Short Dresses

Short dresses and mini dresses for women

A short dress is the one you can wear with tights and boots in July and bare legs and sandals in January. Forcast short and mini dresses come in tweed shifts, wrap dresses, pleated minis, sleeveless styles and knit, in sizes 4 to 18. Most are cut to be worn to work as readily as to brunch or a night out.

Find the right short dress

Shift dresses such as the Linda Tweed Shift Dress have a straight, structured line and are the most office-ready of the range. Wrap styles, including the Penny Long Sleeve Wrap Dress, define the waist and suit most shapes. Pleated and flared minis have more movement and are the ones to pick for an evening, while sleeveless styles are made for summer and for layering under a blazer the rest of the year. A vest dress reads as tailored and works well with a shirt underneath.

Fabric and fit

Tweed has texture and holds a shape. Knit stretches and stays comfortable through a long day, and crossover and wrap fronts adjust to you rather than the other way around. A short dress sits above the knee; if you want the option of a longer hem, a midi dress is the next step. Check your measurements against the size guide if you are between sizes.

How to wear it

For the office, a short dress works with opaque tights, a blazer and a closed shoe. In winter, add knee-high boots and a coat. For a night out, keep the dress plain and add a heel and a pair of earrings. On weekends, flat sandals or sneakers are all a mini dress needs.

How to shop it

Build the rest of the outfit around the dress rather than the other way around. Jackets and blazers turn a sleeveless mini into something you can wear to a meeting, a shirt layers under a vest dress, and coats cover the hem in winter. For evenings and formals, the event dresses edit gathers the occasion styles in one place.