maximum appeal

I keep reading here and there about this trend for maxi dresses, a term which invokes for me some vaguely boho, wispy look, with tiered skirts, some kind of empire waist, and a hippie-ish print. It seems likes big trend in the UK, given by what I keep reading in their papers, and so on. I didn't pay any attention, because mainly, I don't like long dresses or skirts. Then I was looking through the resort shows, and then I realised, hey, long isn't bad, if it looks like this -



It's a summer look alright, if you live in the 1930s/1920s (I'm pretty sure I'm getting the period wrong). I love pretty, nostalgic-looking prints like these - the more delicate, the better. I refer to dresses like these as 'garden party dresses', and for me, they are just the thing to wear when you're having a tea party, preferably with bare feet and loose hair. It's the sort of thing I think Jovovich-Hawk does very well, so I was actually disappointed by the capsule collection they did for Mango - where did they go? Whither the weird shifts?
The first two looks above, from the Carolina Herrera show, are in the perfect setting for that sort of flight of fancy. The dullish colours of the third look, from Stella McCartney is probably more my thing though.
Unfortunately, this is just the sort of highly-impractical thing I will never find an occasion for. If I show up in work like that, they will KNOW I'm mad.

Carolina Herrera pictures, from www.style.com; Stella McCartney picture from www.nymag.com