Here Are The Best Loose-Fitting Dresses to Flatter Your Figure During Summer

When the air gets thick and the shade is no more relief than a sauna, there is nothing you will want to put on but a good loose dress. The sort that is so unencumbered and light you hardly know you have it on; it skims you and lets a breeze pass through rather than holding fast to your body.

Don’t go thinking all non-fitted dresses are little more than shapeless sacks. We would put in a word for how chic one can be. It is all in the fabric. You want natural fibers like flax, hemp, or cotton poplin to get you through a heat wave with some style; they have the structure to keep from sticking to you, but they breatheee. Linen is hard to beat when the thermometer won’t come down. We have a soft spot for a linen blend in a romantic floral or a deep forest green column, or perhaps a slip with fine straps, not minding the way it wrinkles in an attractive, lived-in manner.

The silhouette does the rest. An empire waist or a roomy caftan will see you through a hot afternoon, and an A-line gives you plenty of room to move. A sundress with its hem swishing and bare straps has a way of keeping you in motion. If you need more air, just take a size up in something you like and let the extra material handle the humidity. Even a shirtdress can be a relief if it is cut from a floaty cloth, giving you the polish of an Oxford with the ease of a caftan. And as for the caftan, it remains king for looking like you made an effort without the discomfort.

From a city sidewalk to your back garden or out on the coast, we have put together an edit of the most beautiful, non-clinging dresses for wherever your summer goes. So keep on reading.