These 20 Summer Cocktail Dresses Are Sublime

What exactly is a summer cocktail dress? Sure, it can be a sparkly mini, a sleek slip, or a backless printed poplin. But in actuality, cocktail dressing is more of a mood than a set aesthetic. All you really need in your summer wardrobe arsenal is a dress that looks good for sipping palomas by the pool or dirty martinis on a rooftop.

Tatiana Hambro Arader, editorial director of Moda Operandi, tells BAZAAR that the warm weather party dress is all about experimentation. "For me, a summer cocktail party is nothing if not a great excuse to push the boundaries on your personal style. Something about heat encourages experimentalism, and there's usually no formal dress code (nor bride!) to appease," she says.

However, this season, Hambro Arader is leaning into glamorous minimalism for upcoming festivities. "I'm in the mood for a fresh glamour—so nothing that feels too heavy or overdone, yet still makes a big impact," she says. "It's sort of the cocktail-ready partner to the understated trend happening right now." Quiet luxury is certainly trending this season, and Hambro Arader captures the mood by encouraging the question, "What would Shiv Roy's cooler cousin wear? Something chic, but definitely less serious than pantsuit."

The key to nailing this vibe, she says, "is choosing pieces with an inherent lightness or ease to them, a sense of feeling unburdened. This can manifest as soft pastels (I'm loving ice blue, powder pink, and pistachio) or silhouettes that have (expertly-acquired) simple lines, like Prada's A-line mini." After a few years of over-the-top maximalism, sticking to tried and true silhouettes, in high-quality fabrics, seems to be the mood this season.

Ahead, shop 20 dresses that will make summer cocktail-ing even more of a party. (And yes, cocktail-ing can be a verb).