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15 Dresses to Wear to Work Depending on Your Dress Code

A guide that makes getting dressed even easier.

By Madeleine Kim

Today, we tackle a seemingly simple question with thousands of possible answers: What dress should I wear to work? When you’re in a rush, a dress can seem like the simplest choice—just add shoes and accessories, and you’re done!—but if you’re confused about which dresses are right for your work environment, things can get tricky.

Think of this guide as your personal dress-code cheat sheet, because we’ve rounded up the 15 best dresses for work, broken down by formality. Read on to find our top picks for your office, plus tips on how to style them.

BUSINESS FORMAL

The Jess Dress

Most office dresses on the market have straight silhouettes. We love that the Jess dress has an A-line skirt with lots of movement, while still reading as business formal. That, plus the midi length and rounded neckline, give this style a fun vintage vibe. Add the matching Tyner blazer for a polished monochrome look, or dress it down with the Kiki sweater in ube.

The Cynthia Dress

With its tailored shape and full-coverage neckline, the Cynthia dress would fit in at any business-formal office—but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s boring. A thick, rectangle-buckle belt and a square neckline give this dress personality and help you stand out from the crowd. In the words of one customer, “This dress makes me feel special!” To complete the look, try one of our matching blazers: the Yiyan, the Neale, or the Yasmine.

The Zana Dress

Our beloved 365Knit was designed to offer smoothness and coverage without making you overheat. And the brand-new Zana dress is definitely our most elegant 365Knit style yet. Try it with a belt and pumps for a more corporate look, or wear it with strappy sandals and statement earrings for an evening out.

The Maxine Dress

Business dresses usually come in neutral colors like black, navy, and gray, so wearing a jewel tone like plumberry is a bold choice that conveys confidence. We love the Maxine dress for its asymmetrical waist detail, which offers both coverage and flair. But the best thing about this dress is something you can’t see in a photo: It’s super stretchy, so you’ll be comfortable all day long.

The Maisie Dress

Like the shape of the Maxine dress but prefer something sleeveless? The Maisie dress is exactly what you need—and as one customer wrote, “It emphasizes curves in all the right places.” We especially love it in stretch houndstooth, a menswear-inspired print that creates a nice contrast with the dress’s elegant cut.

BUSINESS CASUAL

The Gwynne Dress

Our ultra-popular trench dress (slash dress trench—you can wear it as either!) is here in a delicious new red called berry jam. The OrigamiTech Gwynne dress gets its put-together look from a double-breasted cut, lapels, and a belt. The shorter hemline adds just a touch of sexiness, which you can play up or down depending on how you style it.

The Jennifer Dress

The Jennifer dress gives “business casual” a fun warm-weather twist. Although this dress is undeniably office-ready, the horizontal seam below the bust gives it a playful, sundress-like vibe. Bonus: Our Japanese cotton tweed fabric is stretchy, washable, and adept at concealing minor stains.

The Maaza Dress

The Maaza is one of those dresses that just works. The silhouette may look simple, but we put this style through fitting after fitting to get each seam just right. The result is a dress that fits like a charm—in the words of one customer, it “Left nothing to be desired.” Try it in our dreamy spotlight print to add some excitement to your regular rotation.

The Constance Dress

Want your work wardrobe to have more personality? Sometimes, it’s as simple as adding a splash of color. A classic sheath dress like the Constance becomes an office-friendly statement piece in this lovely lilac hue. Lean into lilac by pairing it with the matching Aniya jacket, or tone it down with a black blazer like the Neale.

The Cassandra Dress

The Cassandra feels like wearing a lightweight sundress, but buttons down the front and pockets give it a structured look. Even better? An elastic in the back gives you that just-right fit while also accommodating movement and size fluctuations.

POWER CASUAL

The Pepper Dress

The Pepper dress merges the sophisticated silhouette of a shirtdress with the laid-back vibe of chambray. But the real magic of this style is in the details—specifically, buttons at the waist that allow you to decide how loose or fitted you’d like it to be and a thin sash that creates subtle ruching through the back.

The Ziggy Dress

The unexpected color palette, the midi length, the criss-cross detail in the back—the Ziggy dress is just too good. But despite how playful this new style is, it still offers plenty of coverage, making it a great dress for work.

The Maude Dress

If your office is almost casual enough for jeans, the stretch denim Maude dress offers a perfect midpoint between casual and formal. Plus, you can dress it up with heels and a blazer or dress it down with sneakers. (Here’s more on how to wear a dress with flats.)

The Deana Dress

The washable-silk Deana dress offers a way to embrace a rich fall palette without overheating in August. With a faux-wrap construction and not-too-tight silhouette, it’s polished but doesn’t read as corporate—perfect for those who want to dress up but don’t work in an office where people wear suits.

The Toula Dress

Here in black by popular demand, the Toula dress will quickly become one of the most-worn styles in your wardrobe. This soft and lightweight knit style is a great choice for work, but you could also wear it out to dinner, for weekend errands, or on vacation—it’s basically the chicest blank canvas you’ve ever met.

Written By

Madeleine Kim

Madeleine Kim is the Senior Brand Manager at M.M.LaFleur, where she started out as a stylist. She loves developing styling-focused content and creating newsletters that bring the M.M. community together.

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