Sheer enough to read as an evening dress, built so nothing has to be held in place.

A deep surplice V on a fine embroidered ground has two places it tends to let you down. The crossover is usually tacked only at the waist seam, so the two panels slide apart the moment you reach across a table and the V opens a good deal wider than it did in the mirror. The other is the empire seam, which is the whole architecture of a dress like this: cut a fraction too short and it lands on the bust instead of beneath it, which starts the gathers at the fullest point and bells the skirt out from the chest rather than from the ribs. There is a third thing that turns up on a floor-length embroidered overlay. The embroidered layer floats, but the layer beneath it is often cut narrower and straighter, so it catches on the hip while the top layer keeps moving, and a drag line appears across the front that you cannot smooth away.

The Candice Elegant Spring Dress answers all three at the construction. The V is edged with a solid sage band that runs the full length of the crossover down into the waist seam, so the opening has a finished, weighted edge holding its line instead of a raw sheer edge that rolls open. The sage waistband is set clearly below the bust, and every gather in the skirt releases from underneath it. And the skirt is cut full straight off that one band, so it falls from a single point rather than catching somewhere partway down.

Why it works

• Solid sage band edging the V: a firm finished edge down both sides of the crossover, so the opening keeps its shape when you move instead of sliding apart.
• Empire band set below the bust: the gathers start under the fullest point, so the volume falls away from the body rather than being added at it.
• Full A-line skirt released from the waistband: all the width comes from one seam, so the skirt swings from a single point and does not catch across the hip.
• Three-quarter sleeves that widen towards the elbow: no cuff and no elastic, so nothing grips the upper arm and the sleeve falls open at its widest.
• Side seam pockets set into the skirt: below the waistband rather than in it, so using them does not drag on the band.
• Embroidery scattered across the whole ground: an even all-over scatter with a denser band at the hem, so nothing has to line up at a seam.

Fit note

Relaxed everywhere except the empire band, which is the one fixed measurement in the dress. If you are between sizes at the bust, take the larger one and the skirt will still hang correctly. The embroidered ground reads opaque through the body and stays sheer through the sleeves, so the arms are lightly veiled rather than covered. It is a pull-on shape with no zip. The skirt is cut for floor length, so a low heel keeps the hem clear of the ground; flat sandals will let it brush. Sizes M to 4XL.