Selena Gomez's Perfect White Vacation Dress Is a Free People Find

Halie LeSavage

July 6, 2024 at 1:02 AM·3 min read

A photo of selena gomez outside on a porch wearing a white headband matching a dress by free people. — Credit: @bennyblanco

If Selena Gomez has a fashion agenda for summer 2024, it's trying every variation of a little white dress under the sun.

After testing the peplum trend in a white mini dress at Cannes and elevating her summer work wardrobe for a conference in a Banana Republic number, she's now getting into vacation mode with a strapless Free People maxi dress and matching headband.

Selena Gomez showed off her affordable outfit through snaps of her surprisingly relatable Fourth of July on Instagram. Photos shared on her Instagram Story and her boyfriend's, Benny Blanco, revealed the couple had a relaxed day lounging outside somewhere sun-soaked and secluded. Gomez posed in Free People's "San Tropez" dress, a white maxi covered in doodled fruits and toucans. Very out-of-office-appropriate.

Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco on an outdoor patio where Selena Gomez wears a white strapless free people maxi dress and matching white headband

Free People San Tropez Maxi Dress

A dress with under-$300 tags was just the start of Gomez's latest shop-worthy outfit. She coordinated the easygoing piece with two accessories sitting in every twenty- and thirty-something's dresser these days: a wide, white headband and a pair of gold hoop earrings.

A close up of Selena Gomez sitting on a porch wearing a strapless free people maxi dress and a matching white headband

A close up of Selena Gomez wearing a white headband and gold earrings with her Free People dress

Urban Outfitters Soft & Stretchy Headband Set

Luv AJ Baby Amalfi Tube Hoops- Gold

Of all the dresses Selena Gomez has worn this summer, her Free People maxi is the most suited for an island getaway (see: those toucan illustrations) or at least getting in the mindset for one. It's also the continuation of a color story Gomez started with her new stylist, Erin Walsh, earlier this spring.

The Rare Beauty founder has been leaning into a stark white palette with pops of red and black for her red carpet walks and official business appearances. The movement started for a Rare Beauty conference where she wore an intentionally wrinkled off-the-shoulder dress, continued at the Cannes Film Festival in the form of her peplum Self-Portrait mini and Saint Laurent red carpet gown, and, most recently, took a business casual turn at the Nexus Summit with a linen Banana Republic number. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule—like the black Versace dress she wore after Gigi Hadid debuted it on the runway.

Selena Gomez arrives in Cannes wearing a white peplum mini dress by Self Portrait

Self-Portrait Pointelle-Knit Peplum Mini Dress

Gomez's color shift could open up all sorts of interpretations. Maybe she's choosing the color to stay cool (since lighter tones don't absorb heat); maybe she's leaning into the symbolic nature of white as a sign of new beginnings. All that's definitive from the outside is that her latest Free People dress—and similar versions on the market—arrives just in time for a vacation wardrobe upgrade.