The coolest dresses to see you through summer
Several decades late to the party (I like to mull these things over), I finally got my head around the whole dress concept last summer. I used to think separates were the more versatile, flexible option – and so they are, especially if you have a short attention span…
Ahem, what was I saying? Oh yes. When it’s 30 degrees, not wearing two items of clothing that meet in your middle (generally the body’s hottest point) has quite a lot going for it. In conclusion: when it’s hot, nothing is more cooling than a breezy dress in a natural, breathable fabric.
But so many dresses now are in synthetic polyesters and polymers that sitting in one of them on a warm day is about as refreshing as parking yourself in a polytunnel. Which, in a way, you have.
I can understand why a really cheap dress might be 100 per cent acrylic, but a dress that costs £600? Sorry, but no. This isn’t about “natural” versus human-made, a distinction that doesn’t make sense in a world where some “natural cottons” are environmentally disastrous and where viscose, made in a factory from wood pulp, is breathable, sustainable and brings a liquid drape to a design. Lyocell (also known by its brand name of Tencel) is another wood-derived sustainable fibre that can be mixed with other fabrics to add springiness and weight.
It’s possible to sell a dress in lovely quality silk (I’m not talking about those so-thin-they’re-practically-sheer silk dresses that weigh about as much as a thong) for around £300-£450. Beulahlondon.com and Ridleylondon.com both do these extremely well – and you won’t see them on every other woman. Camilla Ridley, a textile designer by training and founder of the latter, makes all her dresses and blouses in her London
studio using some of her own patterns as well as Liberty prints.
Each garment is cut individually by hand which means that they can easily customise hem or sleeve lengths, add extra fabric and swap around prints. Amazingly, they charge the same for a semibe-spoke garment as for their off-the-peg, so you can get something individual for around £400.
Ridleylondon.com mainly sells direct via the website (they were at Stella Live last week), a business strategy that’s increasingly popular.
Tuckernyc.com, which gained a cult following a decade ago among fashionistas with its printed blouses, is now charming insiders all over again with its direct-to-consumer dresses. With five key styles, from knee length to midi, and a myriad of original prints designed by founder Gaby Basora, these are the definition of non-throwaway fashion. Some of the patterns are repeats from the archives. The styles are classics, without being remotely staid. Basora herself possesses dollops of uncategorisable style: let’s just say elements of Frida Kahlo, Martha Graham, Julie Christie in Don’t Look Now, Janice Joplin and The Ramones. You won’t end up with a frump frock from her. What you will find is a dress that’s easy to wear anywhere until, finally, it biodegrades. Ten years ago, she was selling to scores of international retailers. Now, customers order from her website and wait 10 days for their dress to be made in the Dominican Republic. Not having to stock vast quantities of inventory keeps prices and wastage down.
“I know waiting is the opposite direction to where fashion has been heading for the past two decades,” she said when I caught up with her in New York recently. “When you have to wait for something, even just 10 days, it makes you more mindful about the purchase. And it feels much more precious.” British customers should add £25 p&p and factor in possible import tariffs (these seem to be randomly applied), or wait until a New York trip to order. A longer wait, but worth it. Another dress brand making a USP out of its silks is Les Rêveries, which was set up by a former Barney’s merchandiser Wayne Lee and her sister Ai Ly to appeal to women like them, who hadn’t previously taken to dresses. “I never found dresses very interesting,” says Lee “but once you cut them a bit looser, but not cavernously so, so that you can layer them and wear them year round, and design them so they work as well with chunky biker boots as heels, they’re a much more intriguing prospect.”
To add to their versatility and coverage, the sisters have introduced a range of ultrafine ribbed sweaters to wear underneath. This season’s, in pops of neon, are on net-a-porter.com, along with the dresses. Les Rêveries also designs its own patterns – don’t worry, there are just about enough patterned dresses around too – and work hard to keep prices of their silks at what Li says is the sweet spot. “£340-£450 is a price a lot of our customers feel is fair for an investment piece they’ll wear over and over, and up to £550 for a really special one. We’re absolutely not about being one-season hits.”