Women's natural fiber dresses

Polyester is cheap, takes bright print well, resists wrinkling, and drapes in a way that mimics silk on a rack. That combination is why it dominates the dress category, and why a dress that looks and feels expensive is often almost entirely plastic.

Linen and silk both move heat away from the body better than any synthetic. Linen is the more breathable of the two and gets softer with washing; silk is cooler against skin and drapes closer. Organic cotton voile and poplin sit between them.

Toxome reads each garment's fiber composition and scores it on what that fiber does to your body, not on a brand's sustainability marketing. A higher score means a cleaner fiber. Composition is taken from what the brand publishes, so the score reflects the label, not our opinion of it.