Beach Dresses

The single worst kind of beach dress is one that is only good at the beach. You put it over your swimsuit and walk from the ocean to the bar and then it languishes in your suitcase for the remainder of your vacation because it’s utterly incapable of functioning beyond that narrow twenty minutes. We don’t have much patience for those kinds of dresses. When we picked out the dresses below we did so with the full scope of a beach vacation in mind. Which is to say, way less Telegraph-condop-in-France and way more varied and way less curated than any magazine beach trip would lead you to believe. Think morning constitutional into town for coffee when nobody else is awake. Think unexpectedly nice lunch spots where you’re glad you wore something other than your coverup. Think happy hour on the terrace and the dusk hour just after when the light turns golden and somehow you still want to feel like you made an effort. A truly good beach dress accounts for all of the above without your needing to pack five individual outfits to cover the same handful of hours. The main priority when we looked for these dresses was fabric. Things that will dry quickly enough to wear when you’re planning on being near the water but feel cooked-to-order when you’re doing anything else. Crinkle cotton that doesn’t just look like you slept in it (bonus points if it does and you don’t care). Linen that actually holds up in real heat instead of falling limp at noon. Lightweight cotton that moves with you and collapses down small for the trip home. These might sound like minor details. But when it comes to beach attire they’re not. Silhouettes have been considered too. Midi lengths that play nicely with flat sandals and allow you to relax without feeling skimpy. Halter cuts and spaghetti straps that don’t ride up when it gets hot but *actually* hot. Tie backs and cross straps so nothing is ruinerd by forgotten bras at the beach. No tiny details that will only photograph well on a skinny model in a studio. Here, we’re thinking actual beaches with actual salt air and sand to work against. Every dress here was chosen with a real—not aspirational!—vacation in mind. The ones where looking good, feeling great, and not worrying about what you’re going to wear next are all truly priorities.