The Brown Dress Is Set To Be The Summer's Sleeper Hit - Here's How To Wear It And The Styles To Shop

The Little Brown Dress is surpassing pretty pastels and its LBD predecessor to become an must-have item for SS25. On first glance, the shade might not feel most at home amongst the warmer months but it's out with the outdated thinking this season as brown dresses have become the cult item to wear now.

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On the catwalk, the idea of a brown summer dress was put forward by designers from JW Anderson (short, shiny) to Fendi (flowy, coral trimmed) and it has caught on with retailers too. Some of the very best dress brands have stepped right into their brown dress era. Labels like Staud, Reformation and Jacquemus have each put out great brown dress options to help make this catwalk trend a real-life success.

It's one I'd not really considered before. As someone with chestnut brown hair, I'd worried that wearing the hue would look a little matchy-matchy, but truthfully it was probably more about my year-round reliance on black. And yet for SS25, with so many options to choose from, I'm convinced. I'll shop styles that are particularly feminine in shape, finding a new sense of subversion with the typically out-of-season brown. Colleagues of mine at ELLE HQ have chosen brown dresses for summer weddings - that feels like one way to ensure that nobody else is wearing the same as you!

How To Style A Brown Summer Dress

As with any trend or It-item, wearing a brown dress is all about how you style it and what you pair it with. Brown is a spectrum but if we hone in here on a gorgeous, rich deep chocolate shade then options abound. For those willing to throw out the anyways outdated style rules, black can become brown's best friend. Put together, they work to update each other for the new season to offer that contemporary edge that moves it away from ever appearing dowdy. Going against the grain hints at a styling confidence and flair that feels insidery and fashion-girl approved.

Other shades that work particularly well with brown are altogether lighter. I love the idea of brown worn with a sweet candy pink and the same goes for mint green. Think Neopolitan ice cream. Turquoise brings out a new side of brown and the same applies with a butter yellow. Then, when it comes to accessorising, gold and silver jewellery (yes, worn together) sing when set against brown's deep background. Layer up with a more-is-more approach.

The Best Brown Dresses To Wear This Summer