‘Over it’: Naked dress trend is boring and bland

The naked dress might be a current trend but there’s valid reason this fashion moment is already “over”.

OPINION

The see-through dress is currently very on trend, and I’m very over it. Fashion ‘it’ girls are popping on a see-through dress at every opportunity, and I’m frankly underwhelmed.

On a practical level, this look must be planned meticulously around your period cycle; a stray tampon string could kill it. On a fashion level, a translucent dress is simply bland. The actual garment itself usually brings little to the table (some would barely be fit for a tablecloth).

Rita Ora leaves little to the imagination on a winter’s day in London at the Fashion Awards 2022. Picture: Getty Images

The sheer dress was big in the 90s. Kate Moss and Rose McGowan had viral moments in naked dresses before there was even such a thing as a viral moment. However, in terms of fashion moments, Kate Moss’s tank top and low-hanging jean styles blew her naked slip dress out of the water. Now, there’s an outfit that is still influencing fashion culture today.

Kate Moss in her infamous sheer look in 1993. Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images

Megan Fox at the 2021 MTV awards. Picture: Kevin Mazur/MTV VMAs 2021/Getty Images for MTV/ ViacomCBS

Fast forward to 2022, and it is happening all over again. Rita Ora, Abbie Chatfield, Olivia Wilde and Bella Hadid have all been spotted wearing versions of the see-through dress.

Wilde most recently wore one to the 2022 People’s Choice awards, and it is being dubbed her version of the revenge dress. Wilde has just parted ways with Harry Styles, and while she looks gorgeous, I think a revenge dress needs more bite to it. You know, maybe a cool neckline, some edgy details, something that makes it pop.

Olivia Wilde in her ‘revenge dress’ at the 2022 People's Choice Awards. Picture: Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Olivia Wilde in another sheer dress earlier in the year. Picture: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Abbie Chatfield wore a sheer number to Australia’s Commercial Radio Awards, and while she looked beautiful, I wanted more. I wanted a fashion look, not just an opportunity to stare at her body.

Abbie Chatfield at the ACRAS in Sydney. Picture: Supplied/ACRA

The see-through dress is very self-explanatory. Essentially it is a naked dress. If you want people to understand the outline of your nipples or ribs truly, then this is the little number for you.

I don’t have any issue with it in terms of modesty. Showing skin doesn’t faze me. I was raised in Kim Kardashian culture. Women getting naked or women getting almost naked is just whatever. I don’t have any strong feelings about it, nor do I place some big kind of moral judgment on it. I just feel it’s overexposed; nudity in fashion doesn’t shock or excite me. It feels more like a boring choice than a provocative one.

The see-through dress, however, isn’t really about fashion. It’s about whoever is wearing it showing off their body. I won’t pretend it isn’t a bit interesting to see how your favourite celebrity looks naked, but in terms of fashion, it just isn’t bringing it.

Bella Hadid wearing another naked dress, at the 2018 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show After Party in New York. Picture: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret

Zoe Kravitz at the 2021 Met Gala. Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

For the naked dress to work, its style has to be simple and basic, so it fades into the background, and the body underneath becomes the statement. It isn’t about the dress at all. It is about the person wearing the dress.

Rihanna at the 2014 CFDA fashion awards. Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Jennifer Lopez in a less simple version of the naked dress, in 2017. Picture: Jason Koerner/Getty Images for Billboard

The naked body is beautiful, but draping it in exquisite fabrics, textures and design is an art in itself. I bloody love fashion, the more spectacular and camp the better. For instance, I thought Jennifer Coolidge was a fashion icon way before The White Lotus came along and revived her career. I also consider Joan Rivers and Boy George my fashion inspirations because they blend colour, patterns and context. They have fun with the way they choose to display their bodies.

Paris Hilton this year attempting a sheer dress. Picture: Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Kendall Jenner at last year’s Met Gala. Picture: Angela Weiss/AFP

So many of my favourite fashion girlies are wasting valuable opportunities to slay by going with the naked dress and rejecting the opportunity to showcase fabulous fashion.

Is it just me, or does it feel like these celebrities are being tricked into displaying their bodies? Who has convinced them that a piece of sheer fabric, revealing bits of their bodies, or with a pair of up-market Bridget Jones “big” underpants is high fashion?

I’m pointing the finger and calling it out. It’s not fashion. It’s a con job. Sure, they can wear what they want and always look incredible, but I want fashion that is less about their bodies and more about the clothes.

Mary Madigan is a freelance writer.