This summer’s key dress shape is simple. First seen at the spring/summer 2022 shows, the tank dress is a classic silhouette that everyone can get on board with this season. Call it a crowd pleaser.

Jonathan Anderson got behind the silhouette at Loewe, where he presented dresses with the same scooped neckline as a classic tank top (which is big news for next season). Anderson’s upbeat takes, however, were a far cry from the humble wardrobe basic. The fourth look in the spring/summer 2022 collection, a colourful form-fitting number coined the Blur Dress, swiftly became a cult buy that was snapped up by Kendall Jenner before selling out. Looks that followed experimented with the same shape, but warped with gilded breastplates and other sculptural inserts.

Long before Loewe’s surrealist styles arrived on the runway, Princess Diana made tank dresses her staple. Of the many trends that she popularised throughout her lifetime, the tank silhouette was a standout. From Versace shift dresses stamped with the Medusa motif on the straps, to multiple body-sculpting minis by Catherine Walker – both of which her stylist Anna Harvey dubbed “probably her most successful looks to date” in British Vogue’s October 1997 issue – tank dresses were her secret wardrobe weapon.

British Vogue’s commerce director Naomi Smart is a fan. “Tank dresses are my go-to dress style,” she says. “I love a dress that hugs like a good fitting T-shirt, in jersey or stretch fabric that curves with the body. Midi or maxi length dresses are the most elegant – they’re great for on-the-go looks that also score high for comfort and ease.”

Team Vogue swears by basics from Wardrobe.NYC, and this season they’ll be stocking up on the brand’s cotton-jersey ribbed dress, available in a mini or midi length, which fits like an elongated tank top. (Hailey Bieber and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley own black and white colourways of the minimalist must-have.)

Elsewhere, Rick Owens and minimalist Scandi label Totême have mastered the does-it-all tank dress, while Live The Process and Gauge81 make sporty everyday racer-back styles. Hunza G’s flattering square-neck dresses, spun from the same colourful crinkly fabric as its iconic swimsuits, are worth checking out, too.

Looking for a twist on the classic? As we wait patiently for Loewe’s Blur dress to restock, consider a scoop-neck metallic jersey dress from Tom Ford to wear to evening soirées or a hot-pink velvet mini from Vetements for a night out. Hitting Carnival in August? AGR’s stripy brushed-knit tank dress is waiting for a dance.

Shop Vogue’s edit of tank dresses to kick-start your summer.

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Originally posted from “British VOGUE” by Alice Cary