Bring back wearing a dress over pants!
The problem with the original 2000s-era trend is that it was often done badly; frequent red carpet looks would feature awkward length dresses, ugly prints, skinny jeans, bad accessories, or mismatched colours. I trust that we as a society have sufficiently recovered — and with Pinterest have gained enough experience — to explore an old trend with a more refined eye.
A smart way to envision the perfect silhouette for this combination would be to take proper inspiration from South Asian culture, which champions this style in both its traditional clothing —shalwar kameez, panjabi, kurta, sharara, etc.— and fusion fashion, often incorporating jeans and Western footwear.
It is incredibly common to walk around Dhaka or Delhi and see traditional kurtas being worn with blue jeans and sneakers, or girls hanging out in Desi-style skirts but with Western tops. Likewise, taking inspiration from Desi culture is nothing new in Western fashion. Two-piece “prom” style dresses with intricate beading and often, a matching scarf, are all over my Pinterest currently. I like to call this trend “lehenga lite.”
I propose a similar, inverse, trend called “shalwar kameez lite”, where we should all think about a dress and pants as two halves of the same outfit. This works for a huge variety of dresses: a teeny tiny mini can be worn, functionally, as a long top while a mid-thigh or knee-length moment works brilliantly with a flared jean that continues to flow with those curved lines. As for longer, calf-length dresses, they pair perfectly well with almost anything.
This also makes individual pieces more versatile, which is so important to prioritise in this era of ridiculous overconsumption, where even op-shops are not immune to the Depop reseller pandemic and every “haul” video features a staggering amount of the same polyester athleisure. You don’t need an infinite wardrobe, multiple online shopping sprees, or regular purchases to look cute. The trend cycle —or micro trend cycle— attempts to shorten the lifespan of our clothing, but you can wear items in multiple different ways! A dress is a top and a skirt is a top and a top is a skirt. And a dress can go with jeans. We should bring it back, and I trust that we can do it well.
Obviously you do still need the right colours, fabric, fit, and confidence in order to really make it work; please do not nervously wear ugly jeans with an ill-fitting dress and blame it on me. All I’m saying is: South Asian people have been doing this style forever, and Western fashion should take the initial eyesore trend and embrace a resurgence with the Indowestern silhouette.
