The best cocktail, party, wedding dresses, and evening gowns are cute, chic, stylish, and cheap to help you look and feel your best without breaking the bank.

The best special occasion dresses are also sustainable, versatile, and durable to enhance your style and maintain your confidence with a clean conscience.

Thankfully, many clothing brands offer inexpensive, formal, and evening attire made from eco-friendly and comfortable materials that make dressing well and sustainably very easy for you.

Here are some of the best affordable and elegant dresses for special occasions that you need to wear to look fashionable on a budget for your upcoming event.

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1. Outerknown

outerknown elegant special occasion dress

Category: Basics, outerwear, swimwear, loungewear, bags, accessories
For: Women, men
From: Los Angeles, California, United States
Values: Organic, Fair Trade, recycled
Prices: $50-$100

Outerknown is a clothing label that creates cute and cheap clothes rooted in sustainability and transparency. It makes affordable and elegant dresses for special occasions with the most planet-friendly fibers.

Outerknown keeps strict sustainability rules and aims to raise the standard for quality, sustainable design in the global fashion industry. It uses organic and recycled materials to reimagine and embrace circularity.

Accredited by the Fair Labor Association (FLA), the ethical fashion brand invests in the livelihoods of over 5K workers through Fair Trade USA. Three of its partners are Fair Trade Certified.

SHOP OUTERKNOWN


2. Reformation

reformation special occasion evening dress

Category: Basics, denim, dresses, outerwear, swimwear, activewear, loungewear, underwear
For: Women
From: Los Angeles, California, United States
Values: Organic, recycled, made in the USA
Prices: $10-$110

Reformation makes affordable and elegant clothing locally in the USA. It offers a varied collection of formal, chic, and cute classics, including special occasion dresses for petite up to extended sizes.

The eco-friendly brand designs effortless silhouettes that celebrate the feminine figure with the most beautiful and sustainable fabrics possible. It pays attention to minimize its social and environmental impacts.

Reformation uses sustainable materials such as organic cotton, recycled cotton, linen, and Tencel lyocell. It makes some of its clothes with upcycled and recycled fabrics and regenerated nylon or deadstock fabric.

SHOP REFORMATION


3. Toad&Co

toadandco special occasion elegant dress

Category: Basics, dresses, outerwear, knitwear, loungewear, accessories
For: Women, men
From: Santa Barbara, California, United States
Values: Organic, recycled, vegan
Prices: $50-$100

Toad&Co is a sustainable fashion brand making socially and environmentally committed clothes. The label creates affordable, chic, and elegant women's special occasion dresses.

Toad&Co aims to make a difference to clean up a dirty apparel industry, educate people on sustainable practices, and inspire folks to live their fullest lives.

The brand believes in sustainability and spontaneity because every day is an adventure. It uses eco-friendly materials such as organic cotton, hemp, Tencel, and recycled fabrics to make affordable clothes.

Toad&Co offers a large selection of sustainable and affordable formal clothes and accessories, ethically made with eco-friendly materials.

SHOP TOAD&CO


4. Made Trade

made trade special occasion dress usa

Category: Basics, dresses, knitwear, sportswear, loungewear, outerwear, swimwear, underwear, sleepwear, bags, accessories, shoes
For: Women, men
From: Portland, Oregon, United States
Values: Organic, Fair Trade, recycled, vegan, BIPOC, made in the USA
Prices: $10-$170

Made Trade is a Fair Trade retailer sustainably and ethically creating goods for the modern wardrobe and home. It offers Fair Trade apparel, accessories, and footwear for women and men.

The company stocks stylish, chic, classic, and elegant evening gowns and formal dresses for special occasions made with sustainable and natural materials.

Made Trade is committed to transparency and making a positive impact on the world. The well-curated online marketplace sells a great selection of ethical products handcrafted in the USA and around the world.

Made Trade adheres to sustainable and Fair Trade practices that support both artisans and the Earth's natural resources. It strives to make the world a more beautiful place through higher ethical standards.

SHOP MADE TRADE


5. Everlane

everlane special occasion evening gown

Category: Basics, denim, outerwear, activewear, underwear, bags, shoes, accessories
For: Women, men
From: San Francisco, California, United States
Values: Organic, recycled
Prices: $10-$90

Everlane is an ethical fashion brand creating modern and beautiful essentials, at the best factories, without traditional markups. It's a great destination to buy high-quality, fair, affordable, and elegant dresses for special occasions.

The clothing retailer is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and sells primarily online. It uses a high proportion of sustainable materials such as organic cotton and recycled fabrics.

The apparel brand also offers ethically made and designed-to-last jumpsuits, shirtdresses, shoes, and accessories. It believes in exceptional quality to make a difference.

Everlane is widely known for its radical transparency. It educates consumers on its supply chain, factories, employees, and the price breakdown of each product.

SHOP EVERLANE


6. Karen Kane

karen kane elegant dress special occasion

Category: Basics, outerwear, knitwear, loungewear, accessories
For: Women
From: Los Angeles, California, United States
Values: Organic, recycled, made in the USA
Prices: $20-$100

Karen Kane is a sustainable fashion designer that creates beautiful, affordable, and stylish garments with style, comfort, and sophistication for petite up to extended sizes.

