Remi | Notch Neck Printed Oversized Pocket Midi Dress

The hem drops longest at the sides — which is exactly where a level hem always runs short.

A level hem is a promise the fabric can't keep. At the sides the cloth has furthest to travel out over the hip before it can fall, so it arrives at the hem having used up more of its length getting there — which is why a straight-cut hem on a wide dress reads shortest at the side seams and longest at the front and back. Pockets have a related problem. A pocket set into a seam is a slit with a bag hanging off it: in light cloth there is nothing supporting that weight, so anything you actually put in it drags the side seam down and pulls the skirt out of line. And sleeves are the reason a lot of wide dresses get worn wrong. A long, wide sleeve is meant to be turned back, but if the inside of the cuff is unfinished the turn shows raw edges and seam allowance — so you leave the sleeve down instead, at a length that was never meant to sit at the wrist.

Remi is cut and made for those three. The hem falls into long points at the side seams, dipping between them, so the extra length arrives precisely where the cloth needs it and the hem reads even rather than hitched. The pockets are patch pockets, stitched to the surface along their whole base, so the weight of whatever is in them is carried along a seam instead of hanging off a slit — they can be used. And the sleeves are faced in a contrasting grey on the inside, which means they are finished on both faces: turned back, the facing is the point rather than an accident, so the cuff sits where you put it.

Why it works

• Long points at the side seams: the extra hem length lands where the cloth has travelled furthest, so the hem doesn't read short at the sides.
• Patch pockets, not in-seam slits: the weight is carried along the base seam, so they hold something without dragging the skirt off line.
• Contrast-faced sleeves: finished on the inside, so they're made to be turned back and the cuff stays where you set it.
• Notched neckline: the split at the base gives the opening its length without cutting it wide across the chest.
• Dropped shoulders, no waist seam: nothing lands on your shoulder point and nothing has to find your waist.
• Washed, soft-edged medallion print: no hard lines to distort and no motif that has to be positioned on the chest.

Fit note

Properly oversized — drafted to hang well away from the body, so your usual size gives the shape in the photos. The weave is light and does let some light through, most obviously across the skirt in direct sun. It's made to be worn with the sleeves turned back, showing the grey facing. The side points hang close to the ankle while the centre sits higher up the calf; that difference is the cut, not a fault. Sizes M to 4XL.