Do we now think we’re in Little House in a Prairie? Can somebody explain the fashion?

[sodoffputin]

I went into my local clothes shop earlier today. It’s called ‘Iris’ (there are a few in London, but not sure about elsewhere) and usually it’s quite handy and has quite a few things I like - eg. a selection from Ba&sh, things like that. But I had to say something to the staff because look at the dresses in these pictures - this is just a small selection of similar stuff they are now selling. Have you ever seen anyone wear such dresses in recent history? What is happening? Can any fashionistas explain this please?

On young slim folk they would look very pretty and boho. On chubby middle aged me, wearing a pair of curtains.
I dont understand this reaction to wanting to look sexy? I love to look what I think is sexy so lots of red, leopard print. Bet lynch is my style guru. But I do it for myself not to please men.

Better that see through leggings with your arsenal hanging out or sports wear when you very clearly haven't done any sports.

I guess the cottage bit is slung in because they look like old sacks you might find in an old cottage in the 1800s.
I hated 'little house on the prairie' because the horrible girl in the shop was just nasty.
It's up there with the Waltons for whimsical nonsense.

@Boood

I like the cottagecore look, if not necessarily all the examples of it posted here, and I don’t particularly care what anyone else thinks. But I’m bemused by the comments about surrendered wives and religious cults. The look is in part a reaction to the over-sexualised, porn-inspired Kardashian bodycon that has been around, and it’s one that women clearly wear to please themselves rather than men- look at all the comments here about how comfortable people find it and how their partners take the piss. Not entirely sure what is Gileadean about that, or indeed how slagging it off is some kind of feminist statement.

I kind of agree with you, but I’m not sure that it’s particularly great that the reaction to those oversexualised trends, is to revert to a version of femininity which was always very repressive of female sexuality and the female body - all about looking like a little girl and covering up modestly in faux-nineteenth century and faux-Puritan dresses, and idealising a pre-liberated life where how women dressed was very highly socially policed (and still is in communities where clothes like this are actually routinely worn).

I feel ambivalent about cottagecore and all of those “aesthetics”. On one level there’s no harm in it, but on another it’s very like today’s version of the mid-2000s domestic goddess 1950s craze that was popularised by Cath Kidston and Kirstie Alsopp etc. The aesthetic is cute and pretty, but it fetishised a historical version of femininity which was pretty oppressive.

I would definitely wear the first one, probably with trainers. These don’t look a million miles away from the sort of long dresses I see other younger women wear in spring/ summer and even autumn.
I don’t get the total shock? Long, floral, frilly dresses have been a big thing for a few years.

I grew up in the 90s and I wouldn't have been seen dead in an unsexy long high neck floral dress!!
If I wore chunky boots it was with little flowery minis & Lycra tops.

I still wouldn't wear a long dress like that now.. I'm currently single and i would like to actually show my figure not drown it!

I remember long dresses in the 90s, but I remember them being sexier. Buttons undone for cleavage, or a slit up the side or more slinky. I remember tea dresses and boots. And I still have my long tiered skirt from when I was 16.

And I was totally into that stylised 50s look😀 with a more ramones vibe for weekends.
I like a touch of the dressing up box. But not prairie dresses. I'm in my 40s. There's a fine line between fashionable and lost the plot.

Cottagecore innit?

Carrie Johnson wears this sort of stuff, which is probably why it's absolutely everywhere now.

I think they're frumpy as hell and I'm nearly a pensioner.

Watching Kate Garraway now, caring for Derek and she really suits this look. She’s 50s but slim average height.

@TheMoth

I remember long dresses in the 90s, but I remember them being sexier. Buttons undone for cleavage, or a slit up the side or more slinky. I remember tea dresses and boots. And I still have my long tiered skirt from when I was 16.

