I Tried All the Sundresses at Abercrombie

A dipped waist instantly makes a dress feel like something a princess would wear, and as I waltzed throughout New York in this dress paired with somemary janes, I certainly felt like one (or at least an off-duty Mia Thermopolis). With adjustable spaghetti straps, a skirt that doesn’t wrinkletooeasily, and a forgiving smocked bodice, it’s the platonic ideal of sundress. I had to give the dress an initial steam after it arrived, but when I packed it (albeit folded carefully) in my suitcase for a trip to Paris, I didn’t even have to iron it before I walked around the Marais.

If I had to make one critique, though, it would be that it should be available in a better crop of colors. ThebrownI tested it in along with acouple striped optionsare currently almost sold out and on clearance. The new colors — a butter yellow, pale “burnt orange,” mint green, and sparsely spotted floral version — leave more to be desired. (Theromper versionhas a few other options, at least.)

Ever since I noticed that Abercrombie had curated a stellar dress section, I have been lusting over this dress, which comes in both this midi version and amini length. It has a similar dipped waist and dainty picot trim on the neckline that adds to the noble aesthetic. I can’t lie: When it arrived at my door, I squealed. In the weeks since, I’ve worn it to a book party, drinks in the East Village, and lunch at Paris’s Marché Couvert des Enfants Rouges, all while feeling rather feminine and photo-ready. The dress certainly requires a steam before its first wear and wrinkles more easily than the smocked dress above — perhaps because the flowy skirt is made with a generous swath of fabric (which, of course, contributes to the princess effect). I found the bodice fits like a corset in the front but has too much extra fabric on the back. I have a notably short torso, so that could be the cause, but I found myself pulling the dress down throughout the day to prevent the fabric from bunching on my back. This is more of an aesthetic problem than anything, but I find it worth noting.

Paired with a cardigan, this is the perfect dress for the office or a weekend brunch. It has thick, adjustable straps and a flowy, lined skirt that you can hold in both hands as you walk down the stairs à laBelle inBeauty and the Beast. I’d recommend it to anyone who thought the Dylan dress above was too low-cut — by comparison, the square neckline on this one made me feel secure even without a bra. The dress is made of a healthy blend of cotton and elastane that allows the dress to hug your upper body while still giving you enough room to breathe. A bonus: It’s not prone to wrinkling, unlike some other dresses I tried.

Out of all the dresses I tested from Abercrombie, this is the one I wore the most. It layers nicely under a J.Crew roll-neck (fittingly, I own both it in both white and red) and looks great on its own. My two complaints — that it might be too low-cut for some and would benefit from some built-in shorts — are addressed in thenewly released skort versionof the dress that’s fashioned with a scoop neckline and available in eight summery patterns and colors. Like many of Abercrombie’s sundresses, this one has adjustable straps and back smocking that makes the fit more forgiving if you’re in between sizes. Every time I’ve worn it, whether at a friend’s birthday party or out to dinner with friends, I’ve gotten many compliments.

This dressalmostmade my “love” list, but I found its scoop neck and straps to be too wide for my frame. That hasn’t stopped me from wearing this dress every time the temperature has topped 80 degrees, but I have to swap in nipple covers for a bra unless I’m going for an intentionally strappy look. Given how lightweight and flowy it is, I imagine it would be the perfect sundress to throw over a swimsuit this summer.

Out of all the dresses I tried, this is the only one I would recommend sizing up in unless you’re going for more of a bodycon fit. It’s one of the shortest dresses I tried — tied only with the tie-front linen-blend dress below — but it has built-in shorts that are stretchy enough I could do the splits in them (if I were still that flexible). The blue striped version I tried is more suited for, say, lunch at a country club, but I imagine the black version would be nice enough for a night out downtown. As someone who’s constantly worried my dresses are revealing too much on the subway stairs, I might just buy myself that color for my next outing with friends.

This is the embodiment of my 16-year-old self’s ideal sundress: It just fails the fingertip test and is so low-cut that I find myself constantly checking if I’m accidentally flashing someone whenever I wear it. If you don’t mind the shortage of fabric, then by all means this is the dress for you. However, I found myself wanting more coverage in the chest whenever I wore it.

I was expecting this dress to be the most conservative of the bunch, but it’s surprisingly plunging — as in, the V-neck dipped below where the cups of my bra usually ended. TheNew Yorkheadquarters are more casual than your average office, but it would feel like I’d be pushing the boundaries of our nonexistent dress code had I worn it on a regular day at the office. Still, I think the dress is suitable for many sundress-worthy activities, including a picnic in the park, a trip to the farmers’ market, and a trip to the Met.

This dress has all the elements of a piece I would love — a functional strappy back, babydoll silhouette, and a V-neck with built-in padding — but it ultimately had so much skirt that it looked frumpy. I’d attribute this to the lining and the tier of fabric at the bottom that made the skirt balloon more than I would have liked. If you’d like a sundress with a low-cut neckline, I’d recommendthe Dylan dressinstead.

As much as I’d like to, I just can’t get behind the drop waist (not to be confused with adippedwaist, of which I am very much a fan). This dress is lightweight and flowy — hallmarks of a sundress in my mind — but the waistline ultimately accentuated my hips in a way that felt awkward. However, if you don’t mind a drop waist, I have no critiques for you. The dress even has adjustable straps, a built-in bra, and pockets.

Wrinkles are the downfall of this cottagecore-esque dress. When I wore it to dinner with some friends, I got many compliments, but I was disappointed when I noticed how many wrinkles it had accumulated when I looked in the mirror at the end of the night. I also wish the straps could be adjusted as I’m constantly pulling them up whenever I wear the dress. (However, thereisastraplessversion.)

In my experience, puff sleeves are fun in theory, but they often give the effect that you’re shopping in the children’s section. (No shade to the children’s section, of course.) I wanted to give this dress a try nonetheless, but I’d ultimately skip it on account of the sleeves, which were just too puffy for my taste. I also think the dress would be less finicky without the bow, which I was constantly fixing whenever I wore it. However, if you wear the dress under a long sweater as I often did, it makes for a nice patterned bottom layer. (There’s also amidiversion if you’re into a puff sleeve.)