Dresses and Rompers: Editors' Picks

Dresses and Rompers: Editors' Picks

These are the Patbo Fringe Dress picks worth your time, chosen on construction rather than on how often they appear online. Check where the waist seam sits on the model against your own proportions.

Why this comes up

These are the Patbo Fringe Dress picks worth your time, chosen on construction rather than on how often they appear online. Check where the waist seam sits on the model against your own proportions. 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. The groups below run from the decision that matters most to the ones you make afterwards.

What actually decides it

What decides this is shoulder fit, length and how the fabric moves. Everything else is preference. Two from the first group show the range: Cinq À Sept's Ansey Gown at $298, and RESA's Nari Dress in Blur at $111. The first is the considered buy; the second is the one to start with. Check where the waist seam sits on the model against your own proportions. A dress that fits the shoulders can be taken in anywhere else. One that does not, cannot. A higher price mostly buys materials and finishing, and occasionally it buys nothing at all.

How to wear it

Let the dress be the loudest thing you own that day. A belt turns a shapeless dress into a deliberate one. From the second group, Splendid's Rosalie Romper ($124) 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, dresses, for the decisions you make after the main one. None of this needs the whole group. One piece from each is usually enough.

Our honest take

There are 20 dresses here from 13 brands, $49 to $398, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. THATS SO FETCH's Edna Dress - Black at $49 is the low-risk way in, and Elie Tahari's Cécile Bouclé Button Dress at $398 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. On patbo fringe dress 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: one considered purchase beats three hedged ones.