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The TwelveWays team kindly hooked me up with two dresses to review and I decided it would be fun to make a challenge for myself: to create twelve outfits and wear the dress for twelve days straight.
Mind you, I was working with minimal clothing since I was already mid-travels so my outfits aren’t quite as spectacular as I would have liked. After the first few days of my Twelve Ways, Twelve Days Challenge I thought I was going to be very tired of wearing the same clothing item, convertible travel dress or not, for the entirety of the challenge. Not sure if I was going to be able to pull it off, I gave it my best shot!
Please note: I’m 5’2″ tall with a petite frame so the length may be shorter on you if you’re taller than me. I’m wearing a size S/M which fits snugly around the waist band. I normally wear a size 4-6.
Twelve Days of Twelveways Travel Outfits
Table Of Contents
Day 1: Comfort
I am a temporary expat in Thailand and needed to go on a visa run to Malaysia. I usually wear comfortable clothing on these long travel days because they typically consist of at least 12 hours of bus time. I left the house at 6:30am (as seen in the 1st pic) and arrived in Penang at 8:30pm (2nd pic). Not only did I discover the dress was super comfortable during the journey but I also felt slightly more human arriving at my destination wearing something nicer than pajama pants.
Day 2: Modesty
Although Malaysia is a Muslim country, Penang has a slightly more relaxed dress code because of the tourists. Regardless, I wanted to be respectful and wore Twelve Ways as a travel skirt while we went sightseeing around the historical area. I’m 5’2” so I was able to get a maxi skirt look but if you’re taller, you can probably get away with a below the knee look which would still keep you modest for a more conservative country.
Day 3: Relaxed Coverage
Today we made our way back to Thailand so I needed something comfortable for the journey but also modest as we transferred through a more conservative part of Thailand – Hat Yai. I wore Twelve Ways as a tunic over leggings and used a long sleeve button up shirt as a slight cover up for my shoulders.
Day 4: Danced The Night Away!
A friend I met in Playa del Carmen last year made a stop on the island and I took her dancing to one of my favorite clubs. I wore the Twelve Ways as top over short denim shorts but I was concerned that I’d be tugging the top the entire night to keep it from falling down like with most tube tops. To my surprise, I danced the night away and never had to worry about having a Janet Jackson malfunction! Top marks as a tube top!
Day 5: Little Black Dress (Skirt)
Wore Twelve Ways as a mid-thigh skirt today paired with a basic black tank top and belt. Together a simple yet polished travel outfit or a Little Black Travel Dress to be jazzed up with accessories. Nothing special today – just ran errands near Big Buddha.
Day 6: Everyday
Nothing special today just grocery shopping and errands. Wore the Twelve Ways as a longer skirt with black tank top and scarf. I’ve been wanting a plain black maxi dress for a while, so this travel outfit is a good substitute.
Day 7: Bohemian
Eager to play with the zippers, I wore Twelve Ways as a skirt with a high slit on one side and converted my wrap skirt into a top. Perfectly beach appropriate, my boyfriend liked the look!
Day 8: Sand and Sun
Beach time is a big part of my travels so I had to put the dress to the test as a beach cover up. Other convertible dresses are too delicate to be worn on the beach. Fortunately, the salt water and sand didn’t ruin the dress. I wore the dress home with a wet bathing suit and soaked the dress in fresh water to avoid any damage – perfect results!
Day 9: Market and Drinks
Friday night is a fun market at Fisherman’s Village featuring great food and cheap drinks. I wore the Twelve Ways shorter in the front and longer in the back accessorized with a belt (and scarf that missed the pics). I liked this look because I was able to maintain proper coverage behind and show my legs a little in the front. If we had gone out dancing like we usually do on Friday nights after the market, I would have shortened the dress on both sides for a club outfit on the go!
Day 10: Date Approved
I wore Twelve Ways as a top over medium length denim shorts and scarf for a special dinner and movie date night. We went to an incredible local Thai restaurant and watched the movie Loopers. It was nice to have a dressier top that I could wear on a special yet casual evening for a rare travel date night.
Day 11: Vacation Time
We made our way to Lamai for a little weekend getaway in one of my favorite beach enclaves. Wanting a more refined look, I wore Twelve Ways in the regular dress style with a colorful sleeveless button up top. Going to a more upscale vacation area, it was nice to clean up the backpacker look.
Day 12: Fun and Flirty
Settled into my weekend holiday, I wore Twelve Ways in a short style to hang out by the beach before jumping in to snorkel in the beautiful bay. Wearing the dress like this I feel fun and even flirty but it’s nice to know the same travel dress can also convert into a more modest clothing item like on my first days in Malaysia.
The Verdict
If I liked the Twelve Ways dress before, I love it now! This works very well for my needs. It’s a fun and flirty convertible dress that has minimal fabric, easy styling, and also has sex appeal! It’s super comfortable (and roomy in a forgiving way) so it’s also become my favorite “house dress” just to lounge around and work. Attempting to mix and match outfits for travel with this convertible travel dress has made it into one of my favorite clothing items.
