There are so many different ways to wear white dresses that steering clear of Sienna Miller’s 2004 boho look is simple. Since then, the LWD has grown up (like Miller’s fashion sense) and we’re seeing heavily embroidered paler-than-pale creams and textured ivory gowns dominate catwalks. No longer reserved for spring/summer and resort collections, white dress fashion ideas for all seasons have been coming to us from designers for some time.
No clichés allowed
Most how to wear a 'white dress’ Google searches return a myriad of festival fashion hints and tips – this is where cream crochet, fringing and flower crowns rule Instagram. However, as Singapore-based fashion blogger Yoyo Cao suggests, it’s just as rewarding “turning festival dressing on its head”. Look instead to minimalist shifts worn with oversized tees and wide-brimmed hats – rejecting all straw and tassels in the vicinity. “It’s very uptown-downtown at first,” she explains on her blog yoyokulala.com, but with a pair of SS16’s favourite sliders you’re ready to take any field or beach by storm. She suggests Tibi dresses for a utilitarian white shift, although Barbara Casasola’s SS17 catwalk showcased a number of offbeat column dresses that hit the mark too.
It’s not just celebrated fashion bloggers bucking the clichéd summer trends. UN Ambassador and famed trouser-suit fan Emma Watson is regularly seen sporting the shade. On and off the red carpet she sticks mainly to monochrome, but with a youthful punch. From three-quarter-sleeved skater dresses worn with sleek black biker boots, to shirt dresses paired with mannish loafers, Emma shows us how to wear white dresses with a masculine twist. Think Marsèll loafers worn with Stella McCartney day dresses. On the catwalks for SS17, Victoria Victoria Beckham echoed this androgynous aesthetic, by pairing longline, embroidered shifts in shades of cream, white and ivory with heavy sliders.
White needn’t mean meek
When looking for white dress fashion ideas, eschew lace. A LWD (or long white gown) can and does have drama without verging on the ethereal. The AW16 Alexander McQueen catwalk was a strictly shades of grey affair – Sarah Burton kept to an unusually minimalist colour palette. However, with heavy embellishment, the label stayed true to brand, showcasing armour-like separates and Snow Queen-esque fur-trimmed dresses brimming with fierce femininity: all in pure white. Never a quiet affair, the Dolce & Gabanna AW16 catwalks took inspiration from traditional fairy tales, but added a darker twist. Frothy white ball gowns were adorned with rich, opulent embroidery and outsized jewelling.
Over at Louis Vuitton AW16, full-skirted gowns in blinding white shades were given a subversive edge with bondage-style harnesses and battle-ready chest plates. For the 2016 Met Gala, pop singer Selena Gomez wore a white spotted number with a closely tailored leather harness that divided critics – an unexpectedly tough look for the former Disney star. Out on the streets, we’re seeing similar ways to wear white dresses with a harder edge. Actress Emmy Rossum was ahead of the curve with her choice of Stella McCartney blue-fringed white dress, worn in 2014. The high-necked utilitarian style shift gives way to asymmetric fringing in electric blue, amplifying the impact of the piece.
It’s a white-out
Even the sartorially diverse Leandra Medine of Man Repeller fame has been known to offer white dress fashion ideas. Granted, the blog post was a lead-on from her (surprisingly traditional) wedding day, but her embellished white biker jacket and Mr T-style gold chains give us ample inspiration for the monochrome look. Go for sculptural David Koma dresses with keyhole cut-outs and asymmetric lines, or architectural Gloria Coelho jackets. The Joseph SS17 catwalk also offered an alternative way to approach all-white dressing: think exaggerated silhouettes and relaxed tailoring with outsized buckles and superfluous straps.
Blogger, model and creative director Evangelie Smyrniotaki fills her Style Heroine blog with labels like Chloé, Saint Laurent and Celine. With her commitment to minimalism, there are few better equipped to explore how to wear a white dress. In one post, she opts for a strikingly simple shift dress with elongated, raw-edged fringing, blending her utilitarian aesthetic with a modern bohemia. Texture is key to making all-out white work. On the SS17 catwalk, Simone Rocha dresses were an artful blend of sheer panelling, high-shine trims and delicate lace sheaths – offering yet another way to wear an LWD.