Ksenia Schnaider Denim Maxi Dress with Ruffles

White denim is the version of denim that shows everything, which is why so little of it is made. There is no indigo to fade and hide behind, so every seam, every ruffle, and every distressed edge sits in plain sight against a flat pale ground. That is a hard cloth to design on and a very good one to build a long dress from, because a maxi in denim needs its details to read at a distance or it reads as a canvas sack. Here the ruffles sit across the chest, which is where the eye goes first and where a sleeveless dress needs to be doing something. The rest is deliberately quiet: relaxed through the body, long, and finished at the hem by being left unfinished.

Why we selected it

A denim dress is usually either a shirt dress or a pinafore. This is neither, and the ruffles keep it from being severe without turning it into something you can only wear once.

Denim in a shape that denim is not usually cut into is the argument this house makes over and over, and a sleeveless maxi is one of the furthest it takes it.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent cotton, made in Ukraine. Sleeveless, relaxed through the body, with ruffles at the chest and a distressed hem. Color: White.

Fit notes

Relaxed rather than fitted, so it skims the body and does not need one underneath it to work. Denim has no give in it, so choose for the shoulder and the chest, which are the only two places this dress is close to the body. A distressed hem will fray a little further with washing and then stop.

Styling

With the Platform Bag, which is the hardest object we could put against it. With the Denim Jacket with Denim Fur Collar over the top for the all-denim version. Flat shoes rather than a heel, because the length is already doing the work.

Care

This is a washed denim and not a raw one, so there is no argument for leaving it unwashed. Wash it inside out, cool, with as few other things as possible, and dry it out of direct sun, which is what yellows a white cotton over time. Do not bleach it. Our care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Denim Maxi Skirt with Ruffles is white cotton denim with a ruffled center cutout, and the Strapless Denim Overall is a mid wash with zips front and back. Everything we carry from Ksenia Schnaider is listed together.