Karen Kane believes women should feel beautiful and comfortable, always. She offers elegant dresses for special occasions made from the finest fabrics from all over the world.

Karen Kane creates products with passion and integrity, guided by respect for people and the planet. Most of her collections are designed and manufactured in Los Angeles.

SHOP KAREN KANE


7. Christy Dawn

christy dawn special occasion dress

Category: Basics, loungewear, knitwear, outerwear, shoes, accessories
For: Women, girls
From: Los Angeles, California, United States
Values: Upcycled, made in the USA
Prices: $220-$550

Christy Dawn is a sustainable fashion designer that creates chic, elegant, and timeless dresses for special occasions exclusively from upcycled fabrics. She offers a big collection of vintage-inspired pieces ethically crafted in Los Angeles.

Christy Dawn designs each style with longevity in mind. Every garment is intentionally classic and versatile and fits up to extended sizes.

The fashion designer aims to make simple, easy-to-wear pieces that will become wardrobe staples you'll cherish for a lifetime. Her dresses keep you comfortable while preserving the integrity and beauty of the Earth and its people.

SHOP CHRISTY DAWN



8. Thought

thought evening dress special occasion

Category: Basics, dresses, loungewear, nightwear, activewear, outerwear, underwear, bags, accessories, jewelry
For: Women, men
From: London, United Kingdom
Values: Organic, recycled, give back
Prices: $10-$100

Thought is an eco-friendly fashion brand that makes beautiful, affordable, and elegant dresses for special occasions from sustainable materials, such as organic cotton, lyocell, and recycled fabrics.

The clothing brand is committed to considered design, responsible sourcing, and fostering change. It aims to show that there are more sustainable ways to live, dress, and be.

Thought supports TRAID, a UK charity that works to minimize, improve, and transform the environmental impact of clothing manufacturing. Send your clothes back to TRAID to support the people and places making your clothing.

SHOP THOUGHT



9. PACT Midi Dress

pact special occasion dress

Category: Basics, dresses, knitwear, loungewear, activewear, underwear, sleepwear, maternity
For: Women, men, children
From: Boulder, Colorado, United States
Values: Organic, Fair Trade, recycled
Prices: $20-$160

PACT is a leading sustainable fashion brand using organic fabrics and fair trade factories to design stylish essential clothing. It creates ethical and fashionable special occasion dresses.

The fair trade clothing brand chooses the best ingredients, such as organic cotton and recycled materials, to make the best clothes. It promotes organic and ethical clothing for everyday use.

PACT considers the people who make the clothes as important as the people who wear them. It encourages people to care about what they put in their bodies and what they put on their bodies.

PACT designs fair trade clothes that are affordable, practical, comfortable, and effortless. It offers ethical alternatives that fit the lifestyle of conscious consumers because doing good should be easy.

SHOP PACT


10. Tentree

tentree elegant special occasion dress

Category: Basics, sweats, outerwear, bags, accessories
For: Women, men, children
From: Vancouver, Canada
Values: Organic, B Corp, recycled, give back
Prices: $40-$80

Tentree is an Earth-first fashion brand designing women's, men's, and kids' clothes for a healthy, sustainable world. It offers affordable, comfortable, and elegant dresses for special occasions made from Tencel lyocell.

The ethical fashion brand is B Corp certified and partners with charitable organizations across the world to plant trees and rehabilitate natural ecosystems.

Tentree aims to guide you on your journey and empower you to do your best when it comes to the environment. It already planted over 48 million trees and restored land in over eight countries.

SHOP TENTREE


11. Boden

boden elegant special occasion dress

Category: Basics, dresses, outerwear, underwear, knitwear, loungewear, sleepwear, sportswear, swimwear, shoes, bags, accessories, jewelry
For: Women, men, children
From: London, United Kingdom
Values: Organic, recycled, give back
Prices: $80-$130

Boden is a British clothing retailer selling high-quality, chic, stylish fashion styles. It uses a large proportion of sustainable materials such as better cotton and regenerated nylon.

Boden creates comfortable, affordable, and elegant special occasion dresses with a feminine and luxurious touch. It also takes climate change seriously and works to reduce its environmental impact.

The clothing label also donates to numerous charities to support vulnerable families, educate young people, and empower workers in fashion supply chains.

SHOP BODEN


12. Etsy

etsy elegant dress special occasion

Category: Clothing, bags, shoes, accessories, jewelry
For: Women, men, children, toddlers, babies
From: NYC, New York, United-States
Values: Natural, vintage, independent sellers
Prices: $10-$70

Etsy is an American e-commerce website focused on hand-made or vintage fashion items, homeware, and craft supplies. It offers a wide range of chic, affordable, and elegant special occasion dresses made in the USA.

Many independents American sellers list eco-friendly and stylish evening gowns on Etsy. The marketplace is very active and widely recognized as the most trusted vintage store.

SHOP ETSY



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About the Author: Alex Assoune


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