6 Summer Dress Outfits Londoners Are Already Relying On

Come summer, there are plenty of items that enjoy their moment in the spotlight—vest tops, linen trousers and sandals, to name a few. Our inboxes are saturated with “light and breezy” pieces competing for our attention, but one category reigns supreme as far as Londoners are concerned: dresses.

Unless you’ve experienced London during a heatwave, it’s hard to imagine just how sticky and unpleasant things can get (especially if you’re a Tube commuter, like many of Who What Wear UK’s editors). Summer in the city can be heavenly, filled with cute park dates and iced matcha pit-stops, but there also are plenty of moments spent cursing the UK for its lack of air conditioning or general inability to function well in the heat. That’s why dresses are such an important fixture of a London summer wardrobe. Choose a linen or light cotton style with a flowy silhouette, and it’s as close as you can get to wearing nothing. No uncomfortable rubbing around the waist, arms and legs, no synthetics sticking to your skin—just total sartorial freedom.

And then there’s the ease of assembling a dress outfit: it’s basically a one-and-done situation. Just add cute shoes and a basket bag, and you’re ready for whatever the day has in store. Office, pub, Hampstead Heath; every outing is better in a dress.