SIMKHAI Dresses: A Buying Guide to Every Length, Colour and Occasion

SIMKHAI is a dress house first. The label sells knitwear, tailoring, denim and swim, but most people who search for it are looking for a dress, and the dress is where the studio spends its effort. This guide sorts the current SIMKHAI dresses at Luxury Handbags by length, cloth and occasion, explains how the sizing works, and points you to the pieces worth buying first.

Where to start

Buy a SIMKHAI bustier dress for an evening you care about, a cotton poplin dress for the summer you will actually live in, and a knit midi for everything in between. The house cuts to US sizing from 00 to 14, which Luxury Handbags lists as UK 4 to 18, and the label generally runs true to size. Bustier styles are cut close through the bodice, so check the bust measurement before the waist.

What makes a SIMKHAI dress recognisable

Jonathan Simkhai founded the label in 2010 in New York and moved the studio to Los Angeles in 2018. The dresses carry three habits across every season, and once you know them you can spot the house from across a room.

• The engineered bodice. Corsetry and bustier shaping are built into the pattern rather than added as boning you can see through the cloth. It is why a SIMKHAI strapless dress stays where it is put.
• Fabric used at full width. Lace, jacquard, raffia and organza are treated as the garment itself, not as trim. A floral raffia bustier reads as a single sculpted piece.
• Daywear with real construction. The cotton dresses carry pintucking, volume and seaming that most contemporary labels would simplify away. That is the quiet strength of the line.

SIMKHAI dresses by length

Mini dresses

The mini is where the house has most fun. The Lina Lace Mini Dress in White sets a fitted guipure lace bodice over a flared, double layered skirt, and the Miri Embroidered Cotton Bustier Mini Dress in Ivory does the same with a held bustier, which keeps a short length looking considered. For something with more movement, the Kalla Fringe Jacquard Mini Dress trades structure for swing. The Signature Cleo Dress is the easy cotton version from the house’s core Signature line.

Midi dresses

The midi is the length to start with if you want a SIMKHAI dress that works on more than one occasion. The Signature Jazz Dress is a cotton poplin with pintucking, and it moves from a garden lunch to a summer dinner without changing shoes. For evening, the Sera Floral Raffia Bustier Midi Dress is the most SIMKHAI piece in the edit: raffia flowers worked across a fitted bodice and a long, narrow skirt. The Dinah Strapless Midi Dress does the same job in a plainer register.

Maxi dresses

Maxi lengths are fewer in the current range. The Signature Alex Dress is the cotton maxi for heat and travel, and it packs flat for travel.

Gowns

The gown is the reason the label is on red carpets. Satin pieces such as the Ora Satin Gown in Black, with its asymmetric sleeve and cape-like fall, and the bias cut Reannon Draped Satin Gown sit at the simpler end; embellished columns such as the Zirelle Embellished Gown, hand worked with beads and paillettes, sit at the other. We have written a separate guide to SIMKHAI gowns with notes on each silhouette.

SIMKHAI dresses by colour

Shoppers search the house by colour almost as often as by style, so here is how the palette breaks down this season.

White is the house’s strongest colour story by some distance, which is why we gave it its own page: SIMKHAI white dresses for brides and summer.

SIMKHAI dresses by occasion

• Wedding guest. A midi in colour, a print, a knit. Avoid white and ivory unless the couple has asked for it. A knit midi is the safest choice for a long day.
• Black tie. A gown, and the simpler the cut the better it photographs. A clean satin line with one strong earring is all it needs.
• Bride. Rehearsal dinner, civil ceremony, the party after. The embroidered cotton and organza pieces are the place to look.
• Summer and resort. Cotton poplin, linen and raffia. These are the dresses that earn their price by being worn every week of a holiday.
• The working week. A blazer dress such as the Leah Blazer Mini Dress is tailoring in a single piece.

How SIMKHAI dresses fit

SIMKHAI cuts to US sizing. Luxury Handbags lists every dress on the UK ladder, so a US 00 is a UK 4, a US 2 is a UK 8, a US 6 is a UK 12 and a US 12 is a UK 18. Letter sizes run XS to XL. The house rarely publishes a fit warning, and when it does it appears on the product page, which is why we copy any brand sizing note straight into the size and fit section of each dress.

Three practical notes from handling the pieces:

• Bustier and corseted bodices are fitted through the bust and the ribs. If your bust and waist sit in different sizes, size to the bust.
• Knit dresses have give, so take your usual size and let the rib do the shaping.
• Cotton poplin has no stretch at all. The volume sits in the skirt, but the bodice and the armhole are exact.

Is a SIMKHAI dress worth it?

The house sits in advanced contemporary: above the mass contemporary labels and below the European luxury houses. The money goes into construction rather than a logo. A SIMKHAI gown tends to look more expensive than its ticket because the bodice is doing real work, and the cotton dresses outlast their season because poplin of this weight softens with washing and keeps its shape. If you are weighing the label against its peers, our comparison of brands like Simkhai sets it beside Khaite, Self-Portrait and Markarian.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I buy SIMKHAI dresses?

SIMKHAI sells through its own site and selected retailers. Luxury Handbags carries the current collection, including dresses, gowns, shoes and bags, with worldwide express shipping through DHL Express and FedEx International Priority.

Does SIMKHAI run small?

No. SIMKHAI generally fits true to US size. Bustier bodices are cut close, so size to your bust if you sit between two sizes. Where the brand publishes a specific note for a style, Luxury Handbags shows it on that product page.

What is the difference between SIMKHAI and Jonathan Simkhai?

They are the same label. The house traded as Jonathan Simkhai for most of its history and now signs its collections as SIMKHAI. Search results and older stockists use both names.

Which SIMKHAI dress should I buy first?

The cotton poplin Signature dresses, the Jazz, the Cleo and the Alex, are the core of the line and are restocked season after season. The bustier gowns are the pieces the house is photographed in. If you want one dress that shows what SIMKHAI does, buy a bustier.

Are SIMKHAI dresses good for weddings?

Yes, for guests and for brides. Guests should look at the knit midis and the colourful satin gowns; brides should look at the embroidered cotton, organza and raffia pieces in white and ivory.

Browse every piece in the SIMKHAI collection at Luxury Shoes , read who Jonathan Simkhai is, and see our notes on how to style a Simkhai dress. To finish the look, our guides to SIMKHAI bags and SIMKHAI shoes cover the accessories designed to sit beside these dresses.