Shirt Dresses In Spring-summer Collections

IN THE PERMANENT HEADING WONDERZINE talks about trends from the catwalk that you can adapt to your wardrobe for the next six months. In this episode, we look at how to wear shirt dresses that have appeared in the collections of designers from Balenciaga to N21 by Alessandro Dell'Acqua.

Olesya Iva

How it all started

The shirt dress appeared in the 50s of the last century thanks to Christian Dior. He took a dress shirt as a basis and added a knee-length crinoline skirt to it. The sleeve of a classic shirt dress was up to the elbow, and at first the waist was simply designated with a belt. The idea of a French dress was picked up in the States. So, American designer Ann Fogarty made a more casual version of this dress (without the crinoline). The feminine silhouette and simplicity of the dress idea worked with a bang. In 1957, a shirt dress appeared in the pages of the American Life magazine and cost $ 25. Dresses are snapped up by "Stepford wives" and rockabilly girls. In Russia, young Lyumila Gurchenko appears in such a dress in the film "Carnival Night". Since the 1960s, T-shirt and polo dresses have been created using a similar idea (through the efforts of brands such as Ralph Lauren, Lacoste and Tommy Hilfiger). In the late 60s, during the second wave of feminism (the first was in the forties - remember Marlene Dietrich in a man's suit), women sought to gain independence on a par with men, therefore, for example, Brigitte Bardot demonstrates at this time that you can take a classic men's shirt and wear her like a dress.

How to wear a shirt dress

A shirt dress is a daytime item. Designers today show two extremes: either a classic version of a shirt dress with a belt with short sleeves, made of innovative materials (optionally, decorated with a print), or a simple blank plain dress, gravitating towards a regular men's shirt made of simpler materials. So, for a long time, natural fabrics were used to sew such a dress: cotton and silk (the same as for men's shirts). Today, as we can see, in the collections of designers, a shirt dress can even be sewn from a 3D mesh, like Christopher Kane. For example, Stella McCartney showcases a sheer polyamide dress with viscose inserts, Tommy Hilfiger shows a colored neoprene dress, Giles shows a perforated version. Another idea is demonstrated by Raf Simons for Christian Dior: he wears a pink bustier on a classic gray shirt dress.

Most of all the designers' thoughts this season were caused by the classic men's white shirt, which more than once replaced the girls with a short dress. So, Alexander Wang for Balenciaga shows a sculptural shirt dress, minimalist Helmut Lang - a strict snow-white midi-length shirt dress and suggests wearing it over cropped trousers, Americans Ports 1961 wear such a dress under a snow-white tuxedo, MSGM wear a contrasting oversize T-shirt with a minimalist print over the shirt or a second skirt.

beware

White is now experiencing a new birth and, in general, you can not be afraid to wear a white shirt dress with the same snow-white trousers, a tuxedo or elongated Bermuda. However, we still advise you to look at something contrasting and wear it under a shirt dress, for example, elongated bermuda shorts in a dusty pink color. So it will be more comfortable for the city.

Another nuance concerns shoes - a shirt dress is now great to wear with flat shoes: flip flops, sneakers, sneakers. In this case, you can even dwell on the option of a shirt dress just like from a man's shoulder. If you decide to wear with a heel, be sure to add a belt, otherwise you will get the outfit "I woke up somewhere after a corporate party."

Shirt Dresses

in online stores