Over the years, “nude dress” has been something of a catch-all term for an outfit that associates itself with nudity – whether through clever illusion, using sheer fabric, or a complete lack of material. , like Jennifer Lopez’s slash. Versace’s belly-button dress at the 2000 Grammys, which caused such a frenzy that it inadvertently led to the creation of Google Images. Today, Chrisman-Campbell says the term is most often used to describe something with “sheer, flesh-colored fabrics, maybe lace or sequins, whatever you really have to look twice at. to see if the person shows any body parts”.
While it’s nothing we’ve seen before, flaunting a little – or rather a lot – of flesh on the red carpet is still a powerful way to grab attention. Rihanna isn’t short of dramatic fashion moments, but the nipple-revealing fishnet dress — covered in over 200,000 Swarovski crystals — she wore to accept her Fashion Icon award at the 2014 CFDA gala remains her most daring, and probably its most dissected. “It’s still a great way to get eyeballs and get your picture taken,” says Chrisman-Campbell. “But it can also be so much more than that.”
Powerful stripping
She argues that the nude dress can be a powerful tool to subvert beauty standards. “A lot of celebrities and influencers have worn [naked dresses] to show off their shape or skin in a way that hasn’t traditionally been seen on the red carpet,” she says. “Lizzo, for example, wears nude dresses to show she’s proud of her body, even if it’s not size 2. A lot of black celebrities have worn nude dresses to show off their skin color , because it’s not something that has always been well received, for example, at the Oscars. with floral embroidery.” It was so sexy and so revealing, but it also drew attention to the fact that she had black skin and was the first African-American woman to win the award for best When the dress went on display at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures earlier this year, Berry said she was glad it was “accessible to generations of people for whom the dress also has meaning and is reminiscent of forever that everything is possible”.
Chrisman-Campbell also points the finger at Winnie Harlow, whose predilection for revealing dresses highlights her rare skin condition, vitiligo. “She really uses her body as a work of art to say, it’s not something to be ashamed of, it’s something to be proud of and show off.”
