Velvet mini dress with long sleeves or one shoulder

Every velvet mini dress on this page is cut for the cold months, and most cover the arms all the way to the wrist. We sew them in black, navy, red and emerald, and also in chocolate, burgundy, marsala, beige and white. It’s the same soft fabric you may know as velour.

About 88 cm from the shoulder

How short is short? Several of our velvets measure 87–88 cm from the shoulder, so the hem lands above the knee on most heights. The black wrap is one of them. It pulls in at the waist, and a pendant on a thin chain sits right inside the V.

Stand collars change the mood. The emerald one with a stand collar is a stretch velvet, so it moves with you at dinner and later when you dance. Put your hair up to show the collar. Our marble blue velvet also has a collar, plus a pattern that shifts under lamps. It’s dense and stretchy, and that’s why we’d size it by the hips.

The navy turtleneck doesn’t need ironing. Pack it for a party in another city, and it’ll come out of the bag ready to wear. Its high collar means you won’t want a necklace, so pick earrings in silver and black suede ankle boots.

Wrap fronts, one sleeve and warm browns

Wrap fronts give you some control. On the burgundy, beige and blue wraps you can tighten or loosen the tie, and the V gets deeper or shallower with it. Gold earrings suit beige and burgundy, while silver looks better on blue.

Our one-sleeve minis keep one arm covered and the other shoulder out. We make them in red, black, emerald, burgundy and blue, and each needs a strapless bra. Raise your arm at the fitting to check that the open side stays put.

Brown velvet has a coppery shine in the evening, and it’s softer on the face than black. One chocolate style has soft folds from waist to hip and a hem wrapped on the diagonal, so the hem parts slightly as you move. Mocha suede boots work well with that brown. For something with sparkle and a bigger party, our holiday velvet page goes longer too.

White and beige velvet photograph well at a winter shoot, and the pile looks rich on camera instead of flat. All styles come in XS to XL. After the party, steam the velvet from the inside rather than pressing an iron on the pile.