Love It, But Leave It: Bandage Dresses – by jnabongo on Polyvore.com
Herve Leger’s Bandage Dresses have been the craze for almost two years now and based on the Spring/Summer 2009 Ready to Wear line (http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/show.aspx/full-length-photos/id,6788), they are going to continue to ride the wave of popularity. We have seen the dresses on everyone from Victoria Beckham to Rhianna. This dress, that has been wildly popular in recent years, was actually created in the late 80s, when Leger spotted leftover pieces of fabric, considered to be garbage, and decided to put the pieces together and create a form fitting dress. The recent trend actually got its start when wearing vintage bandage dresses became popular. The bandage dress (re)debuted in the Herve Leger by Max Azria Fall 2008 Collection.
I absolutely love these dresses but don’t think that they are practical for those of us that are not celebrities or wealthy. Don’t get me wrong, my body is definitely tight enough to be poured into one of these gorgeous creations that hug every curve with precision, but even though I am not a celebrity, I wouldn’t be caught in the same bandage dress twice (ok, maybe I could wear it once every other year). And with a price tag ranging from around $500 to upwards of $2500 I am not sure if I could justify the purchase to my closet, knowing that hell would freeze over before I wore it twice, let alone three times. Now when Herve or Max decide to impart me with a complimentary, fresh off the runway bandage dress, I will rock it properly with a pair of Louboutins, until then, I will leave it on the rack for celebrities, the wealthy, label whores, and the rest of the fashionistas that are sometimes delusional about their finances, in the name of fashion.
Now if you feel like you absolutely must own a bandage dress I suggest a few things, if you don’t have the income to wear this dress once and toss it to the back of the closet never to be worn again: 1. Get a solid neutral color, i.e. black, gold, white. This will not stand out as much, so you could get away with wearing it twice in a year, (as long as you avoid a few cameras) but people will still recognize how awesomely amazing you look. 2. Pair the dress with different accessories every time you wear it. Large bright clutches would definitely change the look and of course, change up the shoes. 3. Don’t wear it in the same city twice. If you have the money to buy this dress, then you should be a traveler too, so feel free to wear it at Lotus in NYC, Nikki Beach in Miami, and China White in London (that way you can get away with three wears in one year. ha!)
