Under $350 the assortment is soft and forgiving, which is what a suitcase actually needs. The Skims Sheer Coverups Dress Sarong at $110 is the cheapest piece and the most obviously beach-specific. Leset supplies two at $220, the Milo Scoop Tank Dress and the Yoko Mini Tank Dress, both cut from the soft knits the label is built on and both fine to sleep in on a plane. Deiji Studios' Cross Over Dress at $239 and Bananhot's Mini Rey at $249 are the next step up. Solid & Striped's Josie Dress at $278 is the most swim-adjacent of the group. Cap d'Antibes' Manon Courte at $340 and Seroya's Mirelle at $348 close the bracket and are the two that would pass at a restaurant. None of these will crease badly, which matters more than anything else in this tier.

Between $360 and $560 the cut becomes the reason to buy. SIR. appears three times and effectively defines this bracket: the Ellinor Midi at $360, the Rochelle Halter Maxi at $460 and the Lilou Strapless Maxi at $560, which between them cover day, dinner and the one night you dress up. Jenni Kayne's Peninsula Dress at $425 is the plainest and the most likely to be worn at home afterwards. Chan Luu's Chloe Sequin Tunic for FWRD at $390 is the only sequin in the edit. The SRG Thalia Maxi at $400 is the longest. Same's Twist Mini for FWRD at $498 and Maygel Coronel's Amanzi Mini for FWRD at $540 are the two shortest and the most structured. This is the bracket where a dress starts photographing well rather than just travelling well.

Above $598 the dresses get more decorative and less packable, which is a fair trade at this level. Ronny Kobo's Rhodes Dress at $598 opens the bracket. Alemais' Boathouse Ballet Sundress at $690 and Marrakshi Life's Ruffled Slip for FWRD at $880 are the two most texture-led. The Attico's Shirt Mini at $890 is the sharpest shape here. Johanna Ortiz's Sensory Tapestry Tunic at $1,250 and Missoni's Sleeveless Short Dress at $1,400 are the two print pieces and the ones you would recognise from across a terrace. Cult Gaia's Bebe Dress in etched floral at $1,598 is linked directly to Cult Gaia rather than through FWRD, and Chloe's Parakeet Mini at $1,790 is the most expensive dress in the edit.

Travel dressing rewards restraint more than almost any other category, because the pieces that work hardest are the ones that need nothing from you. The bottom bracket is where that logic lives, and a $220 Leset tank dress will do more days of a trip than anything above it. The SIR. run in the middle is the most coherent thing in the edit, and if you only buy one dress for a warm holiday the Rochelle Halter Maxi at $460 covers the widest range of situations. Above $1,200 you are buying a print you will be photographed in repeatedly, which is a real consideration but a narrow one. If you take one thing away, pack two plain dresses and one you love before you pack five you feel neutral about.