Body-Con Trend: It's Everywhere, Man!

Ever since I blogged about the body-con trend the other day, I keep noticing it everywhere!  This trend seems to be going in full-force for the next few seasons.  That's not a bad thing, as I consider it to be the exact opposite of looking like a dumpy bag lady.  These looks take effort--you've gotta either find some spanx or go to the gym a bunch.  You can't hide your shape with this trend, so it kinda surprises me that so many women are embracing it.  I don't know why, but it always seems to me that most women are trying to hide their shape, so it is refreshing that so many women are willing to actually show their shape.

I've noticed that most of the body-con looks seem to be made of knit fabric.  For instance, the Catherine Malandrino knit dress pictured is a kind of open-weave knit with a slip under.  What makes this particular dress really stand out is the knit--while most of the other dresses in this trend are knit too, this one has some serious texture going!  Its that extra element that really takes it from being just another cream colored body-con dress to being beyond the trend and a beautiful dress.  It looks like it isn't made just to satisfy the trend, but also to be a beautiful dress that is worth wearing.  One of the problems that I see with a lot of the body-con looks is that they look like they were specifically put together so that people can point at them and say "oh, that's Body-Con!  You're participating in the latest trend!" instead of making women look like they're dressed in a flattering, beautiful dress.



One of the over-arching themes in the body-con trend appears to be color-blocking.  For some reason, there doesn't seem to be a lot of looks made out of print fabric.  I have no idea why that is, but it seems to be the case.  Purposeful color-blocking is okay, I mean its good and basic and you aren't taking huge risks.  But, it gets a bit boring.  But, the reason that I really like this body-con Zac Posen monochrome color block dress is because while it is color-blocked, it is INTERESTING!!  It has shapes, details, stitching, things to look at other than large blobs of a single color!  I love it!  It looks like it would be very flattering on most shapes--the two little white triangles that point down and in at the waist seem to create an optical illusion slimming effect.  They give the eye something to do and make the woman look like something other than a box.  This dress actually makes me excited about body-con and color blocking!  Love it!

Pictures from Net-A-Porter

Body-Con Trend: Hope You Found Your Confidence!

There are some trends that just aren't for the shy.  The whole Body-Con Trend is one of those.  It stands for "body conscious" and translates to "wearing clothes that leave basically nothing to the imagination because they fit so snugly".  This trend has been up and going for a while.  In my fashion-following, the first time I remember seeing it was when Lindsay Lohan wore a rainbow Herve Leger bandage dress when she won the Maxim's Hottest Woman award.  Yes, once people thought that Lindsay was hot and not in the mess sort of way.

While the clothes for this trend can be incredibly unforgiving and may make you consider buying stock in the Spanx company, there are some ways to do without looking like a sausage.  One is the Herve Leger wool bustier.  It has all of the bandage seaming and snugness, but since it is made out of woven instead of knit fabric and is in bustier form, it actually has some structure.  Structure is your best friend if you don't look like Heidi Klum under your clothes because it does the work for you.

Another option for those of us who want our clothes to not just be trendy, but to flatter us is the Narciso Rodriguez black and white dress.  It has all of the hallmarks of a body-con dress--its tight, snug and has an exposed zipper (for some reason body-con also seems to go hand in hand with exposed zippers, dunno why).  But, it also has some "voodoo"--note the attached belt look going on.  It is done in such a way that makes the waist look slimmer.  Also, the stripes down the sides give the illusion of a smaller shape.  Basically, this dress is one heck of an optical illusion that is intended to make you look like you lost 20 pounds.

With the body-con trend still going strong, there is no reason not to participate even if you don't immediately think that you have the confidence to pull off a dress that looks like an ace bandage.  There are plenty of options out there that actually do flatter--why not give it a try?

Pictures from The OutNet