Pleats that pour
The accordion pleating moves like water when I walk, gathering and releasing with each step. Wore the Travertine to a garden lunch and the chiffon caught the breeze beautifully. That softly ruched waist is doing quiet, clever work.







A column of accordion-pleated chiffon — soft V-neck, ruched waist, floor-skimming hem.
Free express delivery worldwide · import duties included
The Julia is a maxi french-style pleated maxi dress in chiffon from the Faustina collection — a dress conceived in Rome for daytime, garden parties and the warmer months. The french-style pleated maxi in chiffon is cut from weightless chiffon that moves with you, fully lined so it reads opaque in daylight and flash alike.
Like every Hugo Caesar Tassi piece, the Julia is finished by hand: a concealed closure, real linings, and seams sewn to last. It is offered in 2 colors from the imperial palette — Travertine, Cipria — and built to be worn for years, not a single season.
| Style name | Julia — French-style pleated chiffon maxi dress |
| Silhouette | Soft V-neck bodice, ruched waist, accordion-pleated floor-length skirt |
| Neckline | Soft surplice V-neckline with fixed wide straps |
| Length | Maxi — falls to the floor (≈ 148 cm, size M) |
| Closure | Concealed side zip with self-tie waist |
| Outer | Polyester chiffon, accordion-pleated |
| Lining | Polyester, bodice and skirt |
| Transparency | Opaque (fully lined) |
| Care | Gentle cold hand-wash, line dry, cool iron on reverse if needed |
| Origin | Designed in Roma · ethically made |
| Model | Height 174 cm / 5'9", wears size M |
True to size. The ruched waist gives gently, so most figures take their usual size. Between sizes? Take the larger for an easier bust and waist.
Fits S–XXL; the maxi length suits heights around 165–178 cm — petites may wish to hem, taller figures to wear with a heel.
Open the size guide for bust, waist and hip measurements in centimeters.
Complimentary express shipping worldwide; dispatched within 1–6 business days, import duties included. Most orders arrive in 3–6 business days.
30-day returns on unworn items with tags attached. Each piece arrives in a porphyry box with the HCT seal.
For daytime, pair the Julia in Travertine with fine-gold jewelry and a barely-there heel. Add the Faustina silk scarf at the neck or wrist to complete the look.
Keep reading & explore the edit
Julia™Select color · Select sizeRome carved its grandeur in fluted stone; the Julia translates that same vertical rhythm into chiffon you can wear from a garden lunch into the gold of evening.
Designed by Hugo Caesar Tassi for the Faustina collection, the Julia takes the French art of the *plissé* — fine, heat-set accordion pleats — and lets it fall the full length of a maxi skirt. A soft V-neckline opens the bodice; a ruched midriff draws the waist in and releases the pleats below, so the dress reads as one unbroken, flattering line.
Cut from a fluid, lightweight chiffon that catches the light without clinging, it is a daytime dress with evening manners — equal to a coastal wedding, a long Sunday table, or a gallery opening. Offered in warm apricot Travertine and soft powder-pink Cipria — two gentle daylight tones from the imperial palette.
Pleats that travel. Heat-set accordion pleats spring back from a folded suitcase — shake it out and the column falls straight, no pressing required.
A waist that flatters. The gathered, ruched midriff cinches softly and sits true, lengthening the line from bust to floor on every figure.
Daylight-honest. A fully lined bodice and skirt keep the chiffon opaque in sun and flash alike, so the color reads clean in every photograph.
Quiet luxury. A concealed side zip, French-finished inner seams and a fine self-tie at the waist — finished by hand in Rome.
What she said after wearing it
The accordion pleating moves like water when I walk, gathering and releasing with each step. Wore the Travertine to a garden lunch and the chiffon caught the breeze beautifully. That softly ruched waist is doing quiet, clever work.
The pink reads as the gentlest blush outdoors, never sugary. A warm, dusty rose that flatters.
Length is spot on for me without heels, just grazing the floor. The column line keeps everything long and unbroken from that soft V right down to the hem, and the pleats never crush or hold a crease.
Threw it on for a christening and felt instantly pulled together.
