Move over, little black dress! The white dress is the most worthy competitor to challenge the black dress’s longstanding dynasty. Consider how the white dress from the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch (pictured left) has become synonymous with Marilyn Monroe’s iconic style. In fact, to fuel the white vs. black dress rivalry even more, Monroe’s white dress set a record in June 2011 when it was auctioned for $4.6 million—five times the previous record for a movie costume, set by Audrey Hepburn’s “little black dress” from Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
But one doesn’t need wind blowers a-la-Marilyn-Monroe-style to turn a white dress into statement that exudes both simplicity and elegance. While many of us regard white as a basic addition to any wardrobe, the white dress also has the uncanny ability to function as a knockout style, as the ultimate desk-to-dinner piece, or as the epitome of summery-sweet. You’ll see from our picks below that there is nothing plain or basic about the modern white dress.
Editor’s Note: Our fashion picks are meant to serve as a guide to your selections in the price points that suit your budget, and the colors, and silhouettes that best complement your unique style.
Summer Sheath Dress, by White House | Black Market
Short Dress, by Jason Wu, thecorner.com
Addie Dress, by Tory Burch
Cotton Eyelet Wrap Dress, by Ann Taylor
White Floral Pleated Broderie Anglaise Dress, by Oscar de la Renta, bergdorfgoodman.com
Memorial Day always meant that white was right! Love this post and always look forward to your Fashion Friday features. Would love to see a feature on casual clothes for warm warm summer weather that does not include white or red jeans! So over this look.
Enjoyed this post but I’m going to stick with black. I once owned a fabulous, very striking white jacket and while I loved wearing it, keeping it clean was more trouble than it was worth. And nothing looks worse than white-with-a-food stain!
Perfect, just in time for those among us who prefer to rock our white frocks on Memorial Day. It’s a bit old school, I agree, but it gives one something to look forward to with the coming of summer. Great feature. Loved the looks.
My favorite summer color is white. When I find a perfect silhouette and fabric, I try to buy two because the unhappy story about white fabrics is that they often don’t look fresh after one and at best two seasons. Love the Tory Burch dress.
Dr. Pat