Fashionable petite maxi dresses that flatter and that you’ll actually want to wear this Summer!
Petite maxi dresses blogs are everywhere but I couldn’t find any that featured any dresses I’d actually wear. They were all super basic, frumpy, or had hideous prints. I wanted to make things right for us girls under 5’5″ and find the best styles from cool brands that are fashionable, stylish, flattering and we actually want to wear this Summer! From petite maxi dresses with sleeves, casual to date night, colorful to white, these are the petite summer maxi dresses to wear now.
I also looked for quite a few with volume as they shoot beautifully on vacation, especially when there’s some wind.

19 Best Petite Maxi Dresses to Wear This Summer
I hunted down a mix of petite maxi dresses that you can wear whether you’re wanting to be casual, going on vacation or looking for a long for date night. Some of these are sold as bridesmaid dresses but you know me, the more feminine and elegant the better.
They’ll look just as good for a romantic beach dinner as dressed down with strappy flats for lunch. The petite maxi dresses with sleeves are great transitional season pieces that can be worn both in Fall and Spring or on cooler Summer evenings.

6 Style Tips For Pulling of Petite Maxi Dresses
- Add a belt if it isn’t already belted or doesn’t have a waist line to create a flattering silhouette.
- Go for actual maxi’s not midis that tend to make us petite girls look even shorter. It’s all about creating as much length as possible.
- Add a wedge, wedge espadrille, or strappy nude sandal to add height unless you’re going for a casual style.
- Avoid horizontal stripes as they make everyone look bigger.
- Avoid big prints as they tend to overwhelm petite women.
- If you love a maxi that doesn’t come in a petite size and don’t want to fork out for tailoring, Wonder Web works wonders on lightweight material.

A petite white maxi dress looks so good for beach vacations, poolside or with a tan. Add some gold accessories and a raffia beach tote and you’re ready for summer.

Where can I find petite maxi dresses?
It can be pretty limiting to find fashionable brands that carry petite collections as I find most either really ugly or unflattering. ASOS and Reformation’s maxi dresses are always more fashion forward and their sizings consistent.
Anthropologie and Banana Republic have some of the widest choices of long dresses for all heights. They make it really easy to shop their maxi dresses as you just click on petite, regular or tall when you’re ready to add it to your cart.

The 1Sansome dress I’m wearing above is a total bargain. It’s a midi dress if you’re over 5’5″ but for us petite girls it’s the perfect length for a petite Summer maxi dress.
ASOS also offers free shipping and returns so you can try them on for size, without being stuck with something that doesn’t fit!

For more daily fashion and outfit inspo connect with me
Tag me in your dress pics using #glamourandgains so that I can share them.
