Category: Crepe Dresses

Crepe clings to the idea of being easy and then shows every lump and bump of whatever's underneath it the second you sit down wrong. It's not a forgiving fabric in the way people assume, because it skims rather than floats, and a dress that looked beautifully fluid on the hanger can turn unflattering the moment you add a big lunch or the wrong underwear. Still worth having one, because nothing else moves quite the same way or photographs as cleanly in low light, and once you've found the right cut it stops feeling like a risk and starts feeling like the dress you reach for without thinking.
If you've got none, start with something midi length and slightly A line rather than a bias cut body skimmer, because the bias ones need a specific kind of confidence and the wrong underwear situation I mentioned becomes very real very fast. A wrap style or one with a bit of gather at the waist hides more than a straight column does, and it's a gentler introduction to how the fabric behaves when you're walking rather than standing still in a changing room mirror. On colour, go for ink navy, a deep bottle green or black before anything pale, because crepe in lighter shades shows every crease from sitting down and holds static in a way that pale cotton never would. A muted rust or a dark berry works too if you want something less obvious than black but just as low maintenance. What separates a good one from a sad one is mostly in the hand feel before you've even tried it on. Proper crepe, whether it's polyester crepe or a viscose blend, has a bit of weight and a slightly pebbled texture rather than being thin and slippery like lining fabric with ideas above its station. Cheap versions crease the second you sit on a bus and never quite recover, while a better made one shakes out in the time it takes to stand up. Check the seams sit flat rather than puckering, that the zip is concealed properly rather than bulging at the back, and that the hem has actually been finished rather than just overlocked and left. Buttons and poppers should feel like they'll survive more than one wash, because the amount of crepe dresses I've seen come back with a popped button at the neckline is not a coincidence.
Before I buy one now I ask myself whether I'd be happy sitting down in it for two hours straight, because that's the real test crepe sets you, not how it looks standing still.
Picked by Lauren Booth. More in Dresses.