Phase Out the Linen Dresses—Everyone Will Be Swapping Them for This Elegant Trend by Autumn

Shop the pretty style Monica Barbaro was just spotted wearing in NYC.

Allyson Payer's avatar
By
Published In News
Monica Barbaro wearing a black satin square-neck mini dress with mule high-heel sandals and black cat-eye sunglasses in NYC.
(Image credit: TheStewartofNY/GC Images/Getty Images)
Jump to category:

Not to worry—linen dresses will always be in style, but they are one of those dress types that annually fade from relevance as soon as summer changes to autumn and make their return at the first sign of spring. So if you're a dress wearer, you likely start seeking out the future autumn dress trends at some point during July or August. Just in time, Monica Barbaro was spotted wearing what's sure to be autumn's biggest dress trend: satin and taffeta styles.

While out promoting her new film, One Night Only, in NYC over the weekend, Monica wore a black satin minidress with a high square neck. I'm aware that there's nothing groundbreaking about satin dresses. What sets the satin dresses of 2026 apart from the typical versions is that those made of thicker duchess satin and taffeta are rapidly rising. The structure of Barbaro's A-line dress by NYC-based brand Lein certainly set it apart from all the other LBDs out there. She made it summer-appropriate by pairing it with high-heeled mule sandals. It's as simple as an outfit gets, but it's also as special as an outfit gets thanks to the dress. Let this serve as proof that this is a trend you can start wearing long before autumn even begins.

Keep scrolling to see the Monica-endorsed trend for yourself and shop chic taffeta and heavy satin dresses for your own summer and autumn wardrobe.

The Dress Trend on Monica Barbaro

Monica Barbaro wearing a black satin square-neck mini dress with mule high-heel sandals and black cat-eye sunglasses in NYC.

(Image credit: TheStewartofNY/GC Images/Getty Images)

Monica Barbaro wearing a black satin square-neck mini dress with mule high-heel sandals and black cat-eye sunglasses in NYC.

(Image credit: TheStewartofNY/GC Images/Getty Images)

On Monica Barbaro: Lein Beau Dress (£1294); Gianvito Rossi Sofia Mule 95 (£750)

Shop Satin and Taffeta Dresses

Allyson Payer
Allyson Payer
Senior Editor

Allyson is a senior editor for Who What Wear. She joined the company in 2014 as co-founder Katherine Power's executive assistant and over the years has written hundreds of stories for Who What Wear. Prior to her career in fashion, Allyson worked in the entertainment industry at companies such as Sony Pictures Television. Allyson is now based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and is originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She holds a BFA in theater arts. Her path to fashion may not have been linear, but based on the number of fashion magazines she collected as a child and young adult, it was meant to be.