Oscar de La Renta created the first maxi in 1968. It was made out of cotton lace and was for Elizabeth Arden Salon. Later on, after The New York Times praised his designs, bigger names such as Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Cardin and Halston started creating their own versions of the dress.

I’ve written about the mini dress and so it’s only fitting that I write about the maxi dress.

(If you don’t wanna read my babble… skip to the bottom to find out where you can get this look!)

The dress was, at first, shorter than ankle length and made mostly with lace. In the 1970’s, the maxi dress became a closet staple. Sadly, by the 1980’s, the maxi went out of fashion.

Naturally, other styles took over. In the 1980’s shoulder pds and fluffy sleeves took centre stage and in the 1990’s the mini skirt and dress offended the maxi with the tiny bit of material being used to cover up. However, in 2008, Kate Moss brought the maxi back – and it hasn’t left since.

More recently – with bohemian styles coming into fashion – maxi dresses fell to the floor in length, got slits up the side and were given interesting strappy and halter necklines. The maxi dress has even made it into Winter fashion. Reinventing the dress with heavier material and longer sleeves made it possible to keep us warm throughout Winter.

I absolutely love this bright orange maxi I picked up at a second-hand sale. The colour is perfectly summery and is the kind of bright, burnt orange that manages to not burn everyone’s retinas.

This is a gorgeous Ralph Lauren maxi – floor length, lover neckline with a lace feel.

Let me know what you think! xx

Dress: Woolworths SA    |    Earrings: Lovisa    |    Shoes: PEP Stores 😉

Concealer: Lancôme   |    Mascara: Lancôme Hypnose Doll Eyes    |    Lipstick: Sephora Rouge Cream Lip Stain

Photographer: Casey Rautenbach