Why Does Everyone Dress Like A Whimsical Prairie Milkmaid | Jess CartnerMorley

Listen, can we have a quick chat? Nothing to worry about. But we need to talk about your summer dress. You know this one. The long and loose perhaps with smocks or gathers on the bodice. Oh, and puff sleeves - there are definitely puff sleeves. Your arms and thighs are covered — that's part of why you bought it — but there might be a bare shoulder or milkmaid-style square neckline that shows a bit of cleavage. Was there a cutout in the back? A bit of bare skin, but classy, ​​you know. I think it's gingham. But it could be floral or hot pink, or white linen.

You know what dress I'm talking about, because even in the unlikely event that it's not in your closet – yet – it's everywhere this summer. It's the dress your best friend is wearing in her vacation photos on Instagram and the dress your child's teacher wore to the summer fair. This is what to wear to your birthday lunch, whether you're 21 or 50.

How the whimsical puff-sleeve dress became a must-have for the woman briskly walking to catch the train to work while checking her phone? How did we get to a point where even Nadine Dorries is ditching vacuum-sealing to embrace the pastoral vibes of a cornflower blue maxi dress with tulip ruffle sleeves, as she recently did?

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This dress has taken over the world because, despite its whimsical and light-hearted appearance, it embodies two of the most seismic changes in the way we think, live and, therefore, dress, since that is how we function. nne fashion.

The first is the mood-changing tow of an artistic theatricality - life as performance art - that comes from social media and can be seen in holiday photography: fake candid but very staged, a rear view of the pre-dinner stroll down a quaint street rather than everyone smiling at the camera across a table. The puff sleeve milkmaid dress is a wardrobe version of the summer dress.

The second change is salubrity, which was once a bit dreary and prissy, but is now ambitious and glamorous. Yoga vacations and half-marathons, being a flexitarian, being mindful, not drinking in the week – it was already the case when the pandemic supercharged our obsession with fresh air, walks and outdoor dining. Masks...