I adore this dress, the Cipria is the prettiest soft pink and the pleats sway gorgeously. I am quite petite, so it pooled a little at my feet, but a swift trip to the tailor for a small hem sorted that and now it sits perfectly. A lovely thing, just made for someone a touch taller than me.
The dress itself is everything I hoped, the Travertine chiffon drapes like a dream and the pleats are exquisite. My only frustration was timing: it got held up in customs for the better part of a fortnight before it reached me, and since duties were already settled there was nothing for me to pay, just a long stretch of refreshing the tracking. The dress, when it finally arrived, more than made up for the anxiety.
Let me start by saying the dress is beautiful, the Cipria pleats are soft and luminous and I have no complaint there at all. The hiccup was entirely mine: I fat-fingered a digit in my street number at checkout, so the parcel wandered off to the wrong address. The atelier team stepped in calmly, traced it and rerouted it to me, but it meant an extra week of stress I would rather have skipped. Glad it found me in the end.
I expected something more substantial for the price, but the airiness is the whole point. It floats off the shoulders, barely there against the skin, yet the layered pleating means nothing is see-through where it matters. Genuinely clever construction.
The V sits soft and shallow, flattering without a hint of plunge. Modest and quietly pretty.
I picked this as a surprise for my sister and completely guessed her size wrong, ordering an L when she needed an S. That is on me entirely, not the dress, which is genuinely lovely, the Travertine pleats and that soft V are exactly her taste. Having to arrange an exchange took the shine off the surprise and ate up a fair bit of my week, so I am marking my own experience rather than the piece itself.
Funny calling a chiffon maxi a day dress, but the Travertine stone tone keeps it grounded enough for a long lunch on the terrace. Dressed it down with flat sandals and a straw bag, and it never looked overdone.
The gathering at the middle nips you in just so. I have a short waist and it found it perfectly.
Every shot from my niece's wedding has the pleats catching light in soft vertical ribbons. The Cipria glows in afternoon sun, and the movement froze beautifully mid-twirl. I keep going back to those pictures.
I have a chiffon maxi from a house that cost three times this, and honestly the pleating here is finer and the drape more fluid. Under three hundred for this finish feels almost like a mistake in my favour.
Folded it into my case for a destination wedding, slightly nervous. Hung it in the bathroom while I showered and every pleat fell straight back into place. The accordion construction simply refuses to crease, which for chiffon is something close to a miracle.
No zips digging in, no stiff boning, just the soft pull of the ruched waist. I wore it from noon to midnight and never once tugged or adjusted. It moves with you rather than against.
Bought it for an outdoor engagement party and felt lovely all afternoon.
The Travertine is a proper grown-up neutral, warm beige with a grey whisper. Goes with gold, silver, tan, white sandals, anything.
The Cipria arrived first and I wore it twice in a fortnight, so the Travertine was inevitable. Two now, and I suspect I am not finished.
The chiffon is cool and gentle against bare arms, which mattered for a warm June afternoon. Nothing scratchy at the neckline or waist seam.
It arrived flat in a slim grey carton, the dress laid between sheets of pale paper with a small printed card from the atelier tucked on top. No fuss, no plastic, just a calm and considered presentation that made opening it feel like an occasion.
I am on the taller side and worried a maxi might end up cropped. The hem still skims the floor with a small heel, and the V and waist sit exactly where they should. Whoever cut this understood long frames.
Fine, even accordion folds from neckline to hem, never gaping or bunching. It is the kind of detail you notice more the longer you look. Worth the price for that alone.
Perfect for being a wedding guest without upstaging anyone. The Travertine is soft and respectful, the silhouette graceful, and it packed into my weekend case as a tiny bundle that emerged ready to wear. I felt elegant and entirely at ease.
Answered by the Hugo Caesar Tassi atelier
It's fully lined and completely opaque — no slip required. Only the lightest details are very slightly sheer, by design.
True to size through the waist and skirt. The bodice is tailored, so size up if you're fuller in the bust. See the size guide for exact measurements.
Very much so — it was designed for daytime, garden parties and the warmer months. Travertine and the deeper tones read beautifully after dark; the lighter colors suit daytime.
Pieces that share the Travertine palette and the house line