Originating in the 80s at Alaïa, and then truly establishing itself as a cultural mammoth in the 90s after its launch under the Hervé Leger label, who would’ve known that the bandage dress would be gripping sartorial conversations nearly half a century on.
The style found itself becoming a staple amid supermodel wardrobes in the 90s, then an emblem of club culture in the 2010s on names such as Kim Kardashian, Christian Aguilera, and Miranda Kerr.
Now, there is no denying the bandage dress is making its scheduled 10-yearly comeback again, recently being seen on tastemakers such as Kaia Gerber and Kylie Jenner, as well as all over social media.
As reported by Harpers Bazaar, the bandage dress hashtag has seen a 130% increase on TikTok in the previous three months alone. This means brands like Hervé Leger are capitalising on this growth with new launches and a focus on catering the style to Gen-Z sensibilities.
Hervé Leger has been working on extending their sizing, hoping to shift away from the reputation many 90s and 2000s styles have for emphasising and celebrating supermodel thinness. Meanwhile, many other brands are launching their own; oft more affordable; versions of the style.
While it may be easy to claim the rise in popularity of the style is a symptom of the general Y2K nostalgia which enamours the zeitgeist, the parallel rise of traditional hyper-feminine standards and trends like #skinnytok also cannot be ignored.
A quick scroll through X (formerly Twitter) will reveal the conflicting conclusions many have reached on the matter.
“It looks amazing on every single woman who wears it,” said one user, and went on to compare the style to modern clubwear. “The lost magic is the construction, [modern dresses] will come apart in the washer.”
Meanwhile, other users didn’t express the same nostalgia. “This is a cross-section of size 2s,” said one about celebrities wearing the style. Another joked, “recession is so back baby,” alluding to the concept of ‘recession indicator’ fashion.
Unlike many controversial style trends (take capris) the discourse around bandage dresses has less to do with aesthetic quality and more to do with what their return implies. Whether or not to partake all depends on how forgiving your view is on the matter.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.
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