If you're stood in the changing room asking whether a wrap dress is worth the fuss of tying it properly every time, the answer is yes, because nothing else does that particular job of skimming in at the waist without a zip or a button anywhere near it. The tie does the work a dozen seams would otherwise have to do. That's the whole point of the shape, and it's why it still earns a space when so many other styles come and go.
This is a dress for the days when you need something that looks like you made an effort but didn't actually plan an outfit, a lunch, a work thing, a wedding where you're not sure how smart is too smart. It moves nicely in warm weather because most of them are cut from something with a bit of fluidity to it, and it layers under a coat in the colder months without looking like you've just added a cardigan to hide the fact you're cold. It's one of the few dresses that genuinely covers both ends of the year if the fabric is right.
How it wears depends entirely on what it's made from and how much you move about in it. A good jersey or viscose wrap will soften with washing, get slightly more fluid against the skin, and still hold its shape at the waist tie after a good year of wear. A cheap one goes the other way, it bobbles under the arms where the fabric rubs, the tie thins out and stops gripping, and the front gapes in a way it never used to. Hand wash or a cool machine cycle on a delicates bag keeps the drape intact for longer, and hanging it rather than folding it stops the wrap front creasing into a stubborn line across the chest.
The difference between a dress that lasts and one that doesn't usually comes down to what's happening at the waist. Cheap ones use a flimsy fabric tie that twists and loses its shape within weeks. Better ones have a proper fabric covered tie or an internal tie as well as the outer one, so the dress stays put without you adjusting it every time you sit down. Check the inner tie is stitched firmly rather than just looped through, because that's usually the first thing to give way, and have a feel of the fabric itself, it should have some weight to it rather than feeling thin and slippery in your hand.
It sits easily with things you likely already own, a denim jacket over the top, flat boots in autumn, plain sandals in summer, a belt if you want more definition than the tie alone gives you. The one honest limit is that it's not a dress for a windy day or anything that involves bending over a lot in company, because the wrap front has a will of its own.
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