About Dress types

Depending on design dresses are classified. Different basic dress shapes are:

Shirtwaist, a dress with a bodice (waist) like a tailored shirt and an attached straight or full skirt

Sheath, a fitted, often sleeveless dress, often without a waistseam (1960s)

Shift, a straight dress with no waist shaping or seam (1960s)

Jumper dress (American English) or Pinafore dress (British English) is a sleeveless dress intended to be worn over a layering top or blouse. Jumper dresses exist for both summer and winter wear.

Sundress is an informal sleeveless dress of any shape in a lightweight fabric, for summer wear.

Tent, a dress flared from above the bust, sometimes with a yoke (1960s, renewed popularity after 2005)

Maxi dress, a long, formfitting, floor or ankle length dress.

Surplice dress – has a neckline which is formed by two pieces of fabric wrapping around each other creating a V-neck.

Wrap dress, a dress with a front closure formed by wrapping one side across the other and knotting the attached ties on the side, or fastening buttons. This forms a V-shaped neckline and hugs a woman's curves. A faux wrap dress resembles this design, except that it comes already fastened together with no opening in front, but instead is slipped on over the head. (1970s; renewed popularity from late 1990s)