Who tf wears a shift dress other than on MN?

[Torcentre]

They’re constantly being recommended on here, for larger sizes.. but I never see this in real life, and would look like a zeppelin.

Extra points if linen or a wrap or jacket is mentioned

Next shift dresses have become very shapeless recently. I swear they are pinned in at the back during photo shoots, to give them a little shape.but they seem to hang from the shoulders and not go in or out at all. Which is a shame

I'm a classic hourglass and they don't make me look bigger, they actually make me look slimmer. The ones I've posted upthread that I have do have some waist definition and I only buy the more tailored fitted style with darts (as opposed to the more "long sleeveless t-shirt" shape that has come up on here). I think there are lots of different options with shift dresses, to suit quite a few different body types.

My old boss was about 5 foot exactly, considerably overweight, late 50s and carried weight everywhere all over her body, including her legs and arms but she always wore colourful, just above the knee, semi fitted, linen shift dresses in the summer and she looked fabulous. Slimmer/neater than she would have in a maxi dress/skirt or the long tunic/pedal pusher uniform that a lot of 50 plus overweight women in our area were wearing. I loved seeing what she was wearing, she always looked really polished and stylish.

It's like red lipstick...chances are there will be a shade that most people can find that will suit them...I think if people would really love to wear a shift dress but don't feel they can due to a body issue, actually by looking around and trying on different options, they may find "the one" somewhere.

I dont think a true shift dress has waist definition thats a hybrid as a shift shouldn't have waist tailoring.

Zara especially produce loads of tat that nobody wants that ends up in charity shops or landfill. Usually in the ugliest patterns and colour combinations you've ever seen...

Maybe somebody could pull off a shift dress in theory. I just think shapeless rectangle (which is ironic).

Give me a shift dress any day, over a flouncy tiered floral creation.

Love shift dresses, they suit me, I have good legs and they are brown at the moment, they are just easy to wear, can look smart if you want.

I took a lot of stuff to the charity shop two weeks ago and outside was a rail of clothes all for £5. There was this lovely shift dress with a v-neck just above the knee and I've worn it twice since and got compliments on it! All for a fiver.

I cannot wear frills, flounces, puff sleeves or maxi dresses, I look absolutely ridiculous in anything like that. Just give me a shift dress 😂

I think those tiered dresses are really ugly regardless of body type. I cannot wait until they go out of fashion but I have been waiting years.

Help me find an alternative then. Just put it over my head and I am dressed. I am seriously overweight and think I am hiding myself in them. Obviously not .

The dresses I posted upthread are perfect examples of what a shift is.

I've been dressmaking since I was 10, used a lot of old 60s and 70s patterns while learning...all of the shift dresses had darts around the waist or seams designed to give slight definition and were tailored to fit the body like a glove. The classic Jackie O style.
Most definitely Shift Dresses.

When I wore shift dresses a lot, probably around 10 year ago, heels were still in fashion. Or on holiday you could get away with flat sparkly sandals, but would a shift dress work with trainers?? Not sure

DM does she is 5'1 and generous bust which helps a shift skim over tummy. She can't wear midi, maxi or anything oversized as they drown her anything showing mid thigh on a modem is often length on her her. She'd wear something like this black and white one.
I've actually recently bought one from apricot in the sale and it's nice, comfy and I like the button back

So a shift dress = a sleeveless mini dress? But people are saying they have long sleeved ones. What makes it ‘shift’?? Is it the straightness??

I’m tall and no waist. Shift dresses, short sleeved, v or lowered round neck, to the knee, straight - not fitted at waist is my go to outfit. For work wear tights and shoes, jewellery etc. holidays and summer at home go with sleeveless styles.

a straight dress is often much more flattering than trousers or jeans and a top if you are carrying weight.

There are shift dresses and tailored shift dresses! My understanding is that a shift dress doesn’t have a defined waist so suits people like me who have no/very short waist. I love a tailored shift but really struggle to find a decent one that isn’t £££ these days. M&S used to do amazing ones, fully lined for around £50 but they have disappeared.

Someone shared some long ones up thread so 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

They were originally called "shift" dresses because they are easy to move around in or "shift about" in as was the common language of the day. It's the simplicity, clean lines, ease of wear that made the "shift dress" a thing in the 60s with the rise in feminism.

My friend wears them all summer, she must be a size 18-20 and looks nothing like a zeppelin. They are very flattering on her, so much so that I bought one myself (size 14) and also don't think I look like a zeppelin!

They are just one of those marmite styles, mostly because they will either look very flattering on you or make you look like a shapeless rectangle (this is me!).

Personally I prefer shirt or wrap style dresses in maxi length but Im sure alot of people would hate those as well!
If you look amazing in a shift dress then thats probably what you will recommend to others.

The best thing about current fashion in my view is that you can wear what you like. Some people like a nice simple shift dress

No, that's not true. A shift is an undershirt, often worn as nightwear. They're unshaped shirt dresses. Slips are still sometimes called shifts

I think sleeveless or short sleeves is a defining feature. I don't wear shift dresses any more but when I did I can only recall 1 which had long sleeves.

The long-sleeved ones here are jumper dresses, not shift dresses, surely?

I live in a rural village near a couple of large towns/small cities and also go to London frequently and I never see anyone wearing shift dresses apart from politicians on TV, and that is NOT a look I’d be after.

My mum maybe has a couple but she is 78.

Again, if you’re very young and skinny then a mini one could look cute but I can’t imagine these looking anything but dated on most women in their 40s (my age group). If one of my friends wore one I’d assume she’d become an MP 😂

The use of "shift" as a description of an undergarment was common from the Middle Ages up until the 1800s. It was Gabrielle Chanel that first popularised the "Shift Dress", that was starting to take off in the 1920s and yes, this was absolutely based on ease of wear, moving away from corsets and elaborate undergarments and embellishments and clothing that restricted movement. Chanel began her work designing and constructing sports wear that suited a more active lifestyle. The popularity waned but there was another move towards more functional fashion for women in the 60s, and the Shift Dress enjoyed a resurgence at the same time as the rise of the Second Wave of Feminism.

There's actually a lot of etymological evidence from the time (newspapers, journals, cine reels, personal letters) that supports the idea people linked the term "Shift Dress" with the "shift" towards both more functional fashion (both in the 20s and the 60s), the "shift" in perspective towards women and references to what I previously mentioned as the ability to "shift about"/easily move in the dresses.

My original statement was not untrue. That being said, my Scottish MIL still refers to full length slips and chemises as "shifts" and I completely accept that there is a school of thought that links the 20s/60s "Shift Dress" to the "Shift" undergarment and for some people, even dressmakers and designers, it's the only explanation for the name that they will accept.

The true "shift" undergarment was quite different from the shift dress or indeed the modern day slip. I'll admit I've made a few shift's to sleep in...they're perfect for hot weather!

Also, sorry if I'm coming across as snarky or patronising as I don't intend to me...I'm ND and this is one of my specialist interest areas (in fact, I lead a module on it at the university I work at...so I can get passionate about it lol.)

PerkyMintDeer
Thank you for that information!
I love social history and clothes really reflect the times they are created in!