Pros and Body Con

When Herve Leger created his bandage dress - or more commonly known as the "body con" dress - I doubt if he realized how much of a hit it would be. It's been 26 years since he came up with this ubiquitous dress, and it still has no signs of slowing down.

Of course, this design is now owned by Max Azria who bought out Herve Leger. Now, Herve Leger is known as Herve L. Leroux, and he continues to make spectacular dresses out of this atelier in Paris.

And here in Manila, the influence of the body con dress is still all over the place. A lot of fast fashion brands, from the established to the little Mom and Pop designers in tiangges, peddle their own version of this iconic dress. Some are total knock offs and copies (like the Apartment 8 versions), and some take the creative liberty to refashion it.

One such version I saw was from Kamiseta. Yes, they had some total knock-offs which were a bit "meh," but they had some pieces which took the body con concept and re-fashioned them to look younger. Among that lot, there were 2 that really stood out.

First is this knit dress with color blocking details that resemble a body con dress.



The shapes and colors of this dress are well-placed and will definitely have a slimming effect on the lady who'll wear it. And if the lady is slim to begin with, then this will definitely add curves to her physique.



The other is this gray and white number made of a thick knit material. Aside from the nice and muted color combination, the paneling of this dress is thoughtfully made. The white curved lines create a slimming pattern on the wearer. And who doesn't want that, right?



I've mentioned before that Kamiseta has had a couple of misses the past few years, but with this body con influenced pieces, they definitely have a hit.