The Best Summer Dresses For Under £30 That Look Way More Expensive Than They Really Are

This summer hasn’t exactly been scorcher, but the weather’s finally looking up and, crucially, people are jumping on the hot holiday bandwagon. If you’ve just got your confirmation email from BA, why not treat yourself to a summer dress that deserves a sun-lounger in Greece?

A spaghetti-strapped maxi dress is brilliant for throwing over bikinis or dressing up with ankle-tie espadrilles. Tu at Sainsbury’s has a lovely crochet-trimmed style that will also help you breeze through barbeque season at home. Reserved’s halterneck knit will also double as a beach cover-up, but would also look great with velcro sandals and a shell anklet when you’re back from sunnier climes.

When it comes to prints, there’s some great flower power frocks on the high street right now. I love ASOS’s ribbon-tie midaxi dress, and would love to wander through a French market (to buy fromage) wearing it with rope sandals. New Look’s puff-sleeved dress is another cheerful option with day-to-night potential, while Stradivarius’s sage-coloured minidress is perfect for cocktails at dusk by the pool (or paddling pool).

And then there's the white wafty dresses, always a winning category with sun-kissed skin. Forever 21's button-down sundress just needs a straw hat and cat's eye sunglasses to look chic enough for sundowners in a cobble stone piazza, while all you need to add to Monki's frill-collar mini is some Converse.