Top 5 Summer Dresses

Sofia Haziran 24, 2021

Over the years my style has certainly changed. When I was younger you would not catch me in a dress or a skirt, in fact you would be lucky to find me in anything but black. I simply was not girly but as I have gotten older, I have learnt to appreciate a good dress and how wearing one makes me feel.

Even though I can appreciate Summer clothes now that I am older, the weather doesn't seem to agree with me this year. I have a uniform during the week so the beautiful clothes I buy are exclusively for the weekends, but there simply hasn't been the weather to wear them. As I can't get through all the clothes I already own, it would be silly to buy more but today I thought I would share my top 5 picks for Summer dress that I would buy if I could get the wear out of them. Come on end of Summer heatwave!

In The Style

Prior to June, I had never ordered anything from In The Style but at the moment, I am a little bit obsessed. In The Style have just launched a collab with Instagram babe Fashion Influx. Fashion Influx is the reason I have been trying to add more fashion pieces to my Instagram and Blog. As you can imagine, I was incredibly excited to see that In The Style were working with Lydia and really that was the factor that led me to the website and the clothing is what has made me go back so frequently. I absolutely loved the Fashion Influx collection but the dresses weren't anything that I really needed for my wardrobe but oddly I have found myself loving a lot of the Dani Dyer collection.

Dani Dyer is not someone I follow or even care about, I would probably be happier if the clothes were just part of their normal collection but I just love a lot of the clothes within her collection. Both of the dresses I am including from In The Style are both from the Dani Dyer collab.

Picture from In The Style

Pink Leopard Print Wrap Dress

I am a big fan of a wrap dress purely because they can be used to create shape even on the thinnest of bodies. I am skinny so I try to create the appearance of curves whenever I can so I wear as many wrap style dresses as I can. I have a polka dot one from All Saints that I love and wear all the time (as you will see from my Instagram,) but because it is black, I feel like it is more Autumn appropriate. Whereas I have been on the look out for something a tad more Summer time appropriate, that was when I saw the Pink Leopard Print Wrap Dress. I had actually just purchased the co-ord with the Swing Shorts and the Cut Out Back Top but I ended up sending the top back because it didn't fit how I wanted it to.

When I sent back the top, I knew I was giving up the chance of a leopard print outfit and I was not happy about it but when I saw this dress it combined my two loves: wrap dresses and leopard print. It was an added bonus that it is a gorgeous pink shade which is actually quite a hard colour to pull off. During the heat of Summer, with a strong tan, I think this dress will look gorgeous for any BBQs or for any day trips. Team it with a leather jacket and boots to make it perfect for a slightly warmer day or wear some strappy sandals and a clutch bag and you've got a perfect post-work drinks outfit. This dress is £35 which is cheaper than buying the co-ord but you can always find a discount code for In The Style which is always worth using.

I thought I would get so much wear out of this that whilst writing this I might have convinced myself to buy this dress. At the time of purchasing they had up to 60% off everything and this dress was 28% off so it was only £25 which seemed more reasonable. Unfortunately it did go back because it looked like a sack on me, it was way too big but on anyone who isn't petite, this would look amazing.

Picture from In The Style

Blue Light Wash Belted Utility Dress

You can't always wear light floral floaty dresses because lets face it, in the UK it isn't always that warm. I always like to have thicker alternatives in my wardrobe. At the start of this Summer, I realised I really do not have that much denim in my wardrobe so I started working on this and bought my first denim skirt from The Kooples. I also bought a black denim dress from Primark which I have been wearing as well.

At the moment there seems to be a lot of denim dresses about and I had been looking for one which was a light wash and that had a belt. I had a vision of the dress I was looking for and the Blue Light Wash Belted Utility Dress was exactly what I had been looking for. I wanted a belted denim dress with short, almost capped sleeves. In addition to the colour and the belted denim style, I loved all of the pockets and the utility style. All you had to do was look at one runway during A/W19 fashion week to see utility pockets and belts on the runway and I liked that this dress was more feminine but still included this style. This dress does seem a lot of £40 but I hoped the quality was worth it. Personally I would just wear this without a jacket and I would pair it with my black Vans, I see this as being a more casual piece.

Once again, this is a good one to look for a discount code for and they do it in lots of different colours, plus if you are not a dress person, they do also have it in a playsuit. I am actually eyeing up the Pastel Pink Belted Denim Playsuit as well just because I love the colour and I think it would look great with a pair of strappy heels. Obviously I have ended up buying this one and I am so pleased that I did because the quality is amazing and it fits so well.

Motel

I have never shopped from Motel but all of a sudden I have been seeing all of these seriously cute ditsy floral print dresses on Instagram and they all seemed to be from Motel. I had sort of seen the brand around before but I had never really been that interested in it but these gorgeous floral prints certainly caught my attention. I have to say looking at the full range of products, a lot of it isn't for me. I feel like they stock a good amount of pieces if you are going to a festival but a lot of it simply does not fit my everyday style. However, that has not stopped me from finding a couple of items I would love to add to my wardrobe.

