Dress for Spring
There are a few things to keep in mind when looking for spring dresses, and these are:
- Fabrics: For spring, I recommend cotton and jersey. Both fabrics feel good on the skin, are quite easy to take care of, and look good. On warmer spring days, I also like to wear some light crepe de chine fabrics.
- Colours and prints: Bright colours, pastels, and lovely flower prints are perfect for spring!
- Sleeves: It is actually quite hard to find budget friendly retro dresses with long, or 3/4 length sleeves. But try to at least find a dress with short sleeves, as this still is much warmer than sleeveless dresses. I also recommend to have a look at the next point:
- Cardigans: Cardigans are a must in spring! As soon as it gets a bit chilly, we just put our cardie on and everything is fine. Cardigans also help to make summer dresses appropriate for cooler spring dresses. For retro dresses, I recommend cardigans that end at about the hight of the waist, as this looks much better with the classy retro silhouette than longer cardigans. You will find a lot of lovely retro cardigans at TopVintage*, for example.
- Tights and stockings: Weather in spring can be quite changeable, so I recommend to wear tights or stockings with your retro dresses in spring. I usually choose nude-coloured or pastel-coloured ones, as they look better with light dresses. PS: In this blogpost, I show you the best stockings and tights for spring.
Wear your retro Dresses in Spring with:
*Affiliate links
But now, let’s finally have a look at some wonderful budget-friendly retro dresses.
Budget-friendly retro Dresses for less than 30 €
Who would have thought you can already get some wonderful retro dresses for spring for less than 30 €? Let’s have a look at the true bargains. 😉
Wonderful flower dresses for Spring
Flower dresses with 3/4 length sleeves are absolutely perfect for spring! The dress I’m wearing in the photo is by Dolly and Dotty and not available at the moment. But I found some similar ones on Amazon*, they all cost between 20 € and 30 €, and you can choose from different patterns and colours.
I teamed the dress with colour matching accessories like pink nylon stockings by Secrets in Lace, pink shoes, and an umbrella, because in Germany in spring, you never know if there might come a rain shower…
Outfit Details:
Retro dress: similar here*
Nylons: c/o Secrets in Lace
Pumps: Buffalo, similar here*
Handbag: similar here*
Earrings: Glitter Paradise*
Umbrella: similar here*
The Pussy Deluxe Anchor Striped Dress
The charming Pussy Deluxe Anchor Striped Dress* is perfect for spring and summer! The soft and comfy jersey fabric makes it a wonderful companion for travelling or the home office, as it doesn’t wrinkle easily and is super comfortable. The dress is currently on sale for only 29,99 €, futhermore, you will find a very similar dress with longer sleeves for only 10 € more here*.
As long as it is still a bit chilly, I recommend to wear the dress with a short cardigan as well as sheer tights. To add a bit of colour to the outfit, I went for red accessories.
Outfit Details:
Retro dress: c/o Pussy Deluxe*
Cardigan: very similar here*
Tights: similar here*
Pumps: Buffalo, similar here*
Handbag: similar here*
Sunglasses: Miu Miu, similar here*, more budget-friendly version here*
Earrings: Glitter Paradise*
The Pussy Deluxe Basic Dotties Dress
Another wonderful jersey dress for spring is the Dotties Dress by Pussy Deluxe*. This one is on sale as well and only costs 29,00 € – which is a pretty good price considered how versatile it is! You can wear it with stockings and a jacket in spring, with sunglasses and sandals in summer, and with a warm cardigan and tights in autumn.
Outfit Details:
Retro dress: c/o Pussy Deluxe*
Tights: similar here*
Pumps: similar here*
Handbag: similar here*
Sunglasses: similar here*
The Anna Dress by Dolly and Dotty
Yellow always reminds me of the sun and is therefore a wonderful colour for spring! The “Anna” dress by Dolly and Dotty is available in different colours for only 10 Euro! You will also find a similar dress here*. PS: I like to team yellow with pink – so very springlike. 😉
Outfit Details:
Retro dress: c/o Dolly and Dotty
Pink nylons: c/o Secrets in Lace
Pumps: Similar here*
Bandana: via Amazon*
Earrings: Glitter Paradise*
Budget-friendly retro Dresses for Spring for less than 50 €
The lovely retro dresses for spring in this category cost between 30 € and 50 €, and are all super elegant.
