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Picture this: You are strolling down the street with an iced coffee in hand. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and life is good. You are having the best hair day of your life, and you are wearing the most beautiful summer dress! What dress did you imagine?
To find the perfect summer dress you imagined, you may need to do a little research into the names of the type of strap, neckline, and material you envisioned. To help you find your ideal summer dress, we will discuss several factors you should consider before making a purchase.
With so many colors, patterns, and shapes of summer dresses available on the market, you may even find a summer dress better than the one you imagined in the first place. Perhaps you will find a dress you love on our list of the top summer dresses in 2024.
Check out our beautiful and varied selection below!
Reviewing the Leading Summer Dresses of 2024 in Detail
Relipop Short Sleeve Dress — Best Overall
Key Features
- Available in several colors
- Available with different patterns
- Wrap around dress
- Frilly hem
- 100% polyester
This beautiful summer dress features a wrap-around tie feature, so you can adjust it to fit you perfectly. In addition, the dress has a frill along the front seam that makes the dress seem a little more feminine. The dress has a geometric motif of polka dots, floral patterns, animal print, and plain.
This dress is also available in many colors, including black, yellow, red, and various shades of blue. It is made from 100% polyester, which is easy to care for and durable, and can be both dressed up or dressed down.
Auselily Casual T-Shirt Dress — Runner Up
Key Features
- Made from rayon and spandex
- Thick shoulder straps and scoop neckline
- Above-the-knee length
- Pockets
This summer dress features a simple design with two thick shoulder straps and a scoop neckline. It is available in plain material in several colors, including army green, black, mauve, navy blue, purple-grey, royal blue, and wine red.
The dress is also available in patterned material, including floral designs, geometric shapes, animal print, and tie-dye. The dress is made from lightweight and breathable rayon, perfect for hot summers, and mixed with spandex to offer a slight stretch.
This dress can be worn casually or dressed up for parties and warm summer evenings drinking cocktails. This dress also has pockets. What more could you want?
II ININ Women’s V Neck Sundress — Contender
Key Features
- Spaghetti straps or cross-back spaghetti straps
- V neckline
- Over the knee length
- Available in different colors and patterns
- 95% cotton and 5% spandex
This summer dress is just over the knee and is available with spaghetti straps or spaghetti cross-back straps and a v neckline. This beautiful summer dress comes in many colors and different patterned materials.
You can get the dress in an entirely plain material or fully patterned. If you can’t decide between the two, you can buy the dress with a simple top half and patterned bottom half.
It has an elegant style that will suit being worn for a date and a casual family gathering or BBQ. This dress is made from 95% breathable and lightweight cotton and spandex to accommodate your curves.
Romwe Women’s Sundress — One to Consider
Key Features
- Available in several styles
- One design features pockets
- High neckline and thick straps
- Modest length dress at just over the knee
- Made from polyester and spandex
We love the style of this summer tunic dress. The high neckline is great for those who are looking for a modest yet stylish dress, while the shape is reminiscent of the mini dresses from the 60s but with more length.
This dress is available in black, navy, wine, paisley black, or black boho with pockets. The patterns on these dresses are prominent but not overbearing, with most of the symmetrical shapes at the base of the dress.
This dress allows you to go from casual shopper to nighttime cocktail goddess with a few simple accessories. This summer dress is sure to be a new staple of your wardrobe that you will never get tired of wearing!
Qixing Women’s Tunic Dress — Honorable Mention
Key Features
- Cold shoulder
- Long sleeves and short sleeves
- Tunic style dress
- Many colors and patterns are available
- Made from 95% rayon and 5% spandex
This summer dress has a round neckline and comes with either cold shoulder short sleeves or cold shoulder long sleeves. This tunic style dress is available in many colors, including various blue, purple, red, and green shades.
It is also available with several types of patterned material, including floral patterns, geometric shapes, and animal print. There is something for everyone in this fantastic selection with so many colors and designs to choose from.
The rayon and spandex material is lightweight and breathable to keep you cool on hot days. It is also stretchy, offering comfortable clothing for the whole day.
Finding a High-Quality Summer Dress: A Buying Guide
Now that we have given you a list of recommendations, check out our handy buying guide to find out everything you need to know about picking the summer dress of your dreams.
Things to Consider When Choosing Summer Dresses
To choose the best summer dress, consider the following factors and features.
