The short answer on Business Casual Summer Women: pick one anchor piece, keep the palette to two colours, and let the shoes decide how formal the whole thing reads. Office dressing is mostly about fabric quality, because the silhouettes are conservative by definition. One well-cut layer over a plain base reads more considered than a complicated outfit. The pieces that work across two seasons are the mid-weights, which is where most wardrobes are thinnest. The groups below run from the decision that matters most to the ones you make afterwards.

What decides this is shoulder fit, length and how the fabric moves. Everything else is preference. Two from the first group show the range: Splendid's Gigi Gingham Mini Dress at $110, and Nana Jacqueline's Colette Knit Maxi Dress (Final Sale) at $297. The first is the easy entry point; the second is where the money goes. A dress that fits the shoulders can be taken in anywhere else. One that does not, cannot. Lining is what stops a cheap fabric reading as cheap. A higher price mostly buys materials and finishing, and occasionally it buys nothing at all.

A belt turns a shapeless dress into a deliberate one. Let the dress be the loudest thing you own that day. From the second group, Detoure's Outcast - Freya Mini Dress - Black Sequin Crochet - S/M (Like New) ($50) is the one that earns its place, because it works in more than one context without being restyled. The third group is smaller and deliberately narrower, tops, for the decisions you make after the main one. None of this needs the whole group. One piece from each is usually enough.

There are 20 pieces here from 15 brands, $30 to $1070, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. Detoure's White Fox - Luminous Maxi Skirt Marigold Twist - XS (Like-New) at $30 is the low-risk way in, and 16arlington.co.uk's Flora Skirt in Chiffon at $1070 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. On business casual summer women specifically: the difference between the top and the bottom of this list is real but smaller than the price gap suggests. Nothing here is included because it is famous, and price is not used as a proxy for quality anywhere on this page. If you take one thing away: the piece you reach for on a rushed morning is the one that was worth the money.