5 Dresses to Get You Through Your Summer Associate Job

April 22, 2016 | Filed in: Your Closet

Summer associates, we hear you: You want a few great outfits that will carry you through what is essentially a ten-week job interview during the sweatiest months of the year. The jeans you’ve been wearing to class won’t cut it, and the leftovers from your previous work wardrobe are…uninspiring. What you need are pieces that pack well, stretch comfortably, and can handle air-conditioned offices and sweltering happy hours alike. Whether you’re in finance, law, consulting, or any other industry whose dress code poses a challenge in the summer, these five dresses will keep you looking sleek and professional.

1. A Grown-up Wrap Dress

The Casey dress.

‘70s glamour doesn’t always translate smoothly to workwear, but the Casey dress offers the same figure-flattering lines of a wrap dress without the awkwardness of, well, wrapping. The soft, forgiving fabric can handle long flights, endless conferences, and client dinners with ease—plus you can hand-wash it. (Who’s got time to find a dry cleaner around here, anyway?)

2. A Textured Sheath

The Aditi dress in crackle.

Black-and-white jacquard gives this streamlined dress some extra structure (also known as oomph). Bonus: It’s practically impervious to wrinkling.

3. A Day-to-Night Sleeveless Dress

The Lydia dress.

For days when it’s just too hot out there, this piece will keep you cool under pressure (and at post-work rooftop cocktails).

4. An Always-Appropriate Fallback Dress

The Etsuko dress.

You can’t remember if the clients you’re meeting today are business-casual or business-formal, you’ve been living out of a suitcase for two weeks straight, and how can it already be 8:30am? Enter the ever-polished, always-appropriate Etsuko: One zip, and you’re good to go.

5. A Got-it-together Dress

The Sarah dress.

With a structured shoulder and streamlined silhouette, this dress is fun without being “fun.” (Oh, and you can throw it in the laundry, too.)