One of my Uniqlo AIRism dresses doing exactly what I want a travel dress to do: going out for dinner without looking like travel wear.
I always travel in dresses. Actually, I pretty much always wear dresses – so why would I suddenly change the way I dress just because I am getting on a plane?
And there are two things you will find in virtually every suitcase I pack: at least one of my TRVL DRSS dresses and one of the three Uniqlo Ultra Stretch AIRism dresses I own.
They sit at very different price points. TRVL DRSS specialises in beautifully made travel-friendly dresses; my Uniqlo dresses cost a fraction of the price. And yet, after years of travelling with both, they have something important in common: they make travelling in a dress ridiculously easy.
So is the Uniqlo AIRism dress the perfect travel dress? Perhaps not. I’m not convinced there is such a thing. But it has earned a permanent place in my luggage – and that is probably a better recommendation anyway.
Why I always travel in dresses
Travel wardrobes are often presented as a separate category of dressing: technical trousers, special shirts, clever layers and an astonishing number of garments that convert into other garments.
That’s never really appealed to me.
I don’t want to dress for travel. I want to travel in clothes I actually like wearing. For me, that means dresses – on planes and trains, for road trips, city breaks, long journeys and hot days exploring somewhere new. The same principle applies to the rest of my travel gear: practical is good, but I still want it to suit the way I travel. That’s also why I’ve been using my Osprey Sojourn for stylish independent travel for years.
They’re also wonderfully uncomplicated. One piece and you’re dressed. No coordinating tops and bottoms, relatively little space in the suitcase and, if you choose the right dress, plenty of comfort.
But wearing dresses so much has also made me rather demanding about them.
What I expect from a good travel dress
A dress doesn’t become a good travel dress simply because it is comfortable.
Mine need to survive being rolled or folded into a suitcase, emerge without looking disastrous, cope with a quick wash while I’m away and dry reasonably fast. I want stretch and freedom of movement. I want a fabric that works when temperatures rise. And I want to be able to wear the same dress for a day exploring and somewhere lovely for dinner without feeling as though I am dressed in practical travel gear.
Pockets are very high on the list, too. Proper ones.
Over the years, those requirements have led me to two very different favourites.
TRVL DRSS: my benchmark for a proper travel dress
I discovered TRVL DRSS by Zenggi years ago and have travelled extensively in their dresses. On one longer trip, I packed two of them – and one black Pocket Dress became a real travel workhorse.
I wore it sightseeing, on boats, on long travel days and dressed it up for dinner. The technical jersey is light, stretchy, breathable, quick-drying and remarkably resistant to creasing. In other words, it does exactly what specialist travel clothing is supposed to do – without looking like specialist travel clothing.
TRVL DRSS became something of a benchmark for me: proof that practical travel clothes can still feel like clothes I would genuinely choose to wear at home.
There is, however, a catch. These are premium dresses with a price to match.
Then I found the Uniqlo Ultra Stretch AIRism dress
Which is what made the Uniqlo Ultra Stretch AIRism dress so interesting when I first found it.
It was inexpensive – surprisingly so – but ticked an extraordinary number of the same boxes.
The Ultra Stretch fabric gives me the freedom of movement I want on a long journey. AIRism makes it particularly comfortable in warmer weather. The fabric is lightweight, quick-drying and easy to care for. It copes well with being packed. And yes, it has pockets.
Most importantly, it doesn’t look like technical travel clothing.
I liked the first one enough to buy more. I now own three, and at least one of them travels with me virtually every time I pack a suitcase.
Three dresses and years of travelling: how has AIRism held up?
This is where my opinion today is rather more useful than it was when I first bought the dress.
A fitting room can tell you whether a dress looks good. A few years of actual travel tell you whether it deserves space in your suitcase.
Mine have been packed and unpacked, worn on travel days, walked around cities in, washed repeatedly and taken to warmer destinations. And I still reach for them.
They are comfortable enough for travelling itself, light enough that packing one never feels extravagant and easy enough to wash while I’m away. They dry quickly and don’t demand an iron every time they emerge from a suitcase.
That combination sounds simple. It is surprisingly difficult to find.
From a long travel day to dinner
There is another reason both TRVL DRSS and AIRism dresses work so well for me: neither dictates what the rest of my day has to look like.
During the day, an AIRism dress works with trainers or flat sandals. And when I go out for dinner, it doesn’t suddenly feel like the practical dress I spent the day travelling in. That’s exactly the point.
That doesn’t mean I believe in packing one miraculous black dress and wearing it for an entire holiday. I love dresses far too much for that, and I certainly don’t travel with only one.
But I do want the dresses I pack to give me options. There is a difference between travelling light and travelling with a wardrobe so ruthlessly practical that you don’t particularly enjoy wearing any of it.
TRVL DRSS or Uniqlo AIRism?
I wouldn’t choose between them.
That’s precisely why I continue to travel with both.
My TRVL DRSS dresses feel more refined and were designed specifically with travel in mind. They have proved themselves over years and remain some of my favourite dresses to pack.
The Uniqlo AIRism dress is different. What makes it remarkable is how much it gets right for so little money. It delivers many of the qualities I value in a much more expensive specialist travel dress – comfort, stretch, easy care, quick drying and versatility – at a completely different price point.
One hasn’t replaced the other. They simply coexist very happily in my suitcase.
So, is the Uniqlo AIRism dress the perfect travel dress?
No single dress is perfect for every destination, every climate and every occasion. I own dresses that are more elegant, others I prefer for particular climates and plenty that come with me simply because I love wearing them.
But the Uniqlo AIRism dress passes the test that matters most to me: after years of travelling in dresses, and with plenty of alternatives in my wardrobe, I still pack it.
Not because it is a ‘travel dress’. Not because a packing list tells me I need one. And certainly not because I am trying to build the perfect ten-piece capsule wardrobe.
I pack it because I like wearing it and because it makes travelling easy.
I don’t dress for travel. I travel in the clothes I actually like to wear. And that may be the best test of a travel dress I know.
Can you still buy the Uniqlo AIRism dress?
Yes – although the current version isn’t necessarily identical to the three dresses in my wardrobe. Uniqlo has updated the Ultra Stretch AIRism dress several times over the years, and mine are from earlier collections.
As of 2026, Uniqlo still sells an Ultra Stretch AIRism Dress (Sleeveless). The current version retains many of the features that made me buy mine in the first place: AIRism fabric, Ultra Stretch, quick-drying DRY technology and – importantly – side pockets.
The cut has evolved, so I wouldn’t assume that today’s dress will fit exactly like an older AIRism dress. The current version has a longer, fit-and-flare silhouette and a crew neckline. If you’re tempted, I would judge it as the latest generation of the same very good idea rather than an exact replacement for an older favourite.
And yes, if one of my three eventually gives up after all those journeys, I will certainly be trying the new one.
