The Bandage Dress: Celebrating the Natural Female Figure

This is a guest post.

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The concept of physical female beauty has certainly changed over the decades and it continues to do so. In addition, it varies from culture to culture so there is really no single social construct that can be claimed as the correct standard of female beauty. However, all of these diverse notions have something in common – that curves in the right places enhance the beauty of a woman’s figure, especially when they are flaunted. As a result, women favor figure-hugging clothes over loose, shapeless styles when they want to show off their bodies and attract attention. And nothing enhances a woman’s curves more than the bandage dress. It gets its name from the basic design of the fabric, which consists of strips of Elastene and Lycra that resemble bandages.

 

Good-bye, Body Shapers

 

Many women go through the agonizing process of getting into a body shaper before wearing the dress in order to achieve a clean silhouette. Anyone who has experienced squeezing herself into a body shaper can attest to the extreme discomfort of wearing one in the entirety of an affair. Bandage dresses – which also known as bodycon dresses – eliminate the need for a body shapers as the elastic material naturally follows the natural contours of a woman’s body. This dress combines the comfort of soft fabric and the structure needed to hug the body and highlight its curves.

 

Legendary Léger

 

There are currently hundreds of bodycon dress designs made by numerous brands but the original bandage dress is credited to the French designer, Hervé L. Leroux. He is more well-known for his fashion house called Hervé Léger, which may very well be the most popular brand of bandage dresses. After the first bandage dress was launched in 1989, it has become a “go-to” piece among women who want to look their best at a party or a night on the town. Skinnier physiques benefit from this dress as it gives them a fuller figure. On the other hand, voluptuous women will find the bodycon dress trickier to wear as it does not conceal bulges that they would otherwise want to be kept concealed – that’s just not the way this dress is built.

 

It takes a confident woman to wear a bandage dress well. It is definitely not a dress for the shy types as its skin-tight fabric leaves little to the imagination. The most important thing to remember in choosing a bodycon dress is to pick out the right size for your body. One size too small or too big will ruin the look. Since the dress is skin-tight, you may also layer it with a skirt to give it a different look. Today, bandage dresses come in a plethora of colors, designs, styles and price tags. Designer pieces by Hervé Léger can be quite pricey but thankfully, there are a lot or more affordable brands that carry a wide variety of bodycon dresses. As gorgeous as the bandage dress is, its beauty is only as good as the person wearing it. This is why you must make sure that the size, cut and colors complement your own physical features.

 

 

Debbie Fletcher is an enthusiastic, experienced writer who has written for a range of difference magazines and news publications. Follow her here: @Debbie_Fletch18

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

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Comments

  1. Carrie Phelps says

    That is super cute and I bet the broken up waist would help cut a bigger figure without a waist!

  2. This is adorable and it’s true these types of dresses do make you look fabulous!

  3. I love the look of bandage dresses, but I haven’t found one yet that looks flattering on me.

  4. That is a gorgeous dress, but it would be absolutely heinous on me. 🙂 Oh well.

  5. I’m not sure how that would look on me….like the style though.

  6. Dresses aren’t my thing, but U really like the style of this though!

  7. Interesting. I like the idea but somehow it only sounds good in theory. If a photo of a large apple-shaped woman was touted, I think it might be a different story.

  8. I like how adaptable this style is. I recently saw Jessica Simpson wearing one — she is still full figured but looked fabulous!

  9. I love that dress, although I’m not quite sure I could pull it off.

  10. Its beautiful I could not pull it off.

  11. Add me to the list of “unable to pull this off.” Absolutely gorgeous but not for me.

  12. I love the look on those that can pull it off, sadly, I am not one of them.

  13. Definitely wouldn’t work for me but that dress is SO cute! It’d take a few boxes of REAL bandages to wrap myself up enough to squeeze into one of those.

  14. It’s a great look, but sadly not on me. I do like how it holds things in without the discomfort of shape wear.

  15. I think that is really pretty, but it would totally hit me wrong.

  16. I like the styling of the top portion of that dress. I see these all the time on celebrities, and I doubt I’d ever even try to wear one myself. I can’t do skin tight!

  17. I am not a skin tight dress wearer but I love the way they look, they really are pretty. I love it!!!

  18. In my younger days I could have pulled this off easily… now, not so much. It is a gorgeous dress, though!

  19. I think I could pull it off on a non bloated day, however I love food and cocktails far too much to constrict myself like this. Super cute dress though!

  20. I don’t think I’d be comfortable wearing that in public, but I do like the style on others.

  21. Anything to help make the top seem fuller and the bottom smaller is a winner!

  22. I really really love that dress. I just need to work out a bit more to be able to pull it off 🙂

  23. I love how some people can make fashion out of anything.