I went into Kohls a few weeks ago and came out with 3 dresses. All were capped sleeved or less, skimmed my body (I don't like anything touching me), and were very affordable and modest. They had a lot of modest-not-matronly styles to choose from if you aren't looking for investment pieces.
It was humid and hot as blazes yesterday, I'm swollen from medication and miserable, and I wore one of my dresses and felt like I was wearing my jammies. You just can't beat that.