I agree, I had long tea dresses and print skirts in the 90s too - accessorised with an embroidered blouse, and a velvet hat with an antique hat pin and DMs

I probably looked like a mad Victorian housemaid in retrospect but it was at least a bit more deconstructed and comfortable than those cottagecore collar dresses look! Those seem all about fetishising primness and a refusal of sexuality rather than celebrating an alternative female-focused sexiness.

Even Laura Ashley dresses in the 80s at least had some attractive colours and patterns! Those dresses just look drab and a bit silly. (But then I think the same about those shops for middle aged posh women like Toast which fetishise a kind of I’m-living-in-colonial-Burma-in-the-30s-in-a-sack-dyed-with-tealeaves look; or the tubercular-Danish-peasant thing that Noa Noa has going on )

Personally I really liked the fashions of the late 2000s. Stretchy comfortable jersey dresses and skirts, wrap dresses and cardigans, and they could be sexy too, but also mainly they were comfortable, and didn’t need ironing and flattered all shapes. And lots of variety. I’m enjoying the return of the long skirt 90s look at the moment, don’t get me wrong, and it’s also comfy; but I have to admit it’s a lot less flattering than the looks ten years ago!

Those cottagecore dresses look the opposite of comfortable. They look itchy and constricting around the neck and sleeves and oddly shaped. They remind me of the similar uncomfortable dresses of my late 70s childhood which were always made of some horrible synthetic fabric and always twisted up and staticky. Ugh.

I suppose we should just be grateful they're not all tie dye, like the 90s. Or have tassles or bits of mirror on them. You'd buy dye from woolies and a shit load of salt, then have to dye everything the same colour, so as not to waste your money. Hours standing in the garden, stirring a bucket cos your mum wouldn't let you do it in the house.

@the80sweregreat

I guess the cottage bit is slung in because they look like old sacks you might find in an old cottage in the 1800s. I hated 'little house on the prairie' because the horrible girl in the shop was just nasty. It's up there with the Waltons for whimsical nonsense.

I think there's a lot of women on MN who have modelled themselves on Nellie Olsen.

Wearing them with big boots would defeat the object to me. I wear them with feminine flats.

And am starting to collect religious bling.

Dunno. As a muslim I am happy that we are finally getting the options of dresses that don't need layering. A few years back it was hard to find anything that provided full coverage without having to wear multiple layers. But I do understand where you are coming from. Although I like they give full coverage, I am not a big fan of ruffles and collars. It's the cottage core/vintage craze these days. Blame the period dramas. Are you sure they don't have anything without sleeves or collars?

Definitely in fashion. Lots of young women round here wearing them with fucking enormous beige trainers. Saw someone on the school run sporting one plus neon green puffa jacket, matching crocs and a brown furry bucket hat. I think my reaction to all these looks means I'm passed it but to be honest I'm not too bothered by that if the alternative involves a furry hat.

Bugger, Scrolling through some of these pictures , I've just realised that although I was very much a jeans and t-shirt girl I had a couple of dresses that were definately along those lines, huge puffed sleeves and ruffles, (to be fair this would have been very late seventies/early eighties) Oh, thats made me think back appears I had a lot more than I initially remembered.

I kind of like them, but don't think from this thread that they would suit massive boobs on an overweight body. I'd definitely try on a black one.

I hear you OP. I tried to buy a simple dress the other day (taking into account my new lumpy potato sack/menopause shape) and couldn't find anything that was nice and simple. Or without bloody elasticated wrist. I hate elasticated wrists!!

It’s a bit Laura Ashley 1976 when I drifted around Hammersmith looking like I was fresh off the dairy farm.

I'm fairly short and would look like 'two penneth of God help me' in one of these as granny would say. I had a similar party dress in the late 1970s. That was made of quality polyester. These are probably viscose. The big collars that are around on dresses and tops at the moment are just awful.

I have massive boobs and a Covid stomach. I would wear some of these (nothing with ruffles in the bodice or shoulders) with Docs (i rarely wear anything else in winter) or chucks (i rarely wear anything else in summer)

And stuff it if people think i look like my granny's curtains. It