The Body con dress has become a go to look for a night out.But where did it originate from? Who created the look of the body con? This question sent me on a study that went beyond my expectations. So let’s travel over a decade back to find out what a body con look like in the ‘90s.
Below is a Brief History on Body con Dress
The ‘90s was the peak of the body con dress trend. A quick google search will lead us to believe that Herve leger invented the Bandage Dress in 1989. Here, are some of leger’s creations from the early 90’s.
As we go further back into the 1970s’, the slim silhouette is still prevalent. Slinky polyester fabrics are popular and comfortable The 1960s’ ‘wiggle dresses’ are definitely a precursor to the 70s’ slim dresses. TV shows like Mad Men and vintage enthusiast wearing 60s’ inspired looks keep these classics alive today.
The Supreme rocked these super sexy dresses while performing in the 60’s shorten that hemline and I’d go out in one Friday night.
An d let’s not forget Paco Rabanne, who famously created the chain mail dresses in the 60’s. Check out the silhouette of his designs. No, they are not the tight form fitting material of the body con, but clearly there is evolution happening here.
In the 1950’s the precursor to the wiggle; the ‘sheath dress’ , was the figure flattering must have for the modern post war women. Keep in mind also that the pimp era was alive and well into the 50s’. Stars like Marilyn Monroe and Bettie Page were flaunting curves in sexy sheath’s Monroe even wears one with the now popular transparent paneling.
In 1940’s Sheath dresses were shown in both slinky body hugging silhouettes and those a bit looser from the body made with slightly heavier fabrics like wool blends.
The 1920’s. The anti-fashion era. The boxy, straight, drop waist silhouette. A rebellion of the constricting styles of previous years. The jazz era was full of sequins and feathers and cool short styled hair cuts. The fashion shift of the 1920’s was due to a new generation rebelling against constraining, and even ridiculous looks like to hobble skirt of the 1910s’.
Fashion in the 1900s was very contoured and body conscious. Accenting the waist, hips and chest, the look was like an hourglass or ‘S’ shape. In 1900s, corset were even more extreme. Pulling the waist in Tight and propping up the bust. Even pregnant women wore corsets in the 1900s.