Color
Summer is a great time to wear vibrant colors. Summer is full of vitality and positivity. Wear a summer dress to match! Choose a color that matches your skin tone. If you have purplish-blue veins, you have cool skin undertones. If your veins look green, you have warm skin undertones, and if you have a mixture of green and purple veins in your wrist, you have neutral skin undertones.
If you have cool undertones, opt for blues, purples, greens, and pinks. If you are pale, choose these colors in pastel palettes. If you are dark, choose these colors in more profound, vibrant tones.
If you have warm skin undertones, choose summer dresses in reddish browns, coppers, peaches, greens, and purples. If you are pale with warm undertones, choose these colors in pastel palettes for your summer dress. If you are dark-skinned with warm undertones, choose a summer dress in the bold versions of this color palette.
Those of you who have neutral skin undertones will suit any color palette. Lucky you! Any skin tone will work well with olive green, white, plum, and varying shades of black. If you are pale, choose grey or charcoal, and choose black if you have a darker skin tone.
Material
Choose a material that is lightweight and breathable for those hot summer days. We recommend fabrics like cotton, linen, rayon, or silk.
Cotton is breathable, lightweight, and moisture-wicking. Moisture-wicking materials help the body cool down by removing sweat. In addition, cotton-polyester blends require less ironing than 100% cotton.
Linen is loosely woven, and the gaps in the weave allow heat to escape. Linen is also lightweight, moisture-wicking, and quick-drying.
Rayon is a manmade blend of various natural and artificial materials. Rayon fibers are small and allow heat to escape easily. Its smooth silk-like feel also prevents heat from friction. This makes a gorgeous summer dress material.
Silk is an expensive material that is better saved for special occasions. That said, if you want to impress a date or go to a summer wedding, silk is a beautifully luxurious, lightweight, and cool material for a unique summer dress.
Pattern
There are plenty of patterns to choose from for a summer dress. A dress could have a regular all-over pattern or a random irregular pattern. A dress may also have a pattern in some sections and not in others.
Fabric patterns are classified as geometric motifs, realistic motifs, stylized motifs, and abstract motifs.
Geometric motifs include any pattern, including shapes like squares, stripes, spots, or triangles.
Realistic motifs include recreations of a real-life object, plant, or animal. For example, flamingos, pineapples, palm trees - you get the idea!
Stylized motifs also copy real-life objects but not in a realistic way. Instead, the flamingos you see might be cartoony, an outline, or a suggestion of a flamingo.
Abstract motifs are like abstract paintings with different shapes and colors. However, they are not as repetitive or symmetrical as geometric motifs.
Many people choose a plain dress without a pattern but then liven up their look with additional textures and accessories.
Texture
Different textures can make an otherwise plain dress look more attractive. For example, consider buying a summer dress with sequins, pleats, or embroidered pictures. You can also buy dresses with a sheer over layer to add a little more style to your look.
If different textures interest you, you might also want to look for a dress that uses different materials in each panel.
Length
Choose the length of the dress that you feel comfortable in. You don’t want to buy a dress that you feel is constantly riding too far up because it is too short. Similarly, you don’t want a skirt that is too long and will get caught on your shoes or sandals.
Don’t listen to what others tell you is appropriate or inappropriate. It’s your body, and you should wear what makes you comfortable!
Straps and sleeves
There are several different types of straps or sleeves to choose from. These include full-length sleeves, three-quarter-length sleeves, short sleeves, cap sleeves, raglan sleeves, Bardot sleeves, bell sleeves, double straps, spaghetti straps, one shoulder strap, halterneck, cross back straps, cold shoulders, and more. Search for dresses with these particular straps online and see which type you prefer.
Neckline
The neckline you choose depends entirely on your preference. Look up the following neckline and see which ones you prefer. Different necklines include sweetheart, semi-sweetheart, straight across, Queen Anne, v-neck, high neck, asymmetrical, halter, illusion, jewel, boat neck, scoop, and square.
How We Chose the Top Summer Dresses
To choose the best summer dresses, we compared how comfortable they were, how cool they kept us, the quality of stitching and materials, and the style. We also read many customer reviews to ensure we only suggested products that had been tested and were highly regarded.
Summer Dress Price Range
A summer dress can vary significantly in price. You will find that a designer brand summer dress will cost more than a dress by an unknown brand, but an increase in price does not always signal better quality. A summer dress may cost as little as $5 and as much as $2,500.
