Summer dresses to buy right now – I have been checking out two of our favourite Highstreet brands to see what they offer in summer dresses!
Just before I jump right on in about which ones I love and those I have invested in myself, let’s just cover off some myths about styling for summer.
SUMMER STYLING MYTHS
It has to be sleeveless or it won’t look like a summer dress – THIS is complete nonsense. I’ve bought two summer dresses the one above which has balloon sleeves and finishes ⅔s of the way down my arm – the other below has long sleeves and I’ve already worn that out for dinner on one of the hottest evenings thus far this summer and had zero issues with overheating.
I’m going to get too hot in a maxi dress – Again not true, it all comes down to the fabric, the fit and your own control of your body-temperature – If you have a flowy long maxi in a light cotton fabric that allows you to breathe, you are going to stay cooler than a tight-fitting sleeveless mini that’s made from polyester. Your skin needs to breathe, man-made fabrics rarely help and anything tight, you are going to get hot.
It has to be colourful or it won’t be classed as a summer dress – Again, not true. For those that love colour, you actually find they wear colour all-year-round; the sun doesn’t have to shine to make them yearn for it. I happen to be on the opposite spectrum who loves monochrome and for you wherever you land on the spectrum is perfectly fine too. You, do you!
I want to wear white, but it will get dirty – I thought that for years and avoided it. In my experience, black, colours, creams and white ALL get dirty if you spill coffee, if you rub up against a dirty-muddy car, if your kids are eating chocolate and it gets on their hands – doesn’t matter what colour you wear, it can get dirty.
The biggest concern with white are for those ladies that wear makeup; it’s the foundation and the blusher I find passes onto the fabric when you dress yourself. I have two tips here that I use myself:
- If the neckline is tight and it can only be placed over your head then either apply your make up AFTER you put your dress on (cover it up with a towel whilst applying or just be very careful)
- If you think you will still get make up on you then use the scarf technique of placing that over your made-up face and slide the garment over the scarf, just like you do in the changing rooms (and if you don’t do that in changing rooms, you should, out of courtesy to other customers)
If you have any other summer styling concerns, pop them in the comments section below and I promise to respond back!
Now let’s get to it!
SUMMER DRESSES TO BUY RIGHT NOW
If you want dresses specifically for the office life and less than £100 a dress, I highly recommend COS. This has been my brand of choice this summer.
They have some great dresses, they don’t always look amazing on the hanger so it’s important to try them on. Look out for the waist-tie, mine was hanging on the inner neck hoop, without this belt I wouldn’t have bought this gorgeous orange dress, that I am LOVING right now. I could have purchased my own size, it did fit, but I opted to size down to make the skirt less fuller on me – it’s a personal choice.
COS also make their dresses is really lovely fabric, breathable and the details in the fit really elevate it from standard highstreet and worth the extra money.
Give this brand a go if you have never tried it before.
Next up, I recommend MANGO they have a strong style game going on right now!
They also had a lot to offer if you are keen on the crochet trend; one that’s big for the Ibiza chicks amongst you. I kind of opted for this look and I invested in this fabulous white dress after seeing it on the mannequin in the shop window; I would NEVER EVER had tried it on, as it looks so boring on the hanger.
I wore it out for dinner this week and got lots of compliments, it’s also been popular on my social media channels too. I highly recommend, but be quick, it’s been in/out of stock a few times, try John Lewis if you can’t see it on MANGO.
Sizing is true to size, Small is 10, Medium is 12 & Large is 14 UK sizing.
Here’s my Instagram REEL of me chatting through my evening dinner look
View this post on Instagram
There is also a shorter version of this dress, which is just as fabulous!
Photo of Lizzi in the COS dress taken By Zanne Lee – @allthingszanne
NEXT UP! MONOCHROME STYLING: TIPS FOR LOW-KEY LUXE THIS SUMMER
