I found a River Island dress near identical to sell-out M&S outfit

14 March 2024 , 20:00

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The £40 River Island dress is going to be a serious hit with shoppers if last year's M&S dress is anything to go by (Image: Bethan Shufflebotham)

If you missed out on the viral Marks and Spencer dress of summer 2023, fear not, because that looks insanely similar. And it’s only £40.

On occasion, a high street retailer will launch an item of clothing and it’s an immediate and universal hit with shoppers. Last year, for the summer months - and it sold out almost immediately.

Much to the disappointment of shoppers, it was like golddust to get your mitts on, and I only managed to do so by refreshing the page every 45 minutes for a week until one was returned in my size. I’ve never hit ‘add to basket’ so fast in my life - it felt like being finally let into Ticketmaster to bag front row seats for your favourite band.

Sadly, the dress never received a full restock, with some people selling the item for more than twice the price on preloved selling sites like Vinted. But now, those who lucked out last year will finally be able to snap up a strikingly similar dress in the form of this .

The River Island dress is £40 and is perfect for summer (Bethan Shufflebotham)

The making it comfortable and breathable for the warmer weather. The striped design is bang on trend with the design already proving to be huge this year, falling at a midi length with a split hem to show off a little bit of leg.

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I and loved the flattering fit of the dress, which gave shape without being clingy, and really gave off those ready for summer vibes. Having worn and loved the M&S version, too, the main difference with the giving a bit of an open back design, while M&S’s is fully closed.

Here's how I styled the M&S viral dress last summer (Bethan Shufflebotham)

In terms of styling, I’ve previously worn this style of dress with black Adidas trainers and a stone coloured blazer and crossbody bag, but you could keep it really simple with some gladiator sandals and sunglasses at the height of the hot weather.

The but due to the nature of the fabric, there is a bit of stretch to it, so if you’re in between sizes, you can likely get away with sizing down rather than up. And if you don’t fancy the striped design but love the cut of the dress, it also comes in

Crochet dresses are going to be something we see a lot more of this summer, with styles already being spotted on the high street , with .

But if you ask me, it’s that is most likely to see the same sell-out success as M&S, with this set to be everywhere as the weather warms up. You can

Bethan Shufflebotham