Margaret Howell MHL Collared Wrap Dress

A wrap dress is normally a drape problem. The whole idea depends on cloth crossing the body and falling from the tie, so it is almost always made in something fluid, and the result moves beautifully and holds no shape at all. MHL by Margaret Howell has done the opposite here and made one in a heavyweight cotton. The cloth is too substantial to drape, so instead of falling it folds, and the wrap reads as a constructed overlap rather than as a soft crossing. The waist adjusts, which is necessary rather than decorative in a cloth that will not simply pull tight, and there is a patch pocket at the back, which is a workwear detail placed where a dress would never normally put one. That combination, a formal shape built with the vocabulary of work clothing, is the whole reason MHL exists as a separate line.

Why we selected it

Wrap dresses are usually bought for how they move and then found to have no substance. This one has the opposite problem and no version of the first one.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent heavyweight cotton, made in Portugal. Wrap front with a collar, adjustable waist, patch pocket at the back. Color: Off Black.

Fit notes

The adjustable waist means it fits across a wider range than a wrap dress usually does, and it is worth setting it and leaving it rather than adjusting daily. Lettered sizing. Heavyweight cotton is stiff on the first wearing and softens substantially; the fold of the wrap sets over the first season and then stays where it has learned to sit.

Styling

Over a long-sleeved knit in cold weather, which the cloth weight easily allows. Alone with flat shoes. Off Black is a black that has been pulled slightly grey, so it goes against true black without looking like a failed match.

Care

Wash cool and hang to dry. Heavyweight cotton takes a long time to dry and should not be rushed with heat, which is what sets a permanent crease into the wrap. Our general care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The MHL Apron Dress is cotton cut flat and hung from the shoulders rather than fitted, and the MHL Oversized Collarless Shirt is a cotton and lyocell cloth cut large over a curved hem. In dry cotton gabardine, the MHL Painters Trouser. Everything we carry from Margaret Howell, main line and MHL alike, is listed together.