Juliet Dunn London started in 2000, founded by a designer who had already spent the 70s and 80s making seasonal clothing collections. She describes the label as luxury resort and beachwear with an East meets West point of view, bright color and artisan technique in every piece. The idea began with a gap she noticed: the UK had few attractive beach cover-ups, while France, where she has a house in Saint-Tropez, had plenty. That is why even the separates here feel like they were made for a hot afternoon near water. The embroidered cotton chambray vest and the embroidered checked cotton vest are the lightest layers, and the poplin shirt and the cotton and linen shirt are the ones I would tie at the waist over a swimsuit. The hand-embroidered pieces are mainly made in Lucknow, a city known for traditional Chikan embroidery, and some all-over designs take weeks to finish. You can see why when you look at the matching embroidered shorts in poplin, checked cotton, linen and chambray, and the short that can replace a little black dress makes the same argument. The ruffled lace-trimmed miniskirt and the embellished wide-leg pants are the two pieces that go beyond the beach. For more ways to wear this kind of needlework, I put together an embroidered edit that keeps going.

Juliet Dunn travels to India two to three times a year to oversee sampling and production, and she is involved in the design of every piece, which explains why the dresses feel so personal. Most of the prints are hand block-printed in Jaipur, Rajasthan, with a separate hand-carved wooden block for every color, so the floral scalloped minidress and the asymmetric floral midi dress carry a lot of work in a single pattern. The white poppy flared sleeve dress and the broderie anglaise minidress are the quietly pretty ones. The embroidered scalloped poplin minidress and midi dress share the same cut in two lengths, and the embellished floral kaftan and the floral scalloped kaftan are the easy answer for a lunch that runs long. In our fashion dreams she is walking along a Saint-Tropez quay at noon in the broderie anglaise slip dress with a straw bag, which is the spirit of the all white summer look. If you want the full case for it, the white dress for every occasion makes it well.

The longer list is a study in cotton. Checked cotton comes as a broderie anglaise poplin minidress, an embroidered midi dress and a minidress, so the same gingham pattern turns up at three lengths. The embroidered cotton shirt dress is the most practical of all, the one that goes from a market to a table without a change, and a pink shirt dress shows the same shape in another color. The floral off-shoulder minidress, the crochet-trimmed minidress and the embellished cotton minis are the dressier end, while the embellished maxi and the embroidered sheer cotton maxi are for evenings on a terrace. What I would skip is wearing the sheer kaftan or the sheer maxi on its own in town, because they began life as cover-ups and look best over a slip or a swimsuit. A quick test for any midi here: stand with your arms down and check that the hem clears the widest part of your calf, then choose the shorter minidress if it does not. For length help, the fit and length guide for summer dresses covers it.

I would take one embroidered shirt, the cotton and linen shorts and a single broderie anglaise dress and call that a week away. Everything is built on cotton and handwork, so it packs and wears in the same easy way. It is the sort of wardrobe a designer with a house in Saint-Tropez would put together, and I think it works in any warm place.

For more in the same spirit, take a look at Ann Taylor Dresses and Shirt Dresses.