How to Style Alémais: The Print Rule, the Shoes and Eight Outfits That Work

The way to style Alémais is one print and everything else plain. Shoes in one colour, a bag with no pattern, one gold piece of jewellery, and one of three shoes: a flat leather slide, a heeled sandal, a tall boot. That covers the whole brand, from a linen sundress on a beach to the new beaded velvet gown at a black-tie wedding. Lesleigh Jermanus designs Alémais so that the dress does the work, with a hand-drawn artwork, an embroidery, a beaded motif and often all three on one piece, and the styling job is to get out of its way. The eight outfits below use only pieces in stock at Coveti, at prices in US dollars as displayed.

The one-print rule

An Alémais piece is already a complete idea. The Kenny print is a folk floral with appliqué, the Giddy embroidery is roosters and horseshoes in red on cream, the Earle velvet has a beaded rodeo emblem. Put any of them next to a second pattern and the eye has nowhere to rest. So the shoes are plain, the bag is plain, the coat is plain and the jewellery is a single gold piece. The exception is a family. Alémais designs its prints as families, the dress with the matching shirt, the knit dress with the matching cardigan, and two pieces from one family were made to be worn together. Two prints from two families were not.

The three shoes

The brand’s own campaigns are styled with a flat leather slide, a heeled sandal and a tall boot, and there is no reason to add a fourth. The slide takes the linen dresses, the shirtdresses and the tops/shirt/" class="cvx-al cvx-al--category">shirts in summer. The sandal takes the gowns and the evening midis. The boot takes the velvet, the knits and the denim from Fall 2026. Keep all three in tan, black and a metallic, and never print on print.

Eight outfits

1. The linen day dress, Banderra Midi Dress, $770

Cream floral on navy European linen, fitted through the bodice with an empire waist. Tan flat slide, a woven tote, gold hoops. This is the Alémais outfit that works for a long lunch, a gallery and a garden wedding without changing anything but the shoes.

2. The shirtdress, three ways, Ezra Silk Shirtdress, $890

Sandwashed silk with a Western toile in rust and cream on burgundy, a point collar and a concealed placket. Belted with a wide leather belt and a heeled sandal for dinner. Open over a swimsuit for the pool. Loose with a flat slide for the day. It is cut relaxed, so take the size below if you want the belted version to sit close.

3. The knit and the denim, Lasso Patchwork Knit Cardigan, $770 with Spur Denim Cropped Jean, $390

An oversized patchwork cardigan in responsibly sourced wool over a relaxed acid-wash jean in sand. A plain white tee underneath, a tall tan boot, one gold cuff. The weekend outfit from a range that did not have one until this season. The Spur Denim Jacket replaces the cardigan on a milder day.

4. The embroidered shirt over everything, Giddy Embroidered Shirt, $490

New this week. Red Western embroidery on white cotton, cut oversized with a point collar and a concealed placket. Open over a black slip skirt and a heeled sandal for the evening. Buttoned and tucked into the Spur jean with a boot for the day. Open over a swimsuit next summer. One shirt, three seasons.

5. The velvet mini and the boot, Earle Embellished Mini Dress, $890

New this week. Forest-green silk velvet with a low draped back, bishop sleeves and beaded Western motifs, cut relaxed. A tall black boot, a plain black coat over the top, a single gold earring. This is the winter Alémais outfit, and the coat is the Henri Corset Coat if you want the brand head to toe.

6. The tailoring, Emmett Blazer, $790 with Emmett Pant, $590

A chocolate double-breasted blazer and a relaxed straight-leg pant in a structured cotton blend, worn as a suit with a cream silk camisole and a pointed flat. Alémais rarely does tailoring, and the trick with this suit is to style it as if it came from a tailoring house: nothing printed anywhere, and a single gold chain.

7. The gown, Earle Embellished Gown, $1,400

New this week. A fitted silk velvet column with a one-shoulder cape and a beaded rodeo motif. A strappy metallic sandal, a small bags/clutch-bags/" class="cvx-al cvx-al--category">clutch, a bare ear and a single gold cuff. Hair up, so the cape and the mock neck are seen. Every other gown in the range, and which one suits which event, is in the best Alémais gowns.

