A Letter From Beatrice · Founder of Beatrice & Rose
London · June 2026 · 5 min read
I Have Dressed Women for 20 Years. The Kwani Is the Easy Cotton Dress I Always Wanted for Myself, and Could Never Find.
On the six things I insisted on when I made our cotton Kwani 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 Kwani is the easy cotton dress I always wanted for myself and could never find — the one I reach for on the days I want to be comfortable and still look like myself.
For years the easy summer dresses came in two kinds. Lovely, but clinging to every line the moment you sat down. Or comfortable, but cut like a sack and ageing you ten years. I never accepted that a woman our age had to choose between the two. The Kwani is my answer, and I argued for six things when I made it — usually with a supplier who wanted me to use the cheaper, thinner cloth instead.
Proper, breathable cotton — not a blend, and not the slippery polyester they pass off as natural. It lets the air through, so the dress stays cool even when the day does not.
Real ones, set into the side seam, deep enough for your phone, your glasses and your keys. On the days I wear the Kwani the handbag stays on the hook by the door.
Loose where you want it loose, so the air moves underneath, instead of grabbing the part of you that you would rather it left alone.
The part most women our age want covered, covered — and without adding a single degree of warmth for it.
Long enough to feel covered and easy, never so long that it drowns you. Right for the shops, right for lunch, right for the garden.
Beige, black, a soft green and a warm rust, each chosen to sit with the shoes and cardigans already in your wardrobe, so the Kwani earns its place from the first day.
The Kwani, 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 Kwani I bought a great many of them, trying to find the one that was easy and put together at once. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
- A blend or polyester sold to you as cotton
- Clings the moment you sit down
- Fake pockets, or none at all
- Bare arms, or sleeves that add warmth
- Looks tired after a single wash
- Real cotton that genuinely breathes
- Skims, and lets the air move underneath
- Deep real pockets, leave the handbag home
- Covers the tops of your arms, no extra heat
- Softens and holds its shape wash after wash
I refuse to make a dress that asks a woman to choose between comfortable and put together. That is the whole reason the Kwani exists.
Why the Kwani is in our anniversary sale
We are marking our anniversary, so the whole summer collection is reduced, the Kwani with it. It is now £39.95, from £99.88, and when you take more than one colour 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 Kwani once usually comes back for another colour. 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 easy 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 cotton dress that looks put together and feels like nothing, this is the one I would put in your hands myself, while the colours are still in stock.
— Beatrice
- Real breathable cotton, an easy A-line that skims
- Deep side pockets, soft sleeves, pulls on in 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 Kwani, £39.95 while sizes last