Do you remember being a little kid in the ’90s and seeing a woman who was serving looks, and saying to yourself “I’m gonna dress like that when I grow up”?  I had many a fantasy about wearing a waterfall updo hairstyle and Nike tennis skirts, but one look that endured was the slip dress.  Two instances stamped this underwear as outerwear moment in my mind.  The first was Cher Horowitz in the 1995 American treasure that is Clueless.  I don’t even trust people who were not inspired by the looks in that movie.  The second was Lil’ Kim in the 1996 music video for “I Can Love You.”  Then, my queen, Rihanna brought it back in vogue at 2012’s GQ Men of the Year party and honestly, she’s been killing the slip dress ever since.  Can we take a moment for her Fenty pop up look in New York this June?  Come on!

Photo: Instagram

Photo: Gify

That’s one of the dope things about fashion.  Everything you wanted to wear as a kid will eventually come back around when you’re an adult.

Photo: Tumblr

Slips as dresses date back as far as the 1700s in France when the homie Marie Antoinette would lounge around in chemises with her homegirls.  They then became scandalized because of their sex appeal.  The fabrications and cut of slip dresses make them kind of fall on the curves of the body with ease; hence, the sex appeal.  Slips came to replace corsets and girdles around the ’20s when flappers were like “To hell with these restrictive undergarments, I’ve got cigarettes to smoke and liquor to sneak and drink.”  The typical flapper dress of the ’20s can be considered one of the first slip dress designs because of a similar fit.

As much as I loved the style of them, I stayed away from slip dresses because they are not very forgiving when it comes to fit.  The loose fabrics from which they are typically made mean they hug every part of your body, even the parts you’d rather camouflage.  However, I just had to try this slip dress by Wilfred from Aritzia.  The drawstrings down the side make the length adjustable, so you’re able to add some shape and texture to it.  I’ve gotten really into earth tones lately, especially bronze and orange so this was right up my alley.

I’ll likely make this more of a casual look at some point during the fall by adding a t-shirt underneath and a pair booties or sneakers so stay tuned for that look as it gets cooler.  Of course, I had to throw the leather jacket by Godspeed on with this super feminine dress because I just enjoy the juxtaposition.  I’ve had these Steve Madden sandals for about four years and they are insanely hard to get on and off, and I’ve been looking for a pair to replace them with for a minute, to no avail.

PS Shouts out to my makeup artist Nicole who is trying out her hand as a photographer.  We shot these pics at Westside Provisions in Atlanta when I was visiting home, and she did a bang-up job on both this plum lip look and shooting!