The look may be delicate, but it takes up physical space, giving the wearer a position of power
At the BAFTAs gala in February actress Rachel Weisz, 49, wafted in to the ceremony on tiered clouds of ivory Gucci chiffon like a 21st-century version of Joan Crawford’s famous dress in. No longer confined to the red carpet or children’s departments, this Little Bo-Peep look can be seen at mass retailers – even J.Crew offers an everyday sparkly tulle ball skirt for adults.
As the status of women has shifted in the years since the Disney princess tutu and tulle era that kicked off in the 1990s, I’ve felt I was expected to reject those aesthetics and the traditional, often stereotypical soft trappings of female culture as if on principle. The ubiquitous high-necked Batsheva prairie dress, last year’s style phenomenon, for example, came with a backlash against the baggage of imposed patriarchal modesty that the look implies.
In her earlier collections of the past decade “when normcore was at its peak,” however, Faulkner acknowledges she felt she had to use the hyperfeminine aesthetic sparingly and tone it down. She credits Alessandro Michele from Gucci for changing that by flipping the taste for girly quirk on its head.
“Now is such a great time for me because I can let loose,” Faulkner enthuses of the unabashedly feminine moment, and adds that customers are even asking her to revisit certain pieces from past collections. “Part of me thinks that women are finally comfortable in roles of power dressing like women, very femme, whereas before you had to wear a power suit,” she says. “Maybe that’s why they do it – they’re not afraid anymore that they have to look like the boys to sit at the table.
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