The Summer-Ready Dresses I'm Eyeing From My Favorite Sustainable Brands

Ah, summer. It may not be here yet, but I'm already dreaming about donning airy dresses for the warmer weather. I'll be honest. I'm not even a hard-core dress person, but something about the sun out makes me want to ditch pants altogether and start a collection of all kinds of frocks. We've already given you the update on what's new in the dress category, from the current trending styles to the latest on the market, but I turned to the collections of some of my favorite small brands to pinpoint dresses that are more sustainability focused. I still love finding a good deal on an affordable item, but I'm slowly shifting my focus toward investing in pieces that I deem special to me and that I know I'll wear for seasons to come. 

Below, I've rounded up a slew of dresses perfect for the sunnier times ahead, ranging from colorful body-con pieces to ruched and oversize silhouettes. If you're looking to add a unique (and sustainable) dress to your collection this summer, the list below is a perfect start.

Associate Fashion Editor
Yusra Siddiqui is an editor who resides in New Jersey but bounces between the suburbs and NYC. (She's a Jersey girl at heart.) After interning at Who What Wear in 2019, she found her way to the team after graduating from LIM College in 2022 with a fashion media degree. She's also spent time writing and working for publications such as Fashionista, Coveteur, and Nylon, but she always knew that Who What Wear was where she was meant to be. When she's on the job, she's perusing runway shows, analyzing the latest thing fellow Gen Zers are up to on the internet, and sharing what she can about the modest-fashion market. You can also catch her dabbling in entertainment, talking about the costume choices of the latest Netflix series or diving deeper into how the plotline affects the viewers in a myriad of ways. Lastly, she likes to create content for Who What Wear's TikTok. Her personal time is spent doing similar but also different things—deep diving into almost every new TV show (Bridgerton, Gilmore Girls, and Stranger Things are favorites), planning her next local getaway (whenever that may be), and reading the latest Emily Henry or Sally Rooney novel in one sitting.