A sheath dress suits anyone who wants to look put together without having to think about what goes with what, which is most of us on a Monday. It works best on someone who doesn't mind a bit of structure skimming the body rather than floating away from it. If you hate anything that holds its shape close to the stomach or hips, or you spend the day between sitting and standing a lot, it's worth trying one on and walking around the shop before you commit, because the ones that look neat standing still can pull across the middle the second you sit down at a desk.
A good one settles in over the first few wears rather than getting worse. The fabric should give slightly at the hips and across the back of the thighs without going see through when it stretches, and a proper lining or a bit of stretch in the weave matters more here than in almost any other dress shape, because there's nowhere for the eye to land except the seams. Check the zip sits flat against your spine and doesn't gape at the top when you reach forward, check the hem doesn't ride up when you sit for longer than ten minutes, and check the armholes don't dig in if you've got any kind of bust at all, because that's the bit that gets ignored in the changing room and then ruins the whole thing at a desk six hours later. Wash it cold, hang it rather than fold it so the shape doesn't crease into the hips, and avoid tumble drying anything with stretch in it, since that's what kills the recovery in the fabric and leaves it baggy at the knees within a couple of months. If you're starting with one, go for a mid weight in a plain dark colour, something that isn't fully fitted at the waist but isn't a shift either, with a hem that sits just on or just below the knee. That middle ground covers more situations than anything more fitted or more boxy, and it's the easiest to layer a jacket or cardigan over without the whole thing looking like it was built for one specific outfit.
The detail that makes a good sheath dress a pleasure rather than a chore is a hem with a bit of weight to it, enough that it doesn't ride up a single centimetre when you cross your legs or climb into a car, so you stop thinking about it within the first five minutes of wearing it and just get on with the day.
Picked by Lauren Booth. More in Dresses.
