We Aren’t Ready to Dress Up Again, But One Day (Soonish!)
Schiaparelli Fall 2024 Couture illustration
Well friends, Jackie DeShannon was right. What the world needs now is, in fact, love. Sweet love. We're sitting at the bottom of global uncertainty et dressing the part.
It feels like dressing up is a distant memory. Crowded by the safe corners of mass minimalism or snuggled too tightly by an influx of sweater sets et sweatsuits. But I feel something is slowly yet steadily shifting. Eventually these wars will be over, a certain president's reign will come to an end, et if the rise in celebrity non-alcoholic beverage brands et Hard 75s weren't already an indication, runways are hinting at a future where glamour et celebration will take centre stage. Our 20s are about to roar.
Since the “ending”* of the pandemic, everyone from GQ to Veranda has wondered: are we ready to get dressed again? Data shows increased demand for occasionwear, et micro trends like metallics (shoutout the Renaissance tour) had their moment. But the answer, at this time, is still a no. Or as my very Jamaican mother would say —“soon come.”
We’re all tired. There’s a certain je ne sais fatigue in the air, et that’s…valid. I’m sure there’s a deep desire to make the streets dressy again, but powerful countries are rebranding colonization as necessary real estate et have you seen the price of eggs?!
In moments of collective confusion, fashion tends to retreat into familiarity. Like keeping that number you told your friends you blocked, just in case the nighttime hits you with those needs Bobby Womack was talking about. For me, I don’t think my desire to get dressed has ceased. All the world’s a stage or whatever. But the way people respond to my looks has shifted, further cementing where we are sartorially. Where I was once embraced for wearing my favorite pumps to the movies or embellishment in the morning, I’m now met with concern. People earnestly ask if I’m comfortable or reassure me that I “didn’t have to do all that.” Dear reader, please understand that I did et for all future reference, I do.
Over the last few years, we’ve cycled through different stages of ‘safe’ dressing —Britcore’s polished collegiate looks, the quiet luxury era’s beige-based minimalism, et more recently, Dark Academia’s muted, introspective charm. Even Fall/Winter 2024 collections from Burberry et Chloé to Skall Studio et Todd Snyder hinted at a return to nature et stillness, with fair isle knits, checks, et rugged textures. It’s all part of the same instinct: when the world is chaotic, we dress for control, for comfort, for a kind of curated simplicity. But what happens when flight turns into a fight et the need to retreat subsides because hypernormalization continues to normalize???
I’m no global calamity trend forecaster, but history is et despite what post-lockdown might have felt like, times will always be unprecedented.
But even post Spanish flu (like COVID) et WWI (take your pick of today’s conflicts, there are so many rn), there was a party.
Now, if I may step into my Raven Baxter bag et gaze into the futureee~ A quiet resurgence of glamour is already unfolding. André Leon Tally (RIP to that king) might have even been proud. The 2025 Met Gala, with its focus on Black dandyism, serves as a timely reminder that even in the worst times, fashion uplifts, empowers et disrupts. Black dandyism —rich in history et brimming with elegance— embodies the kind of intentionality et celebration we’ll see more of as the world hits snooze one last time et finally wipes today’s fatigue from its eyes.
Last year, Skepta told the man dem to hang up their tech fleeces et kicks. That same month, writer Jessica Sulima at Thrillist begged the question, should we start dressing up for flights again?* Et just recently, Joseph Altuzarra returned to old-school showroom presentations, a nod to a time before the social media spectacle of fashion. Meanwhile, for her FW25 collection, Rachel Scott dialled up the drama of her usual Caribbean-inspired crochet-laced Diotima with sequin, fringe et beading.
Diotima Fall/Winter 2025
Photo credits from L to R: Deirdre Lewis, Zora Sicher
Even American sportswear’s big comeback —see Veronica Leoni’s Calvin Klein debut et Brandon Maxwell’s return to NYFW— leans into exquisite tailoring et eveningwear that works just as well for the party circuit as for the street.
Brandon Maxwell Fall/Winter 2025
Calvin Klein Fall/Winter 2025
In January, The Face asked six fashion figures to predict 2025’s fashion landscape. Their answers echoed the same themes —fraughtness, confusion, transition— but also, anticipation. Among the six, my favorite tastemaker —et yours— Amanda Murray, predicted the latest round of designer musical chairs might be a catalyst to dressing up again.
The desire is there, folks, but who will ride in like iconic short king Napoleon —or in this case, Bianca Jagger á la her Studio 54 birthday bash— waving the ostrich feathered flag of revolution? The culture observers who call it first? The designers already laying the foundation? Some weeks ago, someone I love sent me an IG post of Victoria Beckham promoting a gown from her Iconics capsule —a blackberry-hued closed back gown with long sleeves, sharp shoulders et a fabric-covered O-ring that sits in the middle of a slimming V-cut waist. She described this great gown as high-octane drama.
Is Victoria Beckham suspect number one? Then again, Sarah Burton’s Givenchy is bound to reintroduce fashion drama, while designers like Christopher John Rogers never stopped dressing the woman who wants to get dressed.
Truthfully, this revolution of sorts won’t be led by a fashion higher power. It’s simply the natural rhythm of history. A tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme (shoutout Celine Dion).
Remember early TikTok —like 5 BC (before Charli D'Amelio)— those positivity posts about how after every hurricane, there’s a rainbow? Maybe it’s just that.
Perhaps we’re all subconsciously rejecting the fatigue, craving the return of fantasy et drama. If history repeats itself, that moment is coming soonish. We simply aren’t tired enough yet.
It was only hundred years ago, the world crawled out of a war, a pandemic, et straight into the arms of champagne towers, bias-cut gowns, et beaded headdresses. We may not be there yet, but it’s making its way downtown.
It won’t happen overnight. Not even within the next year. A change like this is just getting her feet wet, undecided on if she’ll actually go all the way in. In two years, she’ll be about ankle-deep. But in the meantime, we wait. Et we dream. Et we hold space for our siblings in Christ holding space for Crocs,* et dress for the day when we finally do it all over again.
FOOTNOTES
*I like to believe we’re always living in some kind of pandemonium.
*My personal answer to this is YES.
*No disrespect to the Croc collegiate at this time. I just feel like there are places you don’t need to be wearing Crocs et y’all be wearing ‘em to a lot of those places.
