ISO: The Naked Dress

The naked dress as sartorial crush

I do not love Whitney Houston as much as I love reading Hanif Abdurraqib write about Whitney Houston. Which is not to say anything about my feelings about Whitney Houston so much as it is to say that Hanif can write a line that sticks around with me for days. Last week, as the temperatures continued to creep into summer territory, I was prompted to revisit one of my favorite essays: On Summer Crushing. For Hanif, the sensation of having a crush is alike to the emotions brought out in the chorus of Houston’s 1985 bop “How Will I Know.” At the core of the song he identifies an uncertain desire – one mixed to the right degree to bring about a soft and sweet pleasure. For me, this same playful precariousness is drawn up whenever I find myself In Search Of: The Naked Dress.

The naked dress, which is exactly what it sounds like, has been an impressive trend. Sheer pieces are at the center of Paloma Wool’s summer collection that dropped yesterday, have been at the forefront of ISO darling’s MNZ collections for quite some time, and are even now the entire business platform for new instagram brands.