Homecoming Dresses

Blush is the safest colour in this category and the hardest to make interesting. Jacquard solves it — the woven flowers give a pale fabric enough texture to hold attention up close, which a printed blush dress never manages. Product Details Silhouette A-line Neckline...

Pockets are the single most asked-for feature in formalwear and almost never included, because they interrupt the line of the skirt. This dress includes them anyway, and it is the better dress for it. Product Details Silhouette A-line Neckline Strapless, straight across a corset...

Fuchsia is not a colour you wear to blend in, and woven jacquard is what keeps it from being cheap about it — the flowers hold shadow and depth instead of sitting flat on the surface. Strapless, structured, and completely unapologetic. Product Details Silhouette...

A bubble hem turns the fabric back under itself so the skirt holds its shape without net beneath. Combined with raised flowers, the whole dress is built out of volume rather than print. Product Details Silhouette A-line Neckline Fine spaghetti straps over a corset...

Pale yellow, tiers and fabric flowers together read as garden party rather than as school dance, which makes this one of the few dresses here you could wear in daylight without feeling overdressed. Product Details Silhouette Tiered, with a ruffled skirt Neckline Fine spaghetti...

A covered neckline on a short dress is a much more modern proportion than a strapless one, and almost nobody offers it in pink with flowers. That combination is the whole point here. Product Details Silhouette A-line Neckline Round crew neckline Length Short /...

Red sequins in tiers is close to the loudest thing this collection offers, and the off-the-shoulder sleeves are the only concession to restraint. If you want to be seen, this is the dress. Product Details Silhouette Tiered, with a ruffled skirt Neckline Off the...

Satin in tiers catches light along every fold rather than across one flat surface, which is why this looks richer than a plain satin dress in the same colour and costs no more to make. Product Details Silhouette Tiered, with a ruffled skirt Neckline...

Sequins with no print and no appliqué over them, and a bubble hem doing the only shaping. It is a cleaner idea than most of this rail and it will not look dated next year. Product Details Silhouette A-line Neckline Sweetheart Length Short /...

Tiers give a skirt horizontal lines where most dresses have none, and each one moves independently. On pale blue with flowers over it the effect is closer to a garden than a dance floor. Product Details Silhouette Tiered, with a ruffled skirt Neckline Sweetheart...

Pale yellow is the hardest colour on this rail to wear badly — warm enough to flatter most skin, soft enough not to shout. Almost nobody picks it, which is the best reason to. Product Details Silhouette A-line Neckline Sweetheart Length Short / mini...

Chiffon in tiers falls rather than stands — the skirt follows you a beat behind instead of moving with you, which is a softer effect than tulle gives and much harder to photograph badly. Product Details Silhouette Tiered, with a ruffled skirt Neckline Strapless,...

The most conventional dress in this group and very good at being that — sweetheart neckline, A-line skirt, pink, flowers. Nothing here is trying to surprise anyone, and nothing needs to. Product Details Silhouette A-line Neckline Sweetheart Length Short / mini Sleeve Sleeveless Fabric...

A square neckline and a bubble hem are both cuts rather than decorations, which is why this dress works without needing much on its surface. The shape is the design. Product Details Silhouette A-line Neckline Square neck Length Short / mini Sleeve Sleeveless Fabric...

Dimensional flowers on a close-cut dress is an unusual pairing — the texture usually goes on a full skirt where it has room. Here it sits right on the body, which is bolder. Product Details Silhouette Bodycon Neckline Strapless, straight across the bust Length...

Cap sleeves that sit below the shoulder cover the top of the arm without adding bulk, which is the single most requested thing in this category and the one least often done well. Product Details Silhouette A-line Neckline Off the shoulder over a corset...

A high round neck on a short beaded dress is a deliberate inversion — covered up top, close and short below. It is far more interesting than the strapless version and far rarer. Product Details Silhouette Bodycon Neckline Round crew neckline Length Short /...

Satin in light grey behaves like pewter under lights — it holds a sheen without turning silver. Flowers over it keep the whole thing from looking like office wear. Product Details Silhouette Bodycon Neckline Strapless, straight across a ruched corset bodice Length Short /...

Grey is the colour nobody expects at a school dance, and a single shoulder breaks the vertical so the sequins run on a diagonal instead of straight down. Two unusual decisions, working together. Product Details Silhouette Bodycon Neckline One shoulder, asymmetric Length Short /...

Navy sequins read as expensive in a way bright ones rarely do — the shine is there but it stays under control. Cut close on fine straps with a slit at the side, so there is somewhere to move and something to look at....