Maxi dresses are colorful, flowy, breathy, and the ultimate way of feeling at ease while remaining completely stylish!

As always, LittlePinkTop found the best deals for you. And, as usual, a couple of disasters, so that you know what to avoid. Plus, this article will contain helpful tips about how to shop for your body type!

Wow, we have a lot to get through, let’s get going!

But first, our usual disclosure: LittlePinkTop has many affiliate partners. When you buy something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The Color

This site is called LittlePinkTop, so I’ll let you in on a little not-so-secret secret: I play favorites towards pink! Therefore, I’m compelled to include a pink summer dress in this list.

It doesn’t matter if you want to rebel against pink just because it’s been pushed on girls so much; the domain name says Little. Pink. Top. and there’s a great responsibility that comes with registering a domain name (not really).

But really, this tall Ellie ruched dress from Alloy Apparel, a fashion brand catering to tall and curvy women, comes in pink but also grey and navy. There, controversy averted.

Notice that it’s ruched on the left side; delicate pleats end in a sexy high side slit. I think this is a good deal!

Your Body Type

What else should you keep in mind when picking out a maxi dress, other than color options?

Well, fortunately, this might not be as difficult as other fashion challenges because maxi dresses flatter almost every body type.

If you are a petite lady, you might have been told to stay away from maxi dresses altogether as they might visually make you look even shorter. But there’s a little more to it than that.

You can totally rock a maxi dress, you just need to find a dress that ends somewhere between the top of the ankle and the top of the foot. 

Also, you might want to consider a V-neck. It creates an elongating effect, which could counterbalance any shortening effect, according to LittlePinkTop’s version of geometry. 

Some of my tall girlfriends have the opposite dilemma. They don’t want to feel like giraffes towering above everyone else. And so they learned another stylistic trick: strapless dresses or spaghetti strap necklines often have a boxy feel, making them look shorter.

If you have a thicker waist and hips and don’t want to show it, accentuate your upper body. A-line or empire waist dresses will help you to achieve that. Other styles that would look particularly good on this body type would be peasant-style dresses, flowy dresses, and wrap dresses. 

Good Examples

With all that in mind, let’s check out some other maxi dresses, both good and bad!

I love this feminine tiered maxi dress from Hurley, an American apparel company specializing in surfing/swimming clothes and accessories. 

Everything on their website is the epitome of summer, including this beautiful orange dress with cute bows (they are actually adjustable tie straps). It looks very… peachy… both in terms of the color and the look.

And this sleeveless floral dress from Michael Kors is like the personification of summer.

It comes in a bright, yellow, mood-lifting color. This tiered maxi dress has a simple and classy square neckline and embroidery details on the straps and collar. Small, large, and extra large sizes of this dress are still available.

Avoid This: Denim Maxi Dresses in Summer & “Twofer” Maxi Dresses

Unfortunately, my enthusiasm evaporates when I take a look at this denim dress.

Even if you don’t mind the hideous design, the fit might be off. It seems like you might need to be a very particular body type for it to work well.

You see, a woman who bought the dress commented on the website that her B cup chest didn’t fill the dress. What’s more, the skirt area has a lot of material and is pretty heavy because it’s real denim, which is not something you want to wear on a hot summer day. And we’re looking at these dresses through the lens of an effective summer selection.

So, that’s a down vote on that denim!

Among our hot summer deals, we had a ruffled dress and a tiered dress. So, some might think: hey, if we combine the two, we’ll get double cuteness. Right?

 … Wrong! It was a trick! Now you fall into the pit of fashion disasters!

Um, sorry, maybe I got a little carried away.

Anyway, have you heard of twofer dresses?

UrbanDictionary (a credible source) describes them as “a combination shirt and skirt connected by a band or belt,” usually at mid waist or the empire waistline.

The totally academic, peer-reviewed website also notes that this joined shirt and skirt usually has two different colors, which can be combined to make a casual chic dress.

Well… that “casual chic” description is put to the test in our next example:

This twofer maxi dress might have fun Disney princess vibes, if it came in only one color, with the pink bow around the waist. Buuuut that’s not the case.

It’s way too busy with its navy top, then the pink bow, then the scarf print for the skirt. Yuck!

Fortunately, if you’re busy like this dress, then LittlePinkTop just saved you lots of time! And now you know that a “twofer” dress doesn’t necessarily double your style.

With the help of LittlePinkTop, you know what to get, and what to avoid, when it comes to summer 2021 maxi dresses.

You can escape the fashion trap, while there’s still time to enjoy the warm weather!

What’s that? You’re a dog person?

Okay!