Happy Sunday, ladies! I hope you’ve had a wonderful weekend so far. With society continuing to open up, 2022 looks like it will be chock-full of in-person special occasions—much more so than the past two years. Maybe you’ll attend church services; celebrate a wedding; or simply get together with family for brunch. This all means one thing: it’s dress season. So today, I’ve put together a guide to Spring dresses.
First: this guide isn’t exhaustive. I’ve restricted it to 6 dress types:
- wrap;
- sheath;
- flare;
- midi;
- shirtdress; and
- shift.
If this post is successful, we can certainly extend the guide to include more dresses.
For each dress type, I’ve i ) gone through the archives and pulled examples of how I’ve worn that in the past; and ii) put together shoppable widgets from the following retailers:
- Ann Taylor;
- Walmart;
- Talbots;
- J.Crew;
- J.Jill;
- LOFT;
- Tuckernuck.
If you don’t see anything you like, in the widgets, you can click on the above links to take you directly to new dress arrivals. So let’s get to my guide to Spring dresses 2022.
Guide to Spring Dresses
To help you out a bit more, I put together a quick definitional guide for each dress type. I’ve also created a collage of the general silhouettes that you might find useful as you think about what dresses work best for you.
Wrap
A wrap dress has a closure in the front. It’s formed by wrapping one side across the other. The ties are then tied together in the back.
Sheath
A sheath dress is a fitted, straight-cut dress. It’s nipped at the waistline with no waist seam.
Flare
A flared dress has a top bodice that is fitted and a skirt that flares out.
Midi
A midi dress is any type of dress that rises above the ankles but falls below the knees. It’s sometimes called “the mid-calf”.
Shirtdress
A shirtdress takes details from a shirt: a collar, a button front, or cuffed sleeves are all examples.
Shift
A shift dress’ cloth falls straight from the shoulders and has darts around the bust.
Shopping tips
A few quick tips when shopping for dresses this Spring.
- Remember, bright & bold colors are in for Spring. I’ve got a Spring color guide if you’re interested, but you can never go wrong with a neutral dress.
- If you’re looking to accessorize your dress, make sure to check out my essential accessories guide. You’ll find everything from bags to jewelry.
Alright, let’s see some examples of how to wear these dresses.
Wrap
Shop wrap dresses (click below)
Sheath
Shop sheath dresses (click below)
Flare
Shop flare dresses (click below)
Midi
Shop midi dresses (click below)
Shirtdress
Shop shirt dresses (click below)
Shift
Shop shift dresses (click below)
In case you missed it.
Yesterday was Fridays with Oscar. We’ve got a tasty recipe for you and a sneak peek at some home renovations.
Daily Looks
Make sure to catch up on our DAILY LOOK. We post a dedicated photo to our daily outfit every Wednesday-Sunday. And you can shop those outfits easily through the shop the widget below the picture.
About The Author
Beautifully done post Beth! So many gorgeous dresses! Thank you!!
I love this dress! You look so gorgeous in it, and I love how you styled it.
Terrific post on dress styles! Including the descriptions along with photos iof each style is extremely helpful. Thank you! Love your style.
Today’s blog inspired me to pull out a dress for church even though Oklahoma’s cooler temps and winds caused me to wear a wool coat with it! When I think of midi, I always think of it as a length rather than a dress type. (I am revealing my age by saying I remember when the mini, midi and maxi terms were first used in fashion.) The dress I wore today was a flare, but also a midi. I love the variety of your posts!
I love dresses. Bought the Kelly green one a coupe weeks ago and wore it to church last Sunday. Was going to wear another dress to church today but was only 15 degrees this morning. Maybe next Sunday and gives me a chance to buy another new dress. Maybe one on your list.
Great post — love dresses, especially for spring and summer. I also appreciate the definition and visual example of each. How about a post on skirts (similar to this)?
Hello – I have several sheath dresses left from my time in the office and no longer want them to look corporate. I thinks shrugs are ugly . I am looking for and not finding shorter blazers/jackets that would pair well. Wraps won’t work as you can’t keep them on all the time. Any ideas? Thank you