Soft enough to actually fall, structured enough to still read as a shirt dress.

Classic shirt dresses go wrong in a handful of predictable places. The button placket is the first: a full run of buttons down the front has to hold a straight line across the bust, and between two buttons there is nothing holding it, so the placket opens into small horizontal gaps whenever you turn or reach. The second is the cloth itself. Rigid cloth does not drape, it folds — so an A-line cut in it stands away from the body in stiff triangles from the shoulder down, and it keeps that shape whether you are standing still or walking. The third is patch pockets. They are stitched flat onto the front panel at whatever spacing the original pattern used, so as the pattern is graded up they migrate outward and end up sitting round the side of the hip, where you cannot reach them and where they pull on the seam they are stitched near. And short sleeves in a cloth with no give finish with a turned cuff that closes around the widest part of the upper arm.

The Brittany Dress addresses each of those in the way it is cut. The placket is a half placket: four buttons, stopping at the chest, worn open at the top, so there is no run of fastenings across the bust to pull apart in the first place. The cloth is soft and washed rather than rigid, so the A-line falls in soft folds from the shoulder yoke instead of holding a stiff shape. The two patch pockets are set well onto the front of the skirt with clear space between them, so they stay in front of you. And the short sleeves are finished with two sheer insets rather than a turned-back cuff, so nothing closes around the arm at the sleeve edge.

Why it works

• Half placket with four buttons: the fastening stops at the chest, so there is no line of buttons across the bust that can gap between them.
• Soft washed weave rather than a rigid one: the skirt falls in soft folds from the yoke instead of standing away from the body in stiff panels.
• No waist seam and no belt: the A-line runs uninterrupted from shoulder to hem, so there is no horizontal seam that has to land in a particular place.
• Patch pockets set on the front of the skirt: spaced so they stay reachable rather than drifting round to the side as the size goes up.
• Sheer insets instead of a turned cuff: the sleeve finishes without a band, so there is nothing closing around the upper arm.
• Pointed collar on a low stand: the collar sits down on the neck rather than standing away from it.

Fit note

Cut generously and it wears roomy. Take your usual size if you want it closer through the shoulder and yoke; size up if you want more air through the body. The washed weave is soft from the start and gets softer, which means it takes sitting creases across the lap during the day and mostly drops them again once you stand. Pull-on — the placket is short, so it goes over the head rather than being buttoned all the way. The hem is knee length on average height and dips slightly lower at the sides, so it stays level when you walk. One colourway, Denim Blue. Sizes M to 4XL.