The Best Green Cut Out Dresses For A Garden Party Handpicked by Claire

Green does more for a cut out dress than almost any other colour, because it reads as considered rather than obvious the moment it leaves black and red behind. Foliage, sage, emerald, bottle: each has a different temperature, and the good ones are chosen to work with the season rather than against it, sitting somewhere between the garden itself and the woman standing in it. That is the whole point of the category. A cut out dress in the wrong colour can look like it is trying too hard for daytime, but green gives it a reason to be there.

The cut out itself needs a job to do. Waist panels that follow the natural curve rather than slicing straight across, a back opening that sits below the shoulder blade rather than gaping at the first movement, side slits that reveal rather than expose.

The best versions use the cut out as part of the construction, not as a decoration stitched on afterwards, which means the fabric either side has to hold its shape on its own. Look for a slightly heavier crepe or a jersey with real recovery, because a limp viscose will droop around every opening within an hour and lose the whole effect.

Styling one for daytime is about restraint everywhere else. Let the dress carry the interest and keep jewellery minimal, a single pair of gold hoops or nothing at all. A low block heel or a smart flat sandal does more for a garden setting than a stiletto ever will, since grass and gravel have no patience for narrow heels. A structured bag in tan or cream breaks up the green nicely and stops the look feeling too matched. If the weather turns, a fine knit cardigan in cream or stone thrown over the shoulders does the job without hiding the neckline or the cut outs, which is really what you are dressing for.

These dresses suit the specific pocket of occasions that sit between formal and casual: garden parties obviously, but also christenings, summer weddings with an outdoor reception, long lunches that run into early evening drinks. They read as dressed rather than dressed up, which is exactly the register most daytime celebrations actually need. Anyone hesitant about the cut out detail should remember that a well placed opening at the waist or back is far more flattering in practice than a plunging neckline, and considerably easier to wear through an afternoon of standing, eating and making conversation in the sun.