Get ready to come out of orbit with the 're-entry dress'

It’s time to take off that lockdown tracksuit and put on this summer’s hit dress: black, short, loose and perfect for Zoom calls and picnic rugs alike

This summer of tentative re-engagement with normality has its first dress code. The tracksuits that were the uniform of lockdown have been replaced by the “re-entry dress”: a short, voluminous black dress that is Zoom-friendly yet picnic-appropriate, with a nod to Marianne in Normal People and puff sleeves for built-in social distancing. This new take on the classic little black dress is emerging as the sequel to Zara’s monochrome polka-dot dress, the surprise hit of last summer.

“One is never overdressed or underdressed in a little black dress,” said the late Karl Lagerfeld. The go-anywhere properties of the LBD are being rediscovered as women dress to cover all bases in the current social twilight zone. With most office-based employees still working from home but government messaging – and the eat out to help out scheme – encouraging us to return to pubs and restaurants, the dress is proving popular across the booming wardrobe categories of WFH, Zoom-dressing, al-fresco socialising and staycationing.