J.Crew Linen Daydream Dress + Smocked Dresses Thoughts 2022

Someone recently emailed me asking whether I thought smocked dresses and particularly the Hill House nap dresses I lived in all last summer (examples here, here, here, and here) would continue to be in style this year and my personal answer is a resounding yes. For me personally, any dress I can wear pregnant/not pregnant/breastfeeding/not breastfeeding in the same size is an absolute home run. And I think as the fashion industry hopefully becomes more size-inclusive over time, techniques like smocking are a great way to ensure excellent fit across a variety of body types.

That’s just my two cents (I’d love to hear yours in the comments!), but I see myself continuing to treat smocked dresses as summer wardrobe staples, particularly in this stage of my life where my size and shape have changed almost constantly over the last three and a half years.

Which brings me to today’s find: the J.Crew linen daydream dress!

J.Crew Linen Daydream Dress

I am a sucker for anything in this French blue color which is also available on this puff sleeve shirt, this tie shoulder tank, and this smocked skirt. I’m wearing it in my pre-pregnancy size XS (I find that J.Crew runs on the roomier side lately) and I love the puff sleeves and the subtle slit in the skirt.

I paired it with my trusty navy espadrilles to an event at the ASHA showroom earlier this week (my wishlist is about a mile long. But I think I’m going to start by seeing if this drop waist dress could work during pregnancy!) and it’s just an easy, comfortable pairing that I know I’ll be turning to at least once a week all summer long.