8. The print family, Kenny Mini Dress, $690 with Kenny Blouse, $490

The one place two prints work: the same Karlee Mackie folk floral on the dress and the blouse, because they were designed together. Wear the blouse open over the dress as a jacket in spring, with a flat slide and gold hoops. This is also the answer to the question we are asked most, whether Alémais can be worn as separates. It can, inside a family.

Layering for autumn

Before this season the answer to cold weather was a plain coat from another brand over an Alémais dress, and that still works. Now the range has its own. The Henri Corset Coat in undyed grey wool goes over any printed dress in the range, and the Sable Applique Coat with its beaded back goes over a plain one. The rule holds in both directions: a beaded coat over a plain dress, a plain coat over a beaded dress. The full season is in the Alémais Fall 2026 edit.

Alémais with other brands

The plain pieces around an Alémais print can come from anywhere, and the ones that work best are the quiet ones: a black slip skirt, a cream camisole, a tan boot. The brands that share Alémais’s register and are worth wearing alongside it are set out in brands like Alémais, and the two closest Sydney houses are compared in Zimmermann vs Alémais and Aje vs Alémais. A Zimmermann gown and an Alémais one should not be at the same wedding on the same person. A Zimmermann linen shirt under an Alémais knit cardigan is fine.

Fit, before the styling

None of this works if the size is wrong. Alémais states the intended shape on every product page and recommends your usual size, with the size below on oversized styles if you want a regular line. The Alémais size guide has the AU, UK and US conversion and the centimetre tables. For which piece to buy at all, start with the best Alémais dresses and, for an occasion, Alémais wedding guest dresses. Everything above is authenticated under the Coveti authenticity policy.

Frequently asked questions

How do you style an Alémais dress?

Treat the dress as the whole outfit. Alémais dresses carry a hand-drawn print, an embroidery and often beading, so everything else stays plain: shoes in one colour, a bag with no pattern and one piece of gold jewellery. Add a flat leather slide by day and a heeled sandal by night. In autumn, a tall boot and a plain coat over the top.

What shoes go with Alémais?

Three shoes cover the whole brand. A flat leather slide for the linen dresses and shirtdresses in summer, a heeled sandal for the gowns and the evening midis, and a tall boot for the velvet, knit and denim pieces in autumn. The brand’s own campaigns use exactly those three. Avoid a printed shoe and a metallic shoe with a print.

Can you wear Alémais in winter?

Yes, from Fall 2026 onwards. The Earle velvet pieces, the Lasso patchwork knits in wool, the Henri and Sable wool coats and the Emmett blazer are the first pieces in the current Alémais range made for cold weather. Before that the range was resort, so earlier-season linen dresses need a coat and a boot to work below about 15 degrees. The Earle Embellished Mini Dress at $890 with a tall boot is the easiest winter Alémais outfit.

How do you style an Alémais shirtdress?

Three ways. Belted, with a wide leather belt and a heeled sandal, for dinner. Open over a swimsuit, as a cover-up, on holiday. Unbelted and loose with a flat slide for a long lunch. Most Alémais shirtdresses are cut oversized on purpose, so if you want the belted look to sit close, the brand suggests the size below.

What jewellery goes with Alémais prints?

One gold piece. A single cuff, a pair of gold hoops, a chain, and never all three. Put it at the ear when the dress has a mock neck and at the wrist when the neckline is open. Silver fights the warm tones in most Alémais prints, and a second piece competes with the beading the brand has already put on the dress.

Can you mix Alémais prints?

Only within one family. Alémais sells its prints as families, the Kenny dress with the Kenny blouse, the Lasso dress with the Lasso cardigan, the Giddy dress with the Giddy shirt, and two pieces from one family were designed to be worn together. Two prints from different families almost always fight. If in doubt, one print and one plain.