How to Wear a Prairie Dress Without Looking Like Costume

A prairie dress is long, soft and usually printed with small flowers. It can look like a costume if you get it wrong, and wonderful if you get it right. The trick is balance. Here is how to wear one, with picks from the Dôen collection at Coveti and our designer dresses. If you like the look, also read our guide to the milkmaid dress.

What is a prairie dress?

The prairie dress takes its name from the dresses worn by settler women in the nineteenth-century American West: long skirts, high necks, long sleeves and small calico prints. Designers revived it in the 1970s, and it has returned many times since. Today it is linked with cottagecore, the internet’s name for a romantic, rural style.

How to keep it modern

• Add something tough: a leather belt, a cowboy boot and a denim jacket breaks up the sweetness.
• Keep the rest simple: one print at a time, and plain accessories.
• Show some skin: a shorter sleeve, a lower neckline and a midi length keeps it from looking historical.
• Change the shoe: loafers, clean trainers and slim sandals all bring it into the present.

Prairie dresses to buy

Dôen has some of the best prairie dresses around, often in its own small florals. Try the Daphne Dress in Blanc Prairie Rose, the Illiana Dress in Blanc Prairie Rose and the Liliane Dress in Sunshine Prairie Rose. For plain white, the Hortense Dress in Salt and the Eliette Dress in Salt are simpler. In plaid, the Valenne Dress in Dorset Plaid, in midweight organic cotton voile with a tiered ankle-grazing skirt, suits cooler days.

Our edit of tiered maxi dresses has more long, full-skirted styles from other labels.

By season

Summer: bare legs, flat sandals and a straw bag. Autumn: knee boots and a cropped cardigan from the Dôen knitwear range. Winter: a plaid and dark print with tights, boots and a long coat.

Long printed dresses

Every piece below is in stock at Coveti now, authenticated and shipped worldwide. See the full Dôen collection for every colourway.

• Dôen Hesperia Dress in Hanbury Garden, 1060 US dollars. The Hesperia Dress is a fitted dress in silk crinkle chiffon, cut with a cowl neckline and flutter sleeves.
• Dôen Ischia Dress in Noir Dot, 650 US dollars. Dôen makes the Ischia Dress in organic cotton voile: an easy dress with a scoop neckline and double-puffed sleeves.
• Dôen Rowan Dress in Noir Dot, 730 US dollars. The Rowan Dress is a bias-cut dress in organic cotton voile, cut with a square neckline and puffed sleeves.
• Dôen Rhodia Dress in Narcissus Bloom, 500 US dollars. Dôen makes the Rhodia Dress in organic cotton voile: an A-line dress with a high neck and short sleeves.
• Dôen Adelana Dress in Camellia Bloom, 910 US dollars. Silk satin gives the Adelana Dress its ease.
• Dôen Valerine Dress in Emerald Hollyhock Hills, 780 US dollars. The Valerine Dress is a bias-cut dress in twill, cut with a sweetheart neckline and puffed sleeves.
• Dôen Sorina Dress in Petit Posy Calico, 690 US dollars. The Sorina Dress is a soft dress in organic cotton voile, cut with a V-neckline.
• Dôen Meadowlark Dress in Dandelion Grove, 590 US dollars. Organic cotton voile gives the Meadowlark Dress its ease.
• Dôen Benoit Dress in Petit Jardin de Villandry, 620 US dollars. Cut in ramie, the Benoit Dress is an A-line dress with a sweetheart neckline and slim straps.
• Dôen Rhoda Dress in Alba Paisley, 540 US dollars. Organic cotton voile gives the Rhoda Dress its ease.

Frequently asked questions

What is a prairie dress?

A long dress with a high neck, long and puffed sleeves and a full skirt, often in a small floral print, inspired by nineteenth-century American settler clothing.

Is the prairie dress the same as cottagecore?

The prairie dress is a specific cut. Cottagecore is a wider romantic style that often includes it.

What boots go with a prairie dress?

Cowboy boots and slim knee boots both work, and they make the dress feel more modern.

Can you wear a prairie dress to a wedding?

Yes, especially a garden and country wedding. Choose a print rather than white, and add a heeled sandal.