My only two major gripes with this dress are 1) the ties are a shoe-lace type material which doesn’t look too elegant in the “elegant” style and 2) I wish it had straps. Even though it’s been an extremely liberating experience to wear a strapless dress in the scorching Thai heat, it would be great to have the option for added support too.
Ultimately, the reason why this particular convertible dress wins me over other convertible dresses is that it has minimal fabric and creates 3 unique pieces of clothing regardless of how many ways you decide to style it.
PLEASE NOTE: I AM 5’2″ TALL SO WHILE THIS MAY FIT ME AS A DRESS, IF YOU’RE TALL, THE DRESS STYLE MAY FIT YOU AS A TUNIC. While I did receive two complimentary Twelve Ways dresses, I didn’t receive any compensation for the review.
About the TwelveWays Multi-functional Dress:
- Colors: casual black, elegant black, stone blue, lime green, orange
- Sizes: S/M and L/XL
- Fabric: Rayon/Spandex and Poly/Spandex blends
- To buy: Amazon.com
or TwelveWays.com
Which of these convertible travel dress do you prefer? Share and comment below!
For more tips, please read:
- How to Choose the Best Bra for Travel (regardless of size)
- Thigh Chafing Products: Don’t be scared to wear a dress!
- Pack Carryon Only for EVERY SINGLE Trip
- The Secret to Traveling Carryon Only (with video tutorial!)
Can you tell me where you got your belt that you wore with the twelveways and also with the grey Skyler pants
Hi Lisa, unfortunately the product sold out some time ago so we’re not sure of the brand. Sorry we couldn’t have been more helpful.
Where else can I find this? Amazon is out and twelveways.com is down. Going to Thailand next month..
Hi Thadra, I believe you can only find it on their website or Amazon. Can you try emailing the company?
Love it, love it x12!
Which did you ultimately prefer, casual or elegant fabric?
I preferred the elegant fabric because it packed lighter, felt comfortable in the heat, and was a bit dressier.
Where did you get the lace top you are wearing over the dress…love it!!!
Hi Darlene, they sell them in all over the place in Thailand at the markets and tourist shops, thanks!
Wow! I just came across this article by chance, and absolutely love it. It’s so versatile. Hmmm.. I’m looking at their website now for my next travel 🙂
Totally unrelated note: Can you please tell me where you get your sandals in these pictures? They look comfortable yet elegant, another versatile item!
Glad you found the site! Yeah definitely a fun and flirty dress! The flip flops are by Ipanema and the ones with silver details I bought in Thailand 🙂
Thailand… of course! 🙂
Is your’s the casual or elegant material. I saw on their website they have a beautiful stone blue for spring but only in the elegant fabric. Also I am 5’2″ 115 lbs. and 32C/D. I think from your description we are close in size. Do you have an XS or S/M?
Hi Deb! Yes we have just about the same measurements 🙂 I have a S/M in the elegant fabric and also the casual. However, I prefer the elegant fabric and I’m LOVING the stone blue color! The S/M is comfortable, I think the XS would be too small for me particularly in the elastic. Enjoy!
Quick question. How did you get on with the strapless element? I don’t really fancy taking a strapless bra travelling and can’t do no bra.
To be honest, I actually don’t like wearing strapless either because it’s so hard to find the right support for a maneuver like that 😉
When I got the dress I was in Thailand and had to go buy a strapless bra. It was hard to find a quality strapless bra so I opted for one of those tube wireless tops. While the tube bra didn’t provide much support it felt so AMAZING to be free from the underwire! I loved the comfort of wearing a relaxed dress without sleeves and an open chest not restricted in the heat of South East Asia.
The dress’s elastic is pretty tight so it wasn’t going to fall down which made it easier to wear this particular strapless. As a dress or top, for long transportation days it was very comfortable to wear because I go to wear my tube bra and the dress itself is very roomy and stretchy. When I was out during the day, I opted for the skirt style. When I wore it out at night to go dancing, I actually wore my wired bra under the tube bra for the extra support to dance the night away which wasn’t a problem for a few fun hours 🙂
Thanks Alex!! I guess a bikini top with cool pattern/colour could work or I could get a multi-way bra. Decisions, decisions 🙂
How about both? You need a bra and a bikini don’t you? 😉
Just got my 12 ways dress and I LOVE it, will be perfect for my europe trip I’m so glad I found ur site, thank u for all the tips!
That’s great! Happy to hear that you like it 🙂
I loved every single outfit, amazing how many different ones you made with just that one Twelve Ways!
thanks! what about your Hawaii outfits???
Love how creative you got with your outfits — I don’t think I could come up with twelve ways to wear one piece of clothing!
Thank you! I was mellow with accessories but with a bit of accessory overload i think i could get more creative 🙂
Thanks for reading!
Great to see how many ways the dress can be worn on a real person! Do you know if they ship to the UK?
Thanks! I’ll keep adding outfits as I kept accessories pretty minimal in the 12 days 😉
I know they used to ship to the UK but I’m not sure if it’s just USA and Canada now…I’ll find out
Cool challenge! Seems like you’re onto a real winner with that dress.
Thanks! It was actually a good exercise to planning different combination ideas – will do more in the future 🙂