Black is not the obvious beach colour and that is precisely why it works so well. While everyone else is reaching for white linen and coral sundresses, a black dress at the shore has a kind of quiet confidence that stands apart. It also hides everything a day of sunscreen and salt water and impromptu gelato tends to leave behind, which is a genuinely useful quality.

What we were looking for here were black dresses that feel at home with sand underfoot. Light enough to throw over a swimsuit without overheating. Easy enough to rinse through and hang dry in a hotel bathroom. Stylish enough to walk straight from the beach into somewhere worth eating. That combination is harder to find than it sounds.

We looked at fabrics seriously. Crinkle cotton that looks better slightly dishevelled. Cheesecloth that breathes properly in real heat. Jersey that packs to nothing and recovers instantly. Silhouettes that move rather than cling. These are the black dresses that prove the shore does not require pastels. Black at the beach is not a compromise. It is a choice.