A lace dress earns its place on a beach holiday by doing something no other fabric quite manages: it looks dressed up and undone at the same time, which is exactly the register a week away calls for. The best versions are built on a proper cotton or viscose lace, something with enough body to hold its own shape rather than a synthetic lace that goes limp and slightly sad the moment it meets humidity. Check the lining too. A dress with a full slip underneath in a colour close to your own skin or in a contrasting shade you actually want on show will always look more considered than one relying on a built in bodycon lining that clings in the wrong places once you have had a swim and a sun cream reapplication.
Fit matters more than pattern here. A lace dress that is too tight loses the point of the fabric, because the whole appeal is the play of light through the open work, and that needs a little room to move.
Look for a silhouette that skims rather than hugs, whether that is a shirt dress cut, a tiered skirt, or something slightly A line that catches the breeze on a harbour front walk. Sleeve and neckline detail is where the character lives, so a scalloped hem or a crochet trimmed collar is worth paying attention to, since these are the details that separate a dress that photographs well from one that just photographs.
Styling one is straightforward once you accept it can go two ways. Worn alone with flat sandals and gold jewellery, it is lunch by the water or a late afternoon market wander.
Layered over a swimsuit with the straps showing at the shoulder, it becomes the walk from sunbed to beach bar without a change of clothes required. A raffia bag and a pair of espadrilles push it further towards daytime ease, while a slim heel and a bare shoulder wrap take the same dress into dinner territory once the sun goes down.
Where it suits best is anywhere between the pool and a proper evening out, that grey area holidays are full of. Pack one that flatters unlined for the day and one with a solid lining for a rehearsal dinner or last night drinks, and the whole trip is covered without ever reaching for anything structured or overworked.
Top Picks
