Buying Guide, Style Guides

The Totême slouch waist dress: how it is made and every version

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Buying Guide, Style Guides

The Totême slouch waist dress: how it is made and every version

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The slouch waist dress is a Totême signature: a long dress built from curved panels that, once sewn together, fold softly at the waist with no seam, dart and belt doing the work. Shop the Totême collection at Coveti, browse every label in designer dresses and read the dresses guide next. The house has made it in a crinkled viscose blend, a lightly slubbed summer fabric, a fine wool basketweave for winter, fluid matte cady with long sleeves and a new scarf version with an integrated scarf at the nape. 19 slouch waist dresses on Coveti, $850 to $1,646, median $1,170. This page is how the dress works, each version, how it fits and how to wear it.

Key facts

  • 19 slouch waist dresses on Coveti, $850 to $1,646, median $1,170
  • Construction: curved panels sewn together so the fabric folds at the waist; concealed back zip
  • Fabrics: crinkled viscose and polyamide (cream), slubbed viscose blend (off-white), 100% RWS wool basketweave (black), 100% viscose cady (long-sleeve and scarf versions)
  • Length: ankle-grazing on the crinkled and long-sleeve versions; full length on the scarf dress
  • Fit: the crinkled, slubbed and wool versions are slim fit; the cady versions are cut to a clean, true line
  • The same slouch line runs through the house slouch blouses and the slouch jersey shirtdress

How the slouch waist works

Most dresses get their waist from darts, a seam and a belt. This one gets it from geometry. Two curved panels are cut so that when they meet, the extra fabric falls into a soft fold across the waist, which reads as a gentle drape on the body and gives room to move. It closes with a concealed zip at the back, so the front stays clean.

The summer versions

The slouch waist crinkled dress is a viscose and polyamide crinkle in cream, with cap sleeves and an ankle-grazing hem; the brand pictures it at a garden party with heels and flats alike. The slouch waist dress in off-white uses a lightly slubbed fabric, the kind of irregular weave that looks made for a summer holiday.

The winter wool dress

The slouch waist wool dress is the same two-panel construction in a fine wool basketweave, 100% RWS wool, so the folds hold their shape a little more. The brand suggests delicate jewellery with it for an occasion; under a long coat it covers the office too.

The long-sleeve and scarf dresses

Both are in fluid matte viscose cady, a crepe with a dry, soft hand that drapes through the waist. The long-sleeve slouch waist dress is a Garderob piece, the house says recast as an easy evening dress, with slim sleeves and an ankle-grazing hem. The slouch waist scarf dress is full length with voluminous sleeves and a scarf at the nape you tie, then leave loose.

How to wear it

Keep everything else plain, since the fold is the point. Flats and a belted tote by day; a slim heel and a single gold hoop at night; a long wool coat over the black wool version in winter. Skip a belt, which flattens the fold.

Sizing

The crinkled, slubbed and wool dresses are slim fit, so take your usual size, and size up if you are between sizes. The cady dresses are cut to a clean, true line. Coveti lists UK 4 to 18; EU 36 is UK 8. See the size guide.

The pieces on Coveti now

1. Slouch blouse in Dark green, $840

Made from 100% viscose, shown in dark green.

2. Slouch waist poplin shirt in White, $850

Made from 100% organic OCS cotton, shown in white.

3. Slouch-neck blouse in Black, $850

Made from 100% viscose, shown in black.

4. Slouch-neck blouse in Ecru, $850

Made from 100% viscose, shown in ecru.

5. Reverse-collar slouch top in Black, $980

Made from 100% silk, shown in black.

6. Reverse-collar slouch top in Cream, $980

Made from 100% silk, shown in cream.

7. Slouch jersey shirtdress in Black, $980

Made from 96% viscose, 4% elastane, shown in black.

8. Slouch jersey shirtdress pale grey mélange in Pale grey melange, $980

Made from 96% viscose, 4% elastane, shown in pale grey melange.

9. Slouch waist crinkled dress in Cream, $1,090

Made from 92% viscose, 8% polyamide, shown in cream.

10. Slouch waist dress in Off-white, $1,120

Made from 92% viscose, 8% polyamide, shown in off-white.

11. Slouch waist dress in Sky, $1,120

Made from 92% viscose, 8% polyamide, shown in sky.

12. Reverse-collar slouch dress in Black, $1,170

Made from 100% silk, shown in black.

“I love working with shades, exploring how a saturated black creates an impact together with a washed cotton, or putting a crisp fresh white next to something ivory,” Elin Kling told The Telegraph’s Lisa Armstrong in February 2025.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Totême slouch waist dress?

A long dress made from curved panels that fold softly at the waist when sewn together, closed with a concealed back zip. It is a house signature made in several fabrics each season.

How much is the Totême slouch waist dress?

$850 to $1,646 on Coveti.

Does the Totême slouch waist dress run small?

The crinkled, slubbed and wool versions are slim fit; take your usual size and go up one if you are between sizes. The cady versions are true to size.

Should I wear a belt with it?

No. The fold at the waist is the design, and a belt flattens it. Let it fall as cut.

Is there a winter Totême slouch waist dress?

Yes, the slouch waist wool dress in a 100% RWS wool basketweave, and the long-sleeve version in viscose cady.

How do I care for it?

Dry clean. The off-white slubbed version also takes a cool hand wash, per the brand.

Read next

Totême dresses Totême in black White and ivory How to style Totême

More Totême guides

Every Totême guide on Coveti: Is it a luxury brand?, How to style, Brands like Totême, The edit, Who is Totême?, History timeline, Size guide, Shoe size guide, Price guide, Where to buy, Sale, Review, Real vs fake, Materials and care, Glossary, Who wears it, vs The Row, vs Khaite, Capsule wardrobe, The Signatures, Fall winter 2026, Spring summer 2026, Coats, Scarf jackets and coats, Jackets and blazers, Shearling, Knitwear, Dresses, Trousers, Jeans and denim, Skirts, Tops and shirts, Swim and beachwear, Leather, Bag guide, T-Lock bags, Belted tote, Shoe guide, Boots, Flip flops, Sneakers, Jewellery guide, Sunglasses, Scarves, Black, Camel, beige and brown, White and ivory, Belts, Hats and gloves, Wallets and cardholders, Accessories guide, Gift guide, Trench coat, Country and quilted jackets, Twisted seam jeans, Cardigans, Parachute pieces, Pyjamas and silk sets, How to pronounce it, Pre-Spring 2027 edit, Puffer jacket, Car coat and peacoat, Clutch bags, Heels, mules and loafers, Cherry red.

Sources and method

Checked on 7 November 2026 by Coveti Editorial, the Coveti fashion desk. Product facts, the compositions, care lines, dimensions, heel heights and country of manufacture, are the brand’s own product-page text; counts, prices and price ranges are Coveti’s live catalogue on that date and move with stock; the founders’ biography and the house history come from the brand’s own pages and the press articles listed below, each read on the date above; the size scales are the brand’s own. Where a claim could not be checked against one of these it was left out, and where the fitting room is giving its own advice the page says so.

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About Coveti Editorial

Coveti Editorial is the in-house fashion desk at Coveti, the London-based luxury fashion marketplace. The team writes our designer guides, brand profiles and buying advice from the collections our contracted boutiques carry: more than 500 boutiques across eight cities. Every guide is checked against the designer's own information before it is published.

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