The Dress I Wear on Repeat: My Honest Experience with the Yumi Black Gingham Relaxed Shirt Dress

18 juin 2026

Yumi Black Gingham Relaxed Shirt Dress with matching self-tie belt worn by a model showing the midi length and button-through front

I have a complicated relationship with summer dresses. I love the idea of them — the ease, the one-and-done getting dressed, the feeling of being appropriately put-together without having to think too hard about it. In practice, most summer dresses I’ve bought have failed on at least one of three counts: too short, too flimsy, or too obviously a dress that was designed to look good in a product photo rather than on an actual person going about their actual day.

The Yumi Black Gingham Relaxed Shirt Dress has failed on none of those counts. I’ve worn it more times in the past four months than I’ve worn most things I own, and I’m still reaching for it.

What I Was Actually Looking For

I work in marketing, which means my wardrobe needs to cover a range of situations: client meetings that require looking professional, internal days that are more relaxed, and the occasional after-work social where I don’t want to go home and change first. Finding a single dress that works across all three is harder than it sounds.

My requirements had become quite specific after several summers of buying things that didn’t quite work:

Midi length. I’m tall and I find short dresses impractical for a full working day. Midi length is professional enough for meetings and comfortable enough for everything else.
A waist definition option. I like the option to belt a dress without it looking like an afterthought. A dress with a matching belt that’s designed for the garment rather than a generic addition is a different thing entirely.
A print that works with everything. Black and white is the answer to this. It goes with every shoe colour, every bag, every jacket. It doesn’t clash with anything.
Machine washable. Non-negotiable for anything I’m going to wear regularly in summer.
Comfortable enough to wear all day. Not just comfortable for the first hour. Actually comfortable for eight hours of sitting, standing, and moving around.

The Yumi Black Gingham Relaxed Shirt Dress with Matching Belt met every single one of those criteria.

Why This Dress Specifically

Yumi Black Gingham Relaxed Shirt Dress full length view showing midi length button-through front and self-tie belt with statement buckle — *The Yumi Gingham Shirt Dress in full — the midi length, button-through front, and self-tie belt work together to create something that looks considered without being fussy.*

Yumi is a brand I’d bought from before — they make clothes that are designed for women who want to look stylish without sacrificing comfort, which is a more specific brief than it sounds and one that not every brand gets right. The gingham print in black and white was the colourway I’d been looking for specifically: classic enough to be timeless, graphic enough to be interesting, neutral enough to work with everything I already own.

The relaxed cut was the detail that made me confident about ordering. “Relaxed” in fashion can mean anything from “slightly loose” to “completely shapeless”, but the Yumi version is relaxed in the right way — there’s ease through the body that makes it comfortable to move in, but the button-through front and the belted waist give it structure when you want it. Belted, it’s a proper silhouette. Unbelted, it’s a relaxed shirt dress that still looks intentional.

Yumi Black Gingham Shirt Dress close-up of self-tie belt with statement buckle showing the waist definition it creates when belted — *The self-tie belt with statement buckle — it creates a proper waist without being tight, and the buckle adds a detail that elevates the whole look.*

The 50% cotton, 50% polyester blend is the fabric composition that makes this work as a practical dress rather than just a pretty one. The cotton content means it breathes and feels natural against the skin. The polyester content means it holds its shape, resists creasing, and dries quickly after washing. A 100% cotton dress at this length would need ironing after every wash. This one doesn’t.

The 124cm length is the midi length I needed — it hits below the knee on me, which is exactly right for a professional context without being formal.

I found it in the Dresses and Clothing collections, and also in the broader Apparel & Accessories range. It arrived three days after ordering.

First Wear — A Full Working Day

Yumi Black Gingham Relaxed Shirt Dress worn showing the button-through front detail and cuffed short sleeves in a lifestyle setting — *The button-through front and cuffed short sleeves — the details that make this feel like a proper garment rather than a casual summer dress.*

I wore it for the first time on a Thursday — a day with a client meeting in the morning and an internal workshop in the afternoon. I belted it for the meeting, unbelted it for the workshop when I wanted to be more relaxed. Both versions worked. I didn’t think about the dress once during the day, which is the highest possible compliment I can pay a piece of clothing.

By 6pm, after eight hours of wearing it, it looked essentially the same as it had at 8am. No creasing, no pulling, no sense that it had been worn all day. I went for drinks with a colleague afterwards without going home to change. The dress was fine for that too.

Four Months On — The Honest Verdict

Yumi Black Gingham Shirt Dress shown from the back demonstrating the relaxed fit and midi length from a rear view — *From the back — the relaxed fit is evident without being shapeless, and the midi length is consistent all the way around.*

Four months of regular wear. Here’s the honest report:

I’ve worn it at least once a week since buying it. Sometimes twice. It’s the dress I reach for when I want to look put-together without thinking about it, which is most mornings.
It’s been machine washed at least fifteen times. 30° machine wash, hung to dry. The gingham print is as crisp as it was on day one. No fading, no pilling, no distortion of the pattern. The cotton-polyester blend has performed exactly as I hoped.
The belt has held up. The self-tie belt with the statement buckle is still in good condition after four months of regular use. The buckle hasn’t tarnished, the fabric hasn’t frayed at the ends.
It works in more contexts than I expected. Work meetings, yes. But also: a weekend farmers’ market, a birthday lunch, a day trip to the coast, a casual Friday in the office. The gingham print is versatile in a way that a more directional print wouldn’t be.
I’ve been asked about it multiple times. By colleagues, by friends, by a stranger at a coffee shop. That doesn’t happen with every dress.

Yumi Black Gingham Relaxed Shirt Dress styled with white trainers showing casual everyday wear option for the midi dress — *With white trainers for a casual day — the gingham works just as well dressed down as it does for a more formal context.*

The Difference It’s Made

Getting dressed in the morning is easier. That’s the honest summary. Having a dress that I know works, that I know is comfortable, that I know looks right for almost any situation I’m likely to be in — that removes a decision from the morning that I’d rather not be making at 7:30am. The Yumi Gingham has become my default, and having a reliable default is worth more than a wardrobe full of things that require thought.

If you’ve been looking for a summer dress that’s genuinely versatile, genuinely comfortable, and genuinely well-made, the Yumi Black Gingham Relaxed Shirt Dress with Matching Belt is worth trying. Browse the full Dresses collection and the Clothing range for more options.

Wear it belted for meetings. Wear it unbelted for everything else. It works both ways.

Priya Mehta is a marketing manager and reluctant morning person based in Birmingham. She has strong opinions about fabric composition, a wardrobe that is slowly becoming more considered, and a weakness for anything in black and white.