Often the clothes reveal far more to the beholder than the wearer. It is the look that determines the severe judgment of a dress. The gaze tarnished, more often than not, by prejudices and commonplaces.
Everything starts from the Milo’s Venus to pass into the bodies of famous stars like Cher and Rihanna. Debated and criticized, just like any self-respecting star, the naked dress has left behind a controversial and iconic history spanning decades.
Between scandals and unforgettable moments, we want to retrace the most criticized moments of a dress that fits like a second skin, just to give the impression that the wearer is totally naked.
What is naked dress?
The naked dress is a real contradiction, it is right from its name, which is literally an oxymoron: being naked, but wearing a dress. Who better than the protagonist of Sex and the City could celebrate the provocative and daring character of naked dress?
A dress that is not for the insecure or for those who are ashamed of their bodies. On the contrary, it goes against all the conventions that suffocate a woman’s body in clothes “suitable and appropriate” to the circumstances. Here we go in the opposite direction and the women who wear this model to regain power over their bodies by showing more than they should … as if to remind us that it is not what you show of yourself that justifies another’s attitude towards you.
Marylin Monroe knows this well, and has become a Hollywood sex symbol thanks to this type of dress. On the occasion of Kennedy’s birthday, the actress wears what will become famous as the Happy Birthday dress, Mr. President. An “illusion dress” impregnated with the magic of Hollywood, creates a semblance of nudity thanks to the lightness of the very thin fabric and the strategic positioning of the glitter.
The naked dress is closely linked to the idea of sex, in the sense it tends not to separate the woman’s nudity from the desire of the gaze that rests on her body. “To be naked is to be yourself. To be stripped is to be seen naked by others” Two very different concepts … only the first belongs to the idea hidden behind the naked dress.
Where did the naked dress start from?
Like nudity, naked dress cannot exist without a glance, it lives to be seen. Not surprisingly, one of the most watched works in the world wears a naked dress: the Venus de Milo. 2 meters in height are left mostly uncovered and only a part of Venus is wrapped in a soft drape. Venus was the only one of the gods who could be portrayed naked, and it is as if she knew she was being looked at, but this does not make her uncomfortable at all.
The same confident attitudes and ways of doing Venus have been reinterpreted by the actress of the film The Dreamers and also Emily Ratajkowski who certainly could not miss the umpteenth opportunity to show her breathtaking body.
The undisputed queens of naked dress
Clarified that the naked dress is a demonstration of power we can not help but find out now what are the bodies of the stars who have had the courage to claim their power.
Let’s go back to the night of the 2014 CFDA Fashion Awards where all eyes were on The look that made Rihanna the embodiment of courage and security. Presenting it, Anna Wintour commented: “You have to be bold, even upsetting, always staying yourself,” referring to a dress that actually screamed “this is me, take it or leave it.”
But if Rhianna manages to conquer the title of princess of naked dress, the undisputed queen remains the singer Cher … Almost four decades before, Cher wore another type of naked dress for the 1974 Met Gala. Created by the costume designer Bob Mackie, the dress was covered in crystals. Five months later, the singer also appeared in Time Magazine with her nipples exposed and wearing the same dress.
A studied nonchalance is instead of Kate Moss in her transparent dress at the Elite Model Management party in 1993.
Jane Birkin at the 1969 Slogan premiere in a shimmering, long-sleeved shirt-like dress marks a real watershed in the history of naked dressed. The curious thing is that Jane arrives at the event in what she expected was an opaque dress, but then it turned into a naked dress only under the flashes of the paparazzi.
Today we have the interpretation of Simon Porte Jacquemus who bases his brand on the naked dress attitude. The Parisian designer creates many naked dresses, making them become his trademark, so much so that the Jacquemus woman, even when fully dressed, maintains that same attitude.
“Sex is normal. Desire is normal. Attention is normal, and it’s okay. ”
Here is what the naked dressed of Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner and the Vietnamese model Ngoc Trinh.
The naked dress as a declaration
And when the weight of the world falls on women’s shoulders why not wear a light dress like a feather? Before the #MeToo movement, Rose McGowan wears a beaded dress with a thong on the VMA’s red carpet as a personal political statement. “It was my first public appearance after the rape, I wanted to claim my body.”
Il naked dress OGGI
Of all those who create naked dresses today, no one can compete with Sinéad O’Dwyer who, with her silicone bustiers, shapes the struggle between clothes and the body that wears them. Obviously the woman’s body wins.
“My job is a kind of fu** you, it’s a declaration of pride in one’s body. Dresses for women who don’t want to accept the status quo. You shouldn’t feel compelled to live by a standard. You should have full control of yourself.”
After reading this article I was you I would pay close attention the next time you think of judging a woman for what she chose or did not choose to wear…
Don’t miss also Bella Hadid and Barbie Ferreira “naked” on FaceTime for Jacquemus!
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