Style library · Floral chiffon
Floral Chiffon Smocked Maxi Dress with Puff Sleeves
Available for wholesale, private label and custom development. A lightweight floral chiffon maxi dress with a square neckline, smocked bodice, short puff sleeves and a wide tiered ruffle hem.
Style library · Floral chiffon maxi
Construction at a glance
A warm-weather maxi cut in printed chiffon, gathered at the bodice and tiered through the skirt — developed as a repeatable production style rather than a one-off.
- Square neckline with a clean bound finish
- Smocked elastic bodice — no zip, natural stretch
- Short puff sleeves gathered into a ruffle cuff
- Wide tiered ruffle hem in a flowing A-line fall
- Lightweight semi-sheer chiffon with a digital floral print
Wholesale & development
Construction
How it is made
What each element of this dress involves in production, and which decisions have to be settled before the fabric is booked.
Square neckline
Cut square across the chest with a clean bound finish, so the neckline reads as a straight line rather than a curve. The bodice is faced rather than lined to keep the edge crisp.
Smocked bodice
Elastic gathering is worked in rows across the bodice, which is what gives the dress its stretch and lets it hold a waist without a zip. Row spacing and tension are set before production so the smocking reads evenly across a bulk run.
Short puff sleeves
Sleeves are gathered into a ruffle cuff at the elbow, giving volume above the arm rather than at the shoulder. The gather is balanced so the sleeve sits the same way on both sides.
Wide tiered ruffle hem
The skirt is cut in tiers, each gathered into the one above. Tier depth and gather ratio decide how the skirt falls, so they are fixed at pattern stage rather than adjusted at the machine.
Lightweight chiffon
A semi-sheer chiffon with soft drape and a digital floral print. Lining and print scale are agreed before the fabric is booked, because both change how the print reads on the body.
Print alignment and colour matching
Print placement is set per panel so the motif runs consistently down the garment. Colour is matched against your target shade and approved on a physical swatch before bulk.
Specification
Standard specification for this style. A fabric composition sheet and the graded measurement chart are available on request.
| Fabric | Lightweight chiffon, semi-sheer, soft drape |
|---|---|
| Digital floral print (scale agreed before booking) | |
| Bodice | Smocked elastic gathering, faced neckline |
| Neckline | Square |
| Sleeve | Short puff sleeve with ruffle cuff |
| Hem | Tiered, gathered ruffles — maxi length |
| Lining | Lined through the body (composition sheet on request) |
| Silhouette | A-line, flowing tiered skirt, maxi length |
| Sizes | UK XXS (2) – 6XL (22); the published chart covers S–XXL, outer sizes graded on request |
| Colourways | Five shown here; custom dyeing on production runs |
Size chart
The measurements this style is cut to. Confirm the chart against your target fit before bulk — a fit that suits one market does not suit every market.
S–XXL on the chart shown. The style runs UK XXS (2) to 6XL (22) — the outer sizes are graded to your target measurements and confirmed before sampling.
Colourways
Five colourways, and custom dyeing beyond them
Studio sample photography of the same construction in five colours. Colour is matched against your target shade and approved on a physical swatch before production.
Custom colour matching
Send a target shade — a Pantone reference, a fabric swatch or a garment you already sell. We pull the nearest match from the fabric library, dye it, and send a physical swatch back for approval before any production fabric is booked. Screen colour is not a reference; the swatch is.
Customise this style
Every element below can be adapted to your brand, starting from a small test order.
| Colour | Matched against your target shade and approved on a physical swatch |
|---|---|
| Your own artwork, or the print shown here at a different scale | |
| Fabric | Substitutions available — fabric library on request |
| Length & sleeve | Hem height, sleeve volume and neckline depth |
| Size grading | Confirmed against the published chart, then extended as needed |
| Private label | Woven labels, hangtags and packaging with your branding |
| Development | New variations from your sketch, tech pack or reference |
Fabric, colour and branding options
Print scale, base cloth, colourway and labelling are decided at development stage, so the cost of a change is known before the order is placed.
Questions
About this style
What is the minimum order for this style?
Our standard minimum is 300 pieces per design (100–200 pieces per colour). The figure that usually binds first is the colour one, because fabric is dyed in a batch — so the effective way to start smaller is to reduce the number of colours rather than the number of pieces.
A sample can be ordered on its own first, and is the lowest-risk way to check the smocking and the print before committing to a run.
Can I change the print or the fabric?
Yes. The print can be replaced with your own artwork or the same artwork at a different scale, and the base cloth can be substituted.
Print scale and base cloth are decided before the fabric is booked, because both change how the garment reads — a larger motif needs a different panel placement, and a stiffer chiffon changes how the tiers fall.
How does the smocked bodice affect sizing?
The smocking gives the bodice stretch, so it holds a range of measurements rather than a single one. That makes the style forgiving, but it also means the graded chart matters more than the base size: the smocking has to gather the same way at the top of the range as at the bottom.
The size range is UK XXS (2) to 6XL (22); the chart above covers S–XXL, and the outer sizes are graded on request. Confirm the chart against your target fit before bulk.
How long does a first order take?
Sampling runs 7–10 days from tech pack approval. Bulk production runs after the sample is approved against your confirmed specification.
The stage that decides a delivery date is usually the fabric rather than the sewing, so a print that has to be developed adds time that production cannot recover.
Start a project
Develop this style for your range
Send your target fabric, colour and size range and we will come back with what is possible, what it costs and how long it takes.