10 Key Dress Trends to Shop for Spring/Summer 2025

In the age of the internet, fashion trends come and go like the wind. Perhaps that’s why so many designers chose to revisit familiar silhouettes, color palettes, and patterns that make up the best dress trends of the season.

Spring/Summer 2025 runway looks proved that, after years of ’90s nostalgia, the fashion world is ready to explore earlier decades with equal enthusiasm. Ultramini shift dresses at Gucci and Loewe drew comparisons to key styles of the Swinging ’60s, while Marc Jacobs and Duran Lantink debuted ’80s-glamour-inspired bubble dresses. Chloé and Isabel Marant presented Woodstock-worthy boho dresses fit for modern tastes. Even vintage polka dots received a 21st-century makeover at Nina Ricci and Carolina Herrera.

Elsewhere, designers urged us to bypass short-lived microtrends and return to the basics. Toteme, Max Mara, and the Row offered modern classics like oversize shirtdresses. Though far from minimalist, this season’s draped goddess gowns, nautical stripes, and drop-waist silhouettes feel equally investment-worthy.

To help you decipher the fleeting trends from the new arrivals that are actually worth buying, we’ve created this handy shopping guide to the season’s most popular dress styles. From pastel sundresses to boho maxis, see the 10 dress trends below that truly deserve space in your closet.

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Sailor Stripes

Everyone from Miu Miu to Moschino went nautical this season, offering sailor-striped dresses of every kind. Proenza Schouler’s are flowy and fringed, and Veronica Beard’s feel distinctly preppy. If fisherman sandals feel too on the nose, try pairing maritime-inspired styles with sleek thongs or sporty sneakers instead.

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Pastel Hues

Sure, one could argue that pastels are always popular for spring. But our current obsession with ballet pink, butter yellow, and pistachio green hues far exceeds the norm. If you’re looking to inject a little fun into your wardrobe, try a classic sundress silhouette—perhaps Staud’s Wylie minidress or Favorite Daughter’s Favorite linen dress—in a chic pastel shade. New arrivals from Chanel, Jil Sander, Gucci, and Khaite look like a colorful bowl of Jordan almonds, just waiting to be enjoyed.

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Micro-Mini Dresses

The hemlines of this season’s micro-mini dresses are not for the faint of heart. Thankfully, designers offered plenty of bloomers, boxer shorts, and statement tights to pair them with. New styles from Dôen, Retrofete, and Sau Lee are short enough to wear as a tunic over pants or skirts, should you please. But when summer hits its peak, you’ll find that styling them solo is the ultimate way to beat the heat.

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Wafty Florals

This year, floral dresses have a distinctly ethereal quality. Fabrics are light and airy, with ruffled trims, faded color palettes, and washed-out prints. Picnic and prairie dresses are gaining steam too, so expect puff-sleeved babydolls and lace-trimmed slips from cool-girl labels like Reformation, Ganni, Dôen, and Prada to dominate the streets in the coming months.

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Drop-Waist Dresses

At Marni, Emilia Wickstead, Acne Studios, and Brandon Maxwell, drop-waist dresses offered a fresh take on body-con styles. Wisely cut to hit at just the right places, this spring’s low-slung designs highlight your natural body shape in a way that’s flattering, comfortable, and fun. You’ll notice many options use contrasting materials and color-blocking to accentuate the unique silhouette.

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Polka Dots

This season’s polka-dotted dresses give subtle nods to the past without going entirely retro. While some hint at the twee aesthetic of the mid-2010s, others tilt more toward midcentury glamour or ’80s maximalism. Whether you choose to channel your inner Marilyn Monroe, Princess Diana, or Alexa Chung—it is entirely up to you.

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Diaphanous Draping

Airy chiffons, billowing hemlines, and asymmetrical draping gave this season’s special-occasion dresses a goddess-like quality. Stella McCartney, Victoria Beckham, and Christopher Esber drew clear inspiration from Venus and Aphrodite, sending models down the runway in barely there styles that fluttered delicately behind them.

Though suitable for a cocktail party, elegantly draped cape dresses, like those at Bottega Veneta and Reiss, will certainly infiltrate our work wardrobes by fall. From vibrant jewel tones to rich neutrals, there are no wrong color choices here. Put on whatever makes you feel like your most powerful, sensual self.

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Bubble Hems

Jonathan Anderson, Marc Jacobs, and Chemena Kamali are among those determined to end the association of bubble hems with bad 1980s prom dresses. Designed for casual (and occasionally professional) wear, this season’s understated bubble dresses are distinctly modern.

Shopping data collected from thousands of Cash App Afterpay users shows that purchases of bubble dresses are up 176 percent year over year. All to say, this is one up-and-coming dress trend you should get in on now.

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Boho

If you’ve picked up a fashion magazine or scrolled through social media in the past few months, you’re already well aware that boho dresses are back. Vegetal prints, embroidered trims, patchwork paisleys, and washed-out tie-dyes dominated the runways of Valentino, Saint Laurent, and other top-billing names. Silhouettes ranged from ruffled sundresses to flowing caftans, peasant midis, and babydoll minidresses, offering plenty of variation.

Why limit yourself to quiet-luxury staples when there are so many conversation starters to choose from this season? Styles from designers with a well-established boho aesthetic—think Missoni, Chloé, Isabel Marant, Johanna Ortiz, La DoubleJ, and Alberta Ferretti—make particularly wise investments amid an influx of eclectic options.

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Anti-Trend Basics

Avoiding trends altogether is becoming a trend in itself. By investing in modern classics from this season’s runways, one can remain on trend without constantly needing to purchase something new.

The quiet-luxury crowd will surely flock to the T-shirt maxis and shirtdress caftans seen at the Row, Toteme, and Ralph Lauren. Gone are the days of the second-skin maxi dress (and the uncomfortable shapewear that often accompanies it). This season’s oversize silhouettes offer an effortless, equally chic alternative that’s far more comfortable.

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