Picture from Motel Rocks

Hime Dress in Ditsy Rose Black Dress

I first saw this dress on Fashion Influx and I absolutely loved the look of it. Of course she has a cracking bod which is nothing like mine but I feel like I could take some of her styling tips and make this dress my own. This is a midi black floral dress with a grey ditsy rose pattern. I love the pattern and that was what originally drew me to the dress but I love the cut of the dress too. The length is great for the days when you haven't tanned but you want to wear a Summer dress as it sort of keeps you hidden but this dress has splits on both sides of the legs so it is slightly sexy as well. This has a low back which you potentially could not wear a bra with and quite a low front but I like these details. It makes this slightly different from your average daytime midi.

To style this I would have to wear it with a belt just to give myself a waist. Looking at the pictures on the website, when this is not paired with a belt, it has no shape around the middle, but with a belt looks amazing and a belt also allows you to be able to adjust the height. I would wear this with my leather jacket and a pair of boots, my new biker boots from New Look just to give it a little bit of edge and to take away from the straight up feminine print. Pairing girly dresses with leather and boots is currently my go to look and this dress would certainly suit that style.

At £42 once again this is quite expensive which is the reason I have not purchased it but I might treat myself to it next month. I haven't ordered from Motel before so I have no idea if the quality is worth this price but in case it isn't I will check the returns policy and use a discount code when I order. If you are thinking about buying from Motel, you can use the code 'INSTA' which will give you 25% off.

Picture from ASOS

Elara Dress in Floral Field Green

Green has never been and probably will never be my colour, I simply do not like it but for some reason I have found myself drawn to this dress. This dress has been all over my Instagram feed because it always comes up as an advert and I loved it from the moment I saw it. I love a tea dress and a skater dress and this sits somewhere between the two styles. It is tighter around your bust and then it flows down into a A-line short style which I find very flattering because it gives shape. I also appreciate how easy this style of dress is to throw on. You can literally just put one of these on and you know you are looking good.

Much like the Hime Dress I can see myself wearing this with my leather jacket and my boots, especially because this is green and it won't go with something like my denim jacket. To make this super casual you could wear this with a pair of white trainers and a large cardigan making it more cosy rather than badass. However, I feel like you do not need to add much to this dress. A big pair of hoops maybe and a small necklace would look good but nothing too much.

This dress comes in a lot of different colours. I adore the red and I think I would get more wear out of the red but I already have a dress similar to it whereas this green is not something I wouldn't usually wear and would fill a gap in my wardrobe. This dress is £38 which does seem expensive to me. You could buy a similar dress to this from every fast fashion brand but for a lot cheaper. Saying that I do really love this one which is why it has made this list. You can also use the code 'INSTA' on this dress to get 25% off. P.S. They have just launched a Black Disty Rose version of this dress and I am desperate to get it.

All Saints

All Saints is a brand that I would happily wear every single piece of clothing they put out. The brand sums up the look I like and every season I find tons of pieces I want but this season there is one particular dress that I really like. I have already mentioned my Wrap Dress that I wear all the time which was the Krystal Polka Dot Wrap Dress which is no longer available as it went into the sale earlier in the year. I have worn this so much so I know when I like an All Saints piece and I buy it, I will get the wear out of it but I simply cannot justify this next dress.

Picture from John Lewis

Kana Scatter Dress

Much like my style, I wouldn't say All Saints are known for their floral patterns, In fact I would say it is their basics that have really made them the brand they are but this season the Kana Scatter Dress is covered in a ditsy floral print. It is a black dress with a small white floral print which I adore but this dress is a slightly different style to the others.

This has quite a low sweetheart neckline which is not what I usually like but I think the low neckline is balanced out with the small capped sleeves and its slightly longer length. There is a bit of shaping around the bust area and there is a lace up section between the bust which makes it a little bit sexier but not inappropriate. I feel like the lace up trend on tops is a little bit outdated now but bows aren't and you can use the string to create a bow which adds to the cutesy look of the dress. The shape of this dress is not completely figure hugging but it has shape so I imagine it would be very comfortable. I would pair this with my denim jacket and my black Vans for a casual day but if I wanted to make it a little bit more dressy I would pair it with my Block Heel Sandals from Primark.

This dress is the most expensive in this post but it doesn't come from a fast fashion brand, this would be more of an investment piece. At £98 this is really expensive and the only time you really get discount from All Saints is if the piece goes into sale. I have seen this in person and I have to say it is surprisingly thin for the price and I would question if it was see through but honestly I think the pattern is gorgeous.

There are a lot of similarities between most of the dresses I have mentioned, most of them have a floral print. I've never been much of a print girl but if you couldn't tell I am loving a floral print this season. However, I have tried to pick different styles so you all see something you like. I hope you have enjoyed this little Summer dress edit and lets all pray that we actually see some sunshine so we are able to make the most of all the cute Summer dresses that are on the market at the moment.

I don't normally do these edits on my blog but let me know if you have enjoyed this one and I will try and do some more!

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