A Letter From Beatrice · Founder of Beatrice & Rose
London · June 2026 · 5 min read
I Have Dressed Women for 20 Years. The Cassandra Is the One Dress That Looks Like You Planned an Outfit, When You Did Nothing of the Sort.
On the six things I insisted on for our Cassandra midi dress, how it compares to the day dresses you have been buying, and why it is in our anniversary sale.
I am Beatrice, and I started Beatrice & Rose twenty years ago, in a small shop in London. The Cassandra is the dress you pull over your head in four seconds, then spend the whole day being told you look lovely.
The soft two-tone print reads as though you thoughtfully put two pieces together, a plain top and a printed skirt that simply happen to belong. You did not put anything together. It is one easy, breathable midi that does all the looking-like-you-tried, while you do none of it. I have watched a woman wear it to a lunch and be told three separate times that she looked lovely, when all she had done that morning was pull one thing over her head. Of everything in our summer collection, it is the dress I most wanted to write to you about.
For years I watched women our age stand in front of a full wardrobe with nothing to wear, because nothing in it felt both easy and put together at the same time. The comfortable things made you look like you had given up. The smart things asked for a belt, a scarf, a second piece, and twenty minutes in front of the mirror you did not have to spare. I never accepted that those were the only two choices a woman was allowed. The Cassandra is my answer to it, and I argued for six things when I made it — usually with a supplier who wanted me to do the cheaper, plainer thing instead.
The soft two-tone print reads like two pieces thoughtfully put together. It is one dress. No layering, no accessorising, no deciding. You put it on and you are done.
Real pockets, deep enough for your phone, your glasses and your keys. On the days I wear the Cassandra the handbag stays on the hook by the door.
Over your head, and you are dressed. No zips to fight, no layering, no standing in front of the mirror deciding. The easiest dress in your wardrobe, and the one you look most put together in.
Made to move with you and let the air through, loose where you want it loose, instead of grabbing the part of you that you would rather it left alone.
Long enough to feel covered and elegant, never heavy or hot. The length that lets you wear it to lunch and to the shops and feel right in both.
Black, blue and green, each chosen to go with the shoes and cardigans already in your wardrobe, so the Cassandra earns its place from the first day.
The Cassandra, against the day dresses you have been buying
You can find a day dress for sixty pounds almost anywhere. I know, because before I made the Cassandra I bought a great many of them, trying to find the one that looked put together without the fuss. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
- Needs layering and accessorising to look finished
- Clings the moment you sit down
- Fake pockets, or none at all
- A zip to fight every morning
- Comfortable or smart, never both
- Looks like a whole outfit, on its own
- Skims, and lets the air move underneath
- Deep real pockets, leave the handbag home
- Pulls over your head in four seconds
- Comfortable and put together, at once
I refuse to make a dress that asks a woman to choose between comfortable and put together. That is the whole reason the Cassandra exists.
Why the Cassandra is in our anniversary sale
We are marking our anniversary, so the whole summer collection is reduced, the Cassandra with it. It is now £39.95, from £99.88, and when you take more than one the discount stacks further, up to 30 percent on top.
I will be plain about it. At this price we are barely covering our costs on it. I am telling you because it is true, and because once the anniversary sale ends, this price goes with it. There is no plan to bring it back.
If twenty years of running this little boutique has taught me anything, it is that a woman who tries the Cassandra once usually comes back. That is the quiet bet I am placing in writing you this letter at £39.95.
Wrapped by hand, the way every order has left us.
It is the day dress I am proudest of in twenty years. I would rather it go to women who will wear it than sit folded in a box.
The reviews say the same things I have, over and over. 4.7 stars across more than 3,800 women. If you have ever wanted one easy dress that looks like a whole outfit and feels like nothing, this is the one I would put in your hands myself, while the colours are still in stock.
— Beatrice
- One dress that looks like a coordinated outfit
- Deep side pockets, pulls on in four seconds
- Free UK delivery & 30-day money-back guarantee
Stack & save: buy 2 save 15%, buy more save up to 30% extra.
See if your size is still in stockThis is a personal letter from the founder of Beatrice & Rose. Prices and availability are accurate while stock lasts.
See the Cassandra, £39.95 while sizes last