When the Duchess of Cambridge attended the Top Gun premiere last Thursday, wearing a bodycon maxi dress by Roland Mouret, it was clear that there was a new candidate for the hottest dress of the summer.
British Vogue announced that it was “a departure from her normal red carpet attire”: minimalist black, curve-hugging, floor-skimming and sexy. And a million miles from last summer’s dress, the ubiquitous flower print dress.
The season’s maxi bodycon trend began as loungewear; like Kim Kardashian’s “soft lounge long slip dress” for her Skims range (£76), launched in December 2020.
The dress quickly became one of the brand’s best sellers: to date, it has had over 89 million views on TikTok, with many praising its flattering fit; and last November, Skims released a long-sleeved version (£86). Both dresses come in five neutral colors, but as one reviewer put it, “black is the bomb.”
Kim Kardashian’s soft lounge long slip dress for her Skims range Photography: @pierresnaps/c/ Skims
Selfridges calls it a “nightgown” on its website, though that hasn’t stopped women from wearing it. In fact, this is precisely the point. “In Covid, we saw the rise of loungewear and the bed-to-street look, which took the underwear-as-outerwear trend to new heights,” said Patricia Maeda of trend forecasting agency Fashion Snoops.
When the Covid restrictions were lifted, our attachment to comfort remained firm: “Being made from a super soft material [a modal/spandex blend]it combines the consumer’s desire to show off the body with not wanting to compromise on comfort,” said Maeda.
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The dress is attracting a lot of attention. Since Elizabeth Kando posted her “Styling My Skims Dress” video on TikTok in February, the 21-year-old American student’s upload has been viewed more than 3.3 million times. “I was surprised by the response,” she said.
The success of the dress is due not only to its ability to deliver that Kardashian hourglass silhouette, for a wide range of sizes, up to UK size 30, but also to its versatility. “I can wear it for a casual day or pair it with strappy heels and jewelry for a formal occasion,” Kando said. You can do a big Roland Mouret glam, a boxset binge, or even the bed.
Skims has waiting lists for the dress (at the time of publication, it was still available at Selfridges). Inevitably, cheap “dupes” popped up, as well as street deals at New Look and River Island.
Precious Lee walks the runway during the Balmain Womenswear Fall/Winter 2022-2023 collection during Paris Fashion Week on March 2, 2022 Photograph: Peter White/Getty Images
“The silhouette has also become a fixture on the fall/winter 2022 runways,” said Maeda, wearing maxi bodycon looks by Balmain, Alaia and Rick Owens, among others.
Source: www.theguardian.com