Elegant Pencil Dresses by Von 50′
Pencil dresses can often be a bit uncomfortable and might make you feel kind of narrowed. Not the wonderful pencil dresses by Von 50′, though, as they are made of a very comfortable and streching jersey fabric. And as I like this particular dress so much, I even bought it in two colours: One has a summery coral colour* and is made of an a bit thinner fabric. The blue/green dress*, on the other side, has a more structured fabric and is also a bit thicker, and therefore better for the cooler spring days.
As long as it is too chilly for short sleeves, I wear the grean dress with a white cardigan as well as tights. And as soon as it gets warmer, I either wear the green dress without a cardigan, or the orange dress with some summery accessories.
Both dresses are available for less than 45 € on Etsy. And as there is only a limited number of dresses in stock, I recommend to buy one as long as it is possible!
Outfit Details – green/blue Dress:
Dress: Von 50‘*
Cardigan: no name, very similar here*
Earrings: Glitter Paradise*
Hairflower: similar here*
Handbag: Woody Ellen*
Tights: Wolford*
Outfit Details – orange Dress:
Dress: Von 50‘*
Shoes: Miss L-Fire, similar here*
Earrings: similar here*
The Daisy Dress by Vive Maria
Another very comfortable and lovely dress for spring is the Daisy Dress by Vive Maria. The flower print is so charming and the jersey fabric super comfy – so it not only looks great, but also feels good!
I team the dress with a colour matching lipstick as well as lilac nylons. On coolder days, I wear a cardigan on top.
The dress with short sleeves, which I’m wearing in the picture, unfortunately is no longer available. But there is a very similar dress with the same pattern and longer sleeves available*, which is, in my opinion, even better for spring. If you can invest a bit more money, I also recommend to to have a look at the Vive Maria dresses from the current collection*. Also, make sure to have a look at the sale section of the Napo-Shop* to find some very pretty bargains. 😊
Outfit Details:
Dress: c/o Vive Maria*
Stockings: c/o Secrets in Lace
Earrings: Glitter Paradise*
Budget-friendly retro Dresses for less than 100 Euro
If you can invest a few more Euros, you will find a huge variety of wonderful retro dresses for spring. Here are two of my colourful favourites for less than 100 €.
Dolores by The Seamstress of Bloomsbury
Flower prints are a wonderful choice for spring and definitely look amazing on retro dresses. A wonderful example for such a dress is the Dolores dress by The Seamstress of Bloomsbury*. The comfy crepe de Chine fabric feels super light and the 1940s silhouette of the dress looks wonderful. On the shoulders and underneath the bust, there are some pretty ruffles. A waist band just below the bust area looks great and sits high enough that one is able to eat lots of ice cream, but the dress still fits great. 😉 And the best about the dress: It has pockets! Another highlight is the print. I simply love the red, baby blue, green, and white details on the navy blue ground. And of course, I colour-matched my accessories with this print – even my stockings.
Outfit Details:
Dress: c/o The Seamstress of Bloomsbury*
Earrings: Glitter Paradise*
Stockings: c/o Secrets in Lace
Shoes: very similar here*
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Mabel by The Seamstress of Bloomsbury
The 1940s inspired dress called “Mabel” is also by The Seamstress of Bloomsbury and made of a light Crepe de Chine fabric, which flutters amazingly in the wind. Lovely details like the ruffels at the skirt or the buttons at the top make it a real head-turner. Just as the “Navy Floral Print“ from the photo before, the yellow print called “Mimosa” has beautiful red, white, blue, and green details.
I teamed the dress with colour-matching accessories and delicate nylon stockings, that keep me warm on cooler spring days.
Outfit Details:
Dress: c/o The Seamstress of Bloomsbury (available in different colours*, a similar dress with the same pattern is available here*)
Stockings: c/o Secrets in Lace
Earrings: Glitter Paradise*
Handbag: Vintage, similar here*
Shoes: similar here*
