Short sleeve midi dresses for hot offices and garden parties

A short sleeve midi dress leaves your arms free in the heat and keeps your knees covered, so it fits a July desk and a family party on the same weekend. Ours are mostly V-neck wraps in matte satin, linen and muslin.

Wraps and polka dots that survive a workday in July

Most of them are wraps. The two front panels form a V and meet in a tie at your waist, so you decide how snug it sits. That’s handy when your bust and waist land in different sizes, because the tie takes up the difference.

For an office with a relaxed summer code we’d go dark. Small blue flowers on the black wrap hide the creases you collect after eight hours in a chair. Throw a pale blazer over it for a client call. Is brown too serious for August? Not when the chocolate ground carries a tiny floral print and you add gold hoops. Polka dots work too. On the black dotted one the hem ruffle is cut from the same fabric, so the skirt swings a little on the walk to lunch.

Low pumps at work. Flat sandals after six.

Satin, linen and muslin for the hottest weeks of summer

Our matte satin looks silky, but it isn’t natural silk. Several descriptions list it as 98 % polyester with 2 % elastane. That bit of stretch helps through a long wedding dinner. The pink floral midi in it ends at mid-calf. We’d send a guest to a summer wedding in it, with nude sandals on a low heel. A lemon sateen style has flutter sleeves and an open back, so wear your hair up and let the back show.

When the city hits the nineties, reach for linen or muslin. The white linen midi has an off-shoulder line that shows a tan. Its floral cousin is cut from crinkled linen, which is meant to look a bit rumpled, so a long train ride won’t spoil it. Our muslin wrap has a flounce and puffy short sleeves, and we make it in light blue and in pink. After a wash it wrinkles slightly, and that’s normal for muslin, a quick steam smooths it.

Most short sleeve midi dresses on this page belong to our summer line, so you’ll see them again once the weather turns warm. In winter you’ll still find pleated velvet with short sleeves. A thin black turtleneck under the red one turns it into a December dinner dress. Compare with shorter cuts with short sleeves, the midis we make for the season or every dress at mid-calf length.