This $80 Quince Dress Makes Me Feel Like I’m in ‘Succession’—and It's Machine-Washable Silk

• Drape: 18/20
• Comfort: 20/20
• Versatility: 20/20
• Washability: 19/20
• Value: 19/20
  TOTAL 96/100

I’m a person who is a wild snob about natural fibers—and who lives in hot Southern California, where the breathability of cotton, linen and silk are much appreciated. Unfortunately the cost of dry cleaning silk really adds up, so I usually have to skip it. When I saw that Quince, the online retailer that’s committed to high-quality but lower-cost fashion, had come out with a whole line of washable silk dresses, I was intrigued. As a person who has long coveted machine washable silk pajamas for their feel and breathability, but demurred at paying close to $200 for a shorts set or night dress, I was thrilled to see a day dress that looked like a sexy siren nightie had a baby with a ‘90s tank dress. But at $80, how luxe could the Quince Washable Stretch Silk Tank Midi Dress be? I decided to put it to the test by wearing it 24-7.

The silk that Quince sources is made from the cocoons of mulberry silkworms, also known as Bombyx mori, according to Veronica Tan, Senior Director, Apparel & Accessories at Quince. "For easy care, we finish our silk fabric with an extra treatment to be washable," she says. The dying and finishing mill that Quince uses has been rated Oeko-tex standard 100—free of all harmful chemicals, azo compounds and formaldehyde. It is is certified by Bluesign®, a Swiss technology system with strict safety requirements for textiles.

Washing silk fabrics with a gentle detergent is generally recommended to maintain the fabric’s quality and color, and to help preserve its vibrancy for many years. Quince recommends turning its washable silk garments inside out, placing inside a garment bag and washing on a cool, gentle cycle then hanging or laying flat to dry.

I unfolded the dress right out of its low-impact soft pouch mailer from Quince and put it on the next morning, for a 24-hour trial detailed below. After this extended wear, per the brand’s instructions, I turned it inside out and placed it in a garment bag to wash with gentle detergent on my machine’s gentle cycle. After hanging dry, I found it actually had fewer wrinkled than it had right out of the pouch, along with no funny or stiff “hand” (fabric feel) once it had dried. While the fabric (19 mm weight, 90 percent silk with 10 percent spandex for stretch) doesn’t feel flimsy at all, I still would be shy about ironing it, even on the inside of the dress, as Quince recommends. I had good luck with my taking my mini-steamer to it, and watching its nice hanging waves of silk fall perfectly straight. When I tried it on post-wash, it hadn’t shrunk at all.

Dana Dickey is a PureWow Senior Editor, and during more than a decade in digital media, she has scoped out and tested top products and services across the lifestyle space. Suitcases to sex toys, she's got an opinion on what's best. Dana is based in Los Angeles; her work has also appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, Vogue and The New York Times. Check her out on Instagram and LinkedIn.

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