I Thought Bodycon Dresses Were Outdated—These Convinced Me To Do a 180
While trying on some dresses I bought from one of my many late-night sale scans, I realized that I'd become a big proponent of the bodycon dress. Out of the five dresses I bought, all of them essentially fit into the bodycon category—stretchy, fitted, and supremely body-hugging. Buying only this silhouette wasn't intentional at all (I didn't set out to buy only bodycon dresses during my shopping binge), but I guess it's a testament to how the style has unexpectedly popped back out into the spotlight.
An iconic silhouette favored among everyone from Hollywood golden age starlets to Y2K-era socialites, the bodycon dress has an extensive history within the pop culture Zeitgeist. It's almost impossible to forget the early aughts Herve Leger Bandage dress era (arguably when the style last hit its apex), that the word bodycon is practically synonymous with the days of Louboutin Daffodile pumps and Juicy Couture bags. As everyone shifted towards looser silhouettes and minimalism, extreme figure-hugging dresses felt like a relic of the past. But nothing stays "old" forever, and just like how the low-rise has made its imprint in 2022, so has the bodycon dress. It's a new dawn for the style, with brands like Norma Kamali repopularizing the classic dress. Ahead, keep scrolling to shop 31 dresses that define the modern vision of the bodycon dress.
The dress is apparently so popular there's a waitlist (but fortunately for you, Net-a-Porter has it available to shop right now).
While the front is gorgeous, it's all about this back detail.
The simplicity of this dress feels like an ode to 90s minimalism.
Who else has a calendar full of summer weddings? If that's you, you should absolutely buy this dress.
If you're set on buying into the style, Norma Kamali is an excellent place to start. Kamali's ruched dresses have been a fashion staple for years, but thanks to Tik Tok and Instagram they're getting renewed attention.
A. Roege Hove is one of my favorite brands right now.
The open knit feels decidedly summery and ideal for a July vacation.
Scooping this up before it inevitably sells out.
I love how this accentuates the figure without overtly looking like a bodycon dress.
The neckline is gorgeous, but it's the shade of purple that's really getting to me.
You've never seen a bodycon quite like this.
Forever 21 recently teamed up with a relaunched Herve Leger for a limited capsule, and it's such a good dose of nostalgia.
Up next: I'm Stepping Up My Outfit With These Under-$100 Game-Changing Pieces
Indya Brown is a fashion editor, stylist, and writer living in Los Angeles. While going to school at Columbia University in New York City, she got her feet wet in the fashion industry interning at Elle magazine, Harper's Bazaar, and New York magazine's The Cut. After graduating in 2016, she joined The Cut as a fashion assistant, eventually working her way up to fashion editor. There, she worked on a multitude of projects, including styling inbook feature stories for New York magazine's print issue, writing and pitching market stories for The Cut, and serving as fashion lead for The Cut's branded content. While New York has been her home for over 10 years, she moved to Los Angeles in the midst of the pandemic in 2020 for a new chapter. Now she is a fashion market editor for Who What Wear, focusing on emerging designers, rising trends on and off the internet, interior design, and BIPOC creatives and brands. Aside from her duties as a fashion market editor, Brown is also a freelance stylist and writer, working on national print and video commercial campaigns for Sephora, The Independent, and Cadillac. Her bylines also include Harper's Bazaar, Vox, and The New York Times. But once the computer goes down and the emails turn off, she's likely eating her way through Koreatown, hunting down vintage furniture, scoping out new outrageous nail designs to try, or taking a hot cycling class.
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