The Newest Dress Trend? Wearing 2 Dresses at Once

Given how popular dresses are and have been throughout history, genuinely new trends don't come around too often. Even the shocking ones, from completely sheer maxis to the tiniest micro-minis, aren't so much new but risqué. So when a dress trend comes along that isn't just a recycled fad from a past decade, it's a big deal, and as a fashion editor who looks at clothes all day, I don't take them lightly. 

With that, you can imagine my excitement when the Tory Burch S/S 23 runway displayed a handful of looks that didn't just include one inventive dress but two styled together in a completely fresh manner that I couldn't wait to copy. Specifically, the NY-based designer showcased sculpted sleeveless minidresses layered on top of longer, slip-like, and sometimes sheer dresses (and skirts), adding dimension to the ensemble with little to no effort. In other looks, she layered see-through mesh maxis on top of metallic dresses of the same length, allowing the below pieces to shine from below but in a mellow, muted manner, thanks to the translucent fabric on top. Genius. 

Now that the collection is available to shop, many online have gravitated toward the double-dress trend that Burch debuted on the runway, with others on Instagram coming up with even more inventive methods for wearing two dresses at once, adding a voluminous slip dress under a bias-cut one for increased shape or doubling up on clashing-colored dresses to create eye-catching contrasts. Below, see all the ways that fashion's finest are seeing double in the dress department in 2023. 

A Tory Burch masterclass:

It should tell you something that Hollywood style maven Yara Shahidi chose to wear this two-piece combo from Tory Burch's spring ready-to-wear collection to Cannes Film Festival. It has serious star factor. 

Shop the look:

A group of influencers attended a Tory Burch dinner earlier this summer in New York City wearing pieces from the spring collection, and this was an easy favorite on Molly Blutstein. The sculpted top and pretty, delicate bottom layer create the most beautiful combination. 

Shop the look:

I haven't been able to shake this look from my brain for almost a year now. The mirrored, double-layer yellow dress is shockingly good on its own, but it's perfect with the sheer organza maxi on top. 

Shop the look:

Whenever I'm in need of style inspiration, I scroll through @nycxclothes, an Instagram account run by two sisters. It's packed full of chic, elevated outfits like this one, which includes a sculpted LBD on top of an oatmeal-colored linen maxi. It's a quiet-luxury lover's dream. 

Shop the look:

Sequins and metallics can easily lean too far into tacky as opposed to elevated, but this look— featuring a yellow sculpted sequined minidress and a sheer silver maxi—is the furthest thing from gaudy. In fact, at the moment, I can't think of anything chicer and more luxe. 

Shop the look:

More inventive ways to style two dresses at once:

According to Dawn's Instagram caption, this is a top, miniskirt, and midiskirt. But it looks like two dresses, which means it can be re-created in that way. Either way, the ensemble is chic, and that's enough to inspire me. 

Shop the look:

If you're unsure how to style your minidresses and tunics in a way that feels professional or unique, try layering a longer dress underneath. It might feel weird, but I promise the look will grow on you very quickly.

Shop the look:

When Olympia Gayot, J.Crew's new and very popular head of womenswear, posts an outfit on Instagram, you bookmark it for future copying. Period. Though her double-dress look is sold as a single piece—it just dropped at J.Crew and comes in two color combos—it could easily be mimicked with two mismatching slips. 

Shop the look:

Emilia Musacchia, one third of the vintage store Eveliina Vintage, is a genius when it comes to styling. I never would've thought to layer a frilly dress underneath a silky slip, but she did, and that's exactly why I follow her. 

Shop the look: