Maeva | Scattered Floral Tassel Tie Midi Dress

A V-neck that stays where you tie it, on a dress that never has to find your waist.

A tie-neck V is only as dependable as the tie holding it. On a fuller bust the split spreads sideways before it drops, so the opening ends up wider than it was drafted and a single narrow cord takes all the strain — a few hours of reaching and carrying works it loose and the V creeps open. The body of a loose dress has its own problem: when a straight, waistless shape is graded up, the width usually goes into the side seams alone, so the shoulder and armhole stay the narrow measurement they were drafted at while the body grows. The dress then hangs off a shoulder point that is too tight, the armhole cuts in, and the skirt swings from the bust instead of from the shoulder. And fine, light fabric has further to travel over a fuller hip — cut to a flat straight hem, it clings back onto the thigh the moment you walk.

Maeva is built the other way round. The V is a long, narrow split with the tie at the top of it, so you set the depth once and the cord holds that point rather than being asked to close a wide opening. The body falls straight from a softly gathered sleeve head with no waist seam anywhere in it, so there is no seam that has to land on your natural waist to look right. One deep gathered tier at the hem adds width exactly where the dress has to clear the hip and thigh, so it swings out instead of dragging back. The floral is widely scattered across a bare cream ground — large blooms with real space between them, which stays open and legible on a broader panel instead of compressing into a busy grid.

Why it works

• Long, narrow V with the tie at the top: you set how deep it sits, and the knot holds that point through the day.
• No waist seam at all: nothing has to land on your natural waist, so sizing for the bust doesn't put a seam in the wrong place.
• Softly gathered sleeve head, elbow-length sleeve: the sleeve ends below the widest part of the upper arm and has room to move in.
• Deep gathered tier at the hem: extra width arrives where the dress needs to clear the hip, so it swings rather than clings.
• Widely spaced floral on a bare ground: large blooms with gaps between them, so the print stays open across a wider panel.
• Full ankle length: the hem starts low, so a little riding up doesn't turn it into a calf-length dress.

Fit note

Relaxed from the shoulder down with no fastenings — it pulls on over the head, so take your usual size. The weave is fine and lightly crinkled, and it lets light through in strong sun, most visibly through the skirt; a slip underneath if you would rather it didn't. The tie is doing real work as well as decoration: knot it tighter for a shallower V, looser to open it up. The fabric creases softly as you wear it, which is the nature of this weave rather than a fault. Sizes M to 4XL.