Roll up, roll up, for the greatest fashion show on earth is about to begin, and you have a front-row seat. Winter is a distant memory, and as we look to a brighter future in 2022—both literally and figuratively—now is the time to turn our collective attention to what I would argue is the most fantastical, most joyful, and most exhilarating garment of them all: the dress.
As a child, I’d play dress-up in the cast-off clothes handed down to me by the women in my family. One day, I embarked on an expedition for something new when I found myself in my aunt’s old bedroom in my grandmother’s house. I knew I shouldn’t be in there, but like Gatsby’s green light, it felt as if something was calling me from beyond. I crossed the threshold and tentatively approached her closet. As I peered inside, at the far end, coats and jumpers between us, I saw the edge of a garment bag. I dashed downstairs and asked my grandmother if I could see what was inside. She obliged, and as she unzipped it from top to bottom, a core memory formed.
Unfurling itself from its nylon prison was the most spellbinding dress I had seen in my six years of life: a bridesmaid dress from the ’80s. All taffeta and tulle in a delicate shade of Renaissance blue, with puffed-up sleeves that resembled the lightest clouds, a neckline decorated with saccharine fabric roses, and a deep V-shaped waistline—just the sort seen on the princess dresses I gawped over as I played my Disney videos in reruns. I was mesmerised. It took a little persuading to convince my aunt to let me wear it, but the day she relented was the day I fell unequivocally in love with dresses and learned that behind wardrobe doors was where the magic lived.
Tagged: Dresses