White off the shoulder short dresses for summer heat

Every white off the shoulder short dress we make is a summer piece with short sleeves, and all but one are minis. They belong to the warm-season collection, so they reappear in the catalog once it’s warm again. Until then, here’s how to tell them apart.

Which white fabric for which kind of heat

Start with the weather. For dry heat at noon our pick is muslin, cotton so thin that it breathes, and we sew three of the minis in it. Expect a few creases once it’s been washed. Cotton does that, and a steamer deals with them in a minute.

Linen is for the coast and for sticky city days. Our white linen mini is light and doesn’t cling, and the white looks good against a tan. Then there’s the plain mini in a thin, soft fabric that hardly wrinkles. A long drive or an afternoon at a café table won’t crumple it, and it goes into a suitcase without an iron.

Short can stop at the knee, too

Not everyone wants a mini. Our eyelet style reaches the knee and keeps the same bare shoulders, which is why it works in town and even at a workplace that isn’t strict about clothes. Wear skin-tone underwear under the openwork. At the beach we’d bring a woven bag and a straw hat, and for a party, sandals with a low heel.

Getting the shoulder line to stay put

Will it slide down? That depends on size more than anything. Choose by your bust measurement, because the bust is what keeps an off-shoulder neckline lying level. If you’re between two sizes, ask our manager before ordering. The whole group is made XS through XL, the largest being roughly a US 12.

Collarbones are on show with this neckline, so a thin chain is plenty, or nothing at all. When the evening cools, a denim jacket goes over any white off the shoulder short dress here.

Looking for a longer hem with the same neckline? See white off-shoulder styles in every length. For other necklines, there’s the wider group of short white dresses, and all our warm-weather whites are under white dresses for summer.

Frequently asked questions

Are these dresses plain white or printed?

Both. Plain ones are the linen mini, the soft mini and the eyelet dress. The muslin ones carry small prints on a white ground, either cornflowers, pink flowers or a fine black pattern.