âWhat is a sundress?â wondered a young woman i. âI own every dress. Which is the sun one?â
Nearly 10 million views later, that burning question continues to light up social media. Reaction videos included spelling out how âsundress seasonâ in her Black community means Skims-style dresses that are long and tight, rather than flowy skirts with a fitted bodice. A good-natured, self-described , although no expert in womenâs fashion, he knows what he likes. Specifically, what he called âmilkmaid styleâ dresses, preferably in yellow. âCause we are simple,â he says. âYellow, sun.â
Which cuts to the crux of the sundress stakes. Itâs not just what a sundress is, says Vox writer Rebecca Jennings. Itâs who a sundress is for.
âSome men were complaining that women arenât wearing sundresses âlike they used to,ââ Jennings notes. âWhich feels like a very reactionary response to changing gender dynamics.â
Jennings traced the early days of what we now call the sundress in an expansively researched essay called The garment, she wrote, became a summer staple in the postwar period, popularized by pioneering female sportswear designers such as Claire McCardell and Carolyn Schnurer.
âTheyâre dresses that were meant to be worn without these fussy undergarments,â she explains, meaning without girdles or even pantyhose. The designer Lilly Pulitzer, known for her bright prints and boutique-y brand, helped make sundresses, at first a style associated with children, respectable even for grown women.
The sundress as male fetish object joined the cultural conversation through the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, Jennings says. In a 2010 episode, the resident toxic male creep . And since then, the mainstream cultural discourse around the sundress has changed accordingly, as reflected in some of the TikTok videos responding to the original query.
Disputes over sundresses right now are really about contemporary concerns, Jennings suggests, ranging from fast fashion to obsessions over gender norms. But, she adds, none of this should stop sundress fans from reaching for that lightweight little frock in the closet designed with hot weather in mind. âItâs not the sundressâs fault,â she points out, with a laugh.
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