Marina - Summer Printed Dress

The seam sits under the bust, so the dress never has to find your waist.

Two things go wrong with relaxed summer dresses on a fuller body, and both are about where the fabric is attached. The first is the seam. Most gathered dresses are drafted with the seam at the natural waist, and on a longer or fuller torso it never lands there — it catches somewhere over the stomach, so the gathers start at the widest part of the body and push the skirt straight out from that point. You end up with volume exactly where you did not want it and none of the drape you were promised. The second is the sleeve. Three-quarter sleeves are commonly cut narrow and tapered, so they grip the fullest part of the upper arm and then leave a tight ring on the forearm, which is what makes you push them up all day. And when a light woven dress has no pockets set into loose fabric, whatever you put in the pockets it does have pulls them open across the hip.

Marina is cut around those three points. Its seam runs across the body well below the bust rather than at the waist, so the dress does not have to locate your waist at all — everything below that line hangs free of the stomach and hip. All the width comes from soft gathers into that one seam, which means the fabric is released high and falls in a single unbroken sweep to mid-calf instead of being pinched anywhere on the way down. The sleeves are cut straight and loose to mid-forearm rather than tapered, so they clear the upper arm and there is nothing to push up. And the pockets are set into the side seams inside the gathered part of the skirt, where the cloth is already loose, so they lie flat instead of being dragged open across the hip.

Why it works

• Seam placed below the bust, not at the waist: the dress never has to find your natural waist, so it cannot catch in the wrong place on a longer or fuller torso.
• All the volume gathered into that one seam: the fabric is released high and falls free of stomach and hip in one unbroken line to the hem.
• Straight, loose three-quarter sleeves: cut wide rather than tapered, so they clear the upper arm and leave no tight ring on the forearm.
• Side seam pockets inside the gathered skirt: they sit in cloth that is already loose, so they lie flat rather than pulling open across the hip.
• Round crew neckline with no closure: nothing to button or unzip at the front, so nothing can gape when you lean forward.
• Mid-calf hem on a full skirt: the hem is well clear of the leg, so it swings when you walk instead of wrapping around the calf.

Fit note

Marina is a genuinely loose dress — it is meant to hang away from the body, not skim it, so take your usual size rather than sizing up for room you already have. Sizing up mainly adds width at the shoulder and drops the seam lower, which is the one thing you do not want. If you prefer some shape, it takes a belt at the natural waist without fighting you, since there is no seam there to argue with. The fabric is a soft matte weave, so it moves loosely and creases softly. The hem sits at mid-calf. Available in Floral Light Blue. Sizes M to 4XL.