About Apricot

Apricot is a British womenswear label selling through its own site and through department stores and larger fashion retailers. It sits in the accessible middle of the market: more design-led than a supermarket range, considerably cheaper than a designer one.

Prints and pattern are the signature. Where much of the high street works in plain neutrals, Apricot's identity is in florals, geometrics and colour.

What they make

Dresses above everything, from day dresses through occasion and wedding-guest styles, alongside tops, knitwear, jumpsuits, skirts, coats and accessories.

The dress ranges follow the calendar closely, which is why the autumn collection looks like a different brand from the summer one.

Buying a dress you cannot try on

Read the model's height and the size she is wearing. A midi on a woman of five foot ten is a very different garment on someone of five foot two, and that one line tells you more than the photograph.

Check the fabric and the lining separately. An unlined printed dress in a light woven fabric will need something underneath; a lined one is a self-contained garment. The product page states both.

Measure a dress you already own and like, flat across the chest and from shoulder to hem, and compare those two numbers with the size guide. It is far more reliable than picking your usual size.

Making it last

Printed viscose and polyester crease and hold odour more than cotton, so hang garments to air between wears rather than washing after each one.

Wash prints inside out on a cool cycle and dry away from direct sun, which is what fades a strong print first. Anything with a sequin or bead trim should be hand washed or dry cleaned regardless of what the fabric alone would allow.

Using an Apricot discount code

Order two sizes of the same dress if you are between them and return one, since fit is the whole risk in this category. Enter the code at checkout and check the returns window before you buy, particularly on an occasion piece bought well ahead of the date.