Trust Me: This Dress Trend Is Going to Be Everywhere in 6 Months' Time

Wrap dresses can be awkward around the boobs, smocks often drown petite frames and slips are difficult to wear unless you’re Kate Moss, but a quality dress with carefully placed ruching in a slightly stretchy fabric suits just about everyone. Curvy bodies will appreciate the flexibility, while slimmer frames can use ruching to add curves if desired. They’re comfy, too, and now hot property, thanks to a host of London Fashion Week designers.

Suddenly this rare breed of body-con is back, and it has the support of some key envelope-pushing names. They’re passing the baton on from summer 2018’s surge in ruching (from Jacquemus to Zara, we’ve already seen the potential this trend has), and taking it to the next level in terms of cut and finish. Come spring, sheer fabrics will be popular, super-bright colours will be key and tasselled drawstrings will be a notable feature.

Ruched pieces are London’s more rebellious take on being commercial, and I’m certainly here for it now and will continue to be when it booms next spring. Scroll to see the designers creating this one-style-suits-all dress, and then shop a few options that are currently available. (Hey, spring/summer 2019 feels a little too long to wait for such a wardrobe winner.)

Ruched Dresses on the Runway

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(Image credit: Courtesy of House of Holland)

House of Holland S/S 19

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

Roksanda S/S 19

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(Image credit: Courtesy of Molly Goddard)

Molly Goddard S/S 19

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

Preen by Thorton Bregazzi S/S 19

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

Yuhan Wang S/S 19

Related: It's My Job to Find Amazing Shopping Picks—These 9 New Buys Are Too Good to Miss

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(Image credit: Courtesy of Ports 1961)

Ports 1961 S/S 19

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

Rejina Pyo S/S 19

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(Image credit: Courtesy of Richard Malone)

Richard Malone S/S 19

Shop Ruched Dresses

Perhaps you could do with a few autumn dress-centric outfit ideas to play with?

Hannah Almassi
Editor in Chief

Hannah Almassi is the Editor in Chief of Who What Wear UK. Hannah has been part of the the Who What Wear brand since 2015, when she was headhunted to launch the UK sister site and social channels, implement a localised content strategy and build out the editorial team. She joined following a seven-year tenure at Grazia magazine, where she led front-of-book news, fashion features and shopping specials as fashion news and features editor. With experience in both print and digital across fashion and beauty, Hannah has over 16 years in the field as a journalist, editor, content strategist and brand consultant. Hannah has interviewed industry heavyweights such as designers including Marc Jacobs and Jonathan Anderson through to arbiters of taste including Katie Grand and Anna Dello Russo. A skilled moderator and lecturer specialising in the shift to digital media and e-commerce, Hannah’s opinion and work has been sought by the likes of CNBC, BBC, The Sunday Times Style, The Times, The Telegraph and MatchesFashion.com, among many others. Hannah is often called upon for her take on trends, becoming known as a person with their finger of the pulse of what’s happening in the fashion space for stylish Brits. Hannah currently resides in Eastbourne with her photographer husband, incredibly busy son and highly Instagrammable cat.