Tell me about your hot weather day dresses? A few requirements...

[largeprintagathachristie]

It hit 30 degrees in London today - up that by a bazillion degrees for tube journeys - and once again I was wearing The Wrong Thing.

It was an office day, so I saw loads of women of all ages in central London wafting about looking great in loose dresses. It's reminded me that I have a stop off for a few days in Sydney in February '25, in Australia's high summer, and I should be buying a couple of things for that now. My wish list is:

Dresses for all day daywear, and I burn really easily and will be carrying a backback, so nothing backless. Looking to be covered up but cool, sartorially and temperature- wise. Mild cut-outs would be ok.

Likewise some kind of sleeves would be good, even better if they're not puffy but the milkmaid thing seems hard to avoid at the moment

Natural fibres a must.

Let me know if there's anything you can point me towards. I seem to have loads of clothes but nothing that fits the bill, and am aware summer sales are on at the moment.

This is probably too milkmaid, but I have this Monki dress in pretty much every colour-way. It’s seersucker cotton and perfect on a hot day. I think it’s about £25.

Like this which is annoyingly sold out

Where are you going to with a Sydney stopover? That’s a bit of an unusual one. Save some space for some local purchases. And your final destination? That might be even better.

Ha ha, that’s exactly the style of all the dresses around at the moment! I’d rather not be fashionable than wear them!

I got this ,it's cotton ,loose and on me mid calf,in 5 ft 4 in, it s an XL. ,I'm an 18, hides my tummy. Ideal world website, £19.99

Regarding shopping in New Zealand - I mean, it’s not London or Paris in terms of fashion, but I found Auckland, even 10 years ago, to have everything I needed at the start of my trip around NZ!
enjoy your trip

I have been surprised to find a loose viscose shirt dress with really wide, kimono like sleeves sleeves (crucially, wide where they join the body of the dress) is very wafty and cooling.

H&m belt tie shirt dresses.

Check out Boden, Nobody's Child, Jigsaw, M and S, J Lewis (own brands) French Connection, etc.

F Connection has a beautiful 100% cotton shirt dress in the sale but mostly all sold now.

Whistles are good for summer dresses and are reasonable in the sales. I bought this recently which is really cool and quite flattering.

Yes, that feeling.......all life choices because someone is wearing the perfect thing.
I second Australian, but not buying there.
Deiji Studios make loose linen or cotton dresses, many with sleeves.
You can buy them online, beware import duties of course. Perhaps order one at a time.
There are some on ebay too.....a nice black linen one. Understated and lovely.

Keep an eye on Zara - every now and then they do a cotton shirt dress. I have two that are summer go-to’s.

I bloody love these threads, even though I’m strictly a jeans and polo fan. I’d love to waft round looking amazing in a dress! Ever hopeful….

I just remembered Poetry, and all their summer dresses are now in the sale www.poetryfashion.co.uk/subcategory-POES-POESDS/sale/dresses-skirts/index.htm

Just trying desperately to avoid the AW24 stock as it looks lovely, and I always prefer cold-weather clothes

This is nice

I'm a huge fan of mountain warehouse dresses. Cotton. I usually buy knee length but have also got a couple of maxi length ones. Most have pockets too.

Once I tried on in store (often have sales on) and found which size fitted best in the different styles they have, they were then easy to find on ebay and vinted for really good prices.

Oh my eyes. Sorry, but these are hideous!

Boden! I live in central Europe where we have temperatures above 30 most of summer. During summer I basically live in Boden (and some Joules) jersey dresses. They are really light and thin, so very airy. They also wash great and (very important for me) don't wrinkle. I tend to just stick one into a backpacs as a spare on days out with the kids.

My fave was their Lola dress, and I also love the Amelie and their wrap dresses. Something like this https://www.boden.co.uk/en-gb/amelie-jersey-dress-brilliant-blue-daisy-bud/sty-j0326-bsp?cat=C2_S2_G4
or this one https://www.boden.co.uk/en-gb/joanna-cap-sleeve-wrap-dress-sweet-lilac-shells/sty-d0928-bpk?cat=C2_S2_G4

Also have a look on eBay, I got a few from there as well.

Love this! Thanks for linking, I just bought it.

OMG, I hadn't heard of them before - what have you done to me??!

These are linen. Reduced to £99 from 175. When faced with clothes I can't afford, I like to examine the cut & construction as well as the fabric. Mainly so I can tell myself "They're taking the piss! I could knock that up in an afternoon if I actually got the machine out. Mumble mumble."

They are not taking the piss. Everything about this dress is perfect, from the full manufacturing history to the panelling and pattern placement.

<proceeds to wipe Poetry from memory>

If you avoid the patterns Seasalt has some nice linen shift dresses in the sale

www.seasaltcornwall.com/cresting-waves-sleeveless-linen-dress?color=39098

I find most of them too short on me (5'7"), so they are great on women who aren't as tall.

@largeprintagathachristie I find backpacks very sweat inducing and tend to use a cross body bag as it is cooler.

@Garlicfest those are fab. I have enough summer dresses already!

Im a very hot person and my best dress for really hot days is an old Toast one which is very thin but not see through cotton in a kaftan shape. The shape is amazingly flattering even though the dress is loose enough to allow lots of air to flow around! The airflow factor is the key thing imo. And you don’t need much sunblock as most of you is covered up. But I think a lot depends on your body shape, I look awful in t-shirt dresses for example.

Lots of choices of Poetry dresses on Vinted. Just a few added.

Another vote for uniqlo (whilst strenuously not thinking about poetry’s autumn season). The Airism t-shirt dress feels as if it would be way too thick to be comfy but I can vouch for it being perfect for walking miles in 37 degrees with humidity - genuinely comfortable and stayed looking much less like a dripping rag than it ought to have done. Also try Muji - more architect than milkmaid, which on the whole I prefer.