I’d never heard of the term ‘buffet dress’ until I was watching an episode of the latest series of The Great British Sewing Bee a few months ago, in which contestants were set the challenge of making one. As soon as I heard it, it made me think of wafting down for a long, all-you-can-eat breakfast at a hotel somewhere hot and sunny.
It’s that something loose to wear when you’re off for a big dinner, and just exactly what most of us have been in the mood for this past year or more, when the weather has allowed.
Before, it’s been called a wafty dress, an effortless dress, a tent dress and many other things (one friend calls hers a ‘Jesus dress’), but ‘buffet’ is the most fabulous, isn’t it? And even though I already have plenty of this style of frock, now that they’ve had an exotic rebrand, they feel exciting again. Another day in a tent dress? Boredom could be setting in. A day in a buffet dress? Now that sounds glamorously indulgent.
In case you don’t know exactly what I’m talking about, the main characteristic of a buffet dress is that there’s room to move, waist-wise – no belts, no cinching, just pure easy breeziness. You could smuggle a beach ball or tummy full of croissants or pasta under it and no one would be any the wiser. Most buffet dresses come with voluminous sleeves, too, so they’re kind on the arms as well as the waist.
Linen dress, £265, Justine Tabak; fashion blogger Jacqueline Zelwis; Eudon Choi spring/ summer 2021; Michael Kors spring/ summer 2021
The buffet dress is about freedom to move, but also creating a little mystery. What might lie beneath those floaty layers? It could be a six-pack or a little lockdown paunch, who knows?
Hotel buffets in exotic climes might be off the cards this year, but a buffet dress can help you imagine. I’ve been pottering around in If Only If’s beautiful Pandora dress, which is, strictly speaking, a nightie, but will be coming with me as a buffet dress the moment I can escape – it’s perfect layered over a swimsuit or with a cotton slip underneath.
Just as a buffet can come in many forms – from mini packets of cornflakes to a heaving seafood banquet – so too can a buffet dress. I love Mango and Meadows’s options for an easy-going prairie feel; Hush’s smock style could be smartened up for the office; and Erdem’s beautiful Positano-print dress is an exquisite example (come to think of it, Positano would be the ideal location for showcasing one’s buffet-dress collection). As with all dresses, shoes will change the mood instantly – trainers, kitten heels, slides or fisherman sandals will all work.
Of course, you could belt or tie your buffet dress to give a little definition if you wanted, and the White Company one I’m wearing here (which is as lovely and airy as they come) has a tie waist, which I could have pulled a little tighter if I’d wanted. But I was having far too much fun for that.
Cotton smock-dress, £75, Hush; ‘Pandora’ dress, £110, If Only If; cotton midi, £79, Albaray; broderie anglaise, £29.99, Mango; Positano-print linen-cotton midi, £695, Erdem
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