Denim has no business being this versatile and yet here we are. A denim maxi dress sits in a genuinely interesting place in a wardrobe: it has the ease of something you can throw on without thinking, the practicality of a fabric that travels well and doesn’t require precious handling, and a length that works from early spring right through to the last warm days of autumn. It also looks considerably more considered than the effort involved in wearing it.

What we like about this category is how well it bridges occasions. Wear it with trainers and it reads as completely casual. Add sandals and it shifts. Throw on a leather jacket and it moves somewhere else entirely. The same dress doing genuinely different things depending on what surrounds it.

We’ve been pulling together the best versions across washes, from classic mid blue to softer chambray to darker indigo. We’ve looked at fit too, because the silhouette matters as much as the fabric. Relaxed but not shapeless. Structured but not stiff. These are the denim maxi dresses that actually justify the category name.