Summer Dresses and Their Fabulous Fabrics
Summer in Australia is all about kicking back, embracing the outdoors, and wearing lightweight garments that feel ultra comfortable. The summer dress is the perfect accompaniment for a hot day. Whether you’re headed to a picnic, the beach, or a backyard barbecue, a summer dress can keep you looking stylish whilst ensuring you don’t overheat.
So what makes for great summer dresses in Australia? Aside from a dress design and fit that allows for ease of movement, and a colour or print that is bright and light, a great summer dress for our climate hinges on fabric choice. Basically, you can put away all your thick and hot dresses, and opt instead for fabrics that are lightweight and breathable. Most importantly, you want to avoid those dreaded sweat patches. You want fabrics that breathe and don’t hold onto odours, and that dry out easily, so that you don’t feel wet and clammy.
Let’s look at some of the optimal fabrics for summer dresses in Australia, and why they are so great in the heat.
Cotton: A Summer Standard
Summer wouldn’t be summer if you didn’t wear some cotton dresses. Cotton is a soft, breathable and lightweight fabric, made from a plant-sourced fibre. It’s one of the most commonly used fabrics in the world, and when it comes to moisture wicking (where moisture is drawn away from your body), cotton is an absolute hero, as it helps you keep cool by keeping the sweat off your skin. Bonus, moisture in cotton evaporates rapidly on a warm day, making a cotton dress absolutely perfect for summer wear.
As any seamstress will tell you, cotton is one of the easiest fabrics to work with, so that means that a huge range of dress styles can be sewn using cotton. Cotton drapes nicely, so works well in wrap dresses, but also looks great in less shapely designs, like shift and shirt dresses. Sometimes, a small amount of a synthetic fibre, like elastane, will be mixed with cotton to provide a little more stretch to the garment, so look out for these blends if you want ultimate comfort.
Due to their natural fibres, cotton dresses are able to hold dye well, which means cotton dresses can be found in a wide range of vibrant prints and solid-colours, as well as subtle neutral tones. In addition, cotton is pretty durable, so it should last you a long time, especially if you follow care instructions and avoid washing and drying in hot temperatures.
Overall, cotton gets a high score as a summer dress.
Linen: Look elegant in the heat
Whatever summer tourist hotspots around the world you visit, you’ll notice one thing—people are wearing linen, and in particular, ladies are rocking linen summer dresses. Why? Linen has a range of remarkable properties that people have known about for centuries. It’s a wonderful fabric to wear during summer, and is considered quintessentially stylish.
Like cotton, linen is derived from a plant (flax), which makes it 100% natural. The flax plant is reasonably sustainable to grow, which adds bonus points to linen.
A particular quality that adds to the allure of linen is its lightweight feel, and its breathability. Linen clothes will absorb moisture and then allow it to quickly dry, which is great if you’re concerned about perspiration. In addition,100% linen fabrics are thermoregulating, meaning they keep you cool in summer, and can also keep you warm when it’s cold. Finally, linen is extremely durable, as it has very strong fibres. So provided you care for your summer linen dresses properly, and follow washing instructions, they should last you years.
Linen does have some quirks. It has a well-earned reputation for creasing, especially if it is quite new linen. You can iron those creases out, but most people embrace the creases as a tell-tale sign that their dress is 100% linen. If you’re concerned about creasing, you can also consider linen blends, which combine linen with fabrics like viscose or cotton. These options can feel a little softer than pure linen, and aren’t so prone to wrinkling. They usually retain plenty of breathability, and often are a little more affordable than pure linen dresses.
Linen and linen blend dresses are able to be worn to both casual and formal occasions during summer. Generally, linen looks best as daywear, but rules are made to be broken, and a linen dress can look sophisticated out to dinner. The range of linen dresses is wide, and includes linen shirt dresses, shift dresses, and midi dresses. Basically, linen works well when used in structured yet loose designs. As an example, a loose-fitting linen midi dress is perfect for summer days. Add pockets, and you have a very practical, comfortable and fashionable summer dress.
Viscose/Rayon: Breathable, soft and sophisticated
When you can’t find the dress you want in cotton or linen, then viscose (otherwise known as rayon) tends to be the next best option. Viscose is a great fabric that feels light and soft, and is really breathable in summer. Similar to cotton, viscose lets air easily circulate so you stay feeling cool on those boiling hot days. It also feels extremely soft (some would argue, even softer than cotton), so it feels very deluxe to wear a viscose dress. It also absorbs moisture, so it keeps you comfortable in humid temperatures.
Viscose is a semi-synthetic fabric, made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose. There are different grades of viscose, so it won’t always feel the same. Some viscose dresses will feel more like cotton, and others will have a smooth and shiny finish, more like silk. One advantage of viscose is that it drapes really well, so is an ideal fabric for wrap dresses, maxi dresses and flowy dresses. It can cling to your form in an elegant way, without being tight. Because viscose can have a bit of shine to it, it can look particularly good at formal occasions.
Viscose is easy to dye, so that means that viscose dresses are available in plenty of prints and colours. So if you’re looking for eye-catching summer dresses, you’ll discover that many of your faves will likely be made of viscose.
Silk Summer Dresses: A timeless choice
If you want to go all out on luxury, and have plenty of money to spend, then a silk dress might be on your summer dress list. Silk summer dresses look elegant at both formal and casual occasions, with their soft and smooth fabric that drapes so gracefully. As a summer dress option, silk works well, as there are very lightweight silks available, so you don’t feel weighed down on a hot day. Being a natural fibre, silk is also very breathable, plus it keeps your body cool in the heat. In addition, many people with allergies to various fabrics find that silk doesn’t cause them any skin reaction.
On the downside, silk can stain easily with oils and perspiration, and it requires delicate care (you have to take extra special care when washing and drying it). Another obvious drawback is that silk is an animal-derived fibre, and the silk worms don’t survive the silk-making process. So if you are concerned for animal welfare, you’ll likely steer clear of silk.
For casual dresses, silk dresses tend to come in short to midi length. The long silk dresses are usually more formal. After all, silk is a very pricey fabric, so the more of it that gets used in the making of the dress, the more your dress will cost.
The wrap up…
When the temperatures are high, wearing fibres that are as natural as possible is usually a wise move, as they tend to be more breathable, and don’t retain odours after washing. Fabrics like linen, cotton, viscose (rayon), silk, and blends of these fabrics all fit the bill. In addition, these fabrics are lightweight and comfortable against the skin, which is a distinct advantage in summer, when comfort is of the essence. Plus, with the exception of silk, dresses in their fabrics are usually available at quite affordable prices, meaning you can get the best of summer dress fabrics without breaking the bank. Enjoy your dresses!
Summer Dresses Australia
Where’s the top spot to find summer dresses in Australia? We’d like to think that Femme Connection is your first port of call. We stock a wide range of comfortable and cool summer dresses in numerous prints, colours and sizes. Ordering your summer dresses in Australia is as easy as perusing our site, and choosing the dress or dresses of your dreams!