Shop the Beige Slip Dresses We’d Actually Wear

I used to think beige was the colour equivalent of saying ‘no worries’ when something was actually a huge worry. Fine. Inoffensive. A bit nothing. I owe beige an apology. For a long time, I did not appreciate you beige. So let me apologise: I was wrong and I’m sorry and I now own three of you.

A good beige slip dress is magical. Few pieces do what it does: it makes you look like you’ve made an effort and absolutely no effort at the same time. It’s kind of brilliant.

Don’t go stupidly cheap, because the trick is in the beige itself. It needs to have some warmth to it – a hint of caramel or oat rather than anything that leans too much towards “surgical bandage.” Too cool and grey and beige will make you look washed out in office lighting, believe me, I learnt that lesson after buying a dress that had my coworker literally squint at me to check if I was okay. Find something with a gold or pink undertone and it’ll do beige’s magic flattering thing, working with your skin tone rather than against it.

Fabric is more important in a slip dress than any other kind. Because let’s be honest, slip dresses either live or die by how they fall. You want something with proper weight to it. Something with bit of drape and a decent lining rather than the sort that clings to all your lumps and bumps telling everyone what you had for lunch. Silk or heavy satin works for evenings, teamed with heels and something sparkly caught around your neck, or clipped to your bag, or dangling from your ear. You want it evening easy but not TOO easy. A jersey or crepe version works wonders during the day, slip it on with a chunky cardi and boots, or under a blazer for meetings where you want to look put together but not like you tried too hard.

Speaking of trying not too hard, my genuinely underrated top tip is rolling up a plain white tee underneath for anything even vaguely daytime or outdoorsy. It stops the slip dress feeling too bare and gives you something to roll the sleeves of. Weddings, dinners, the one wedding guest outfit that doesn’t scream, beige slip dresses do their thing subtly. They won’t upstage a room. They’ll just make you look like a way nicer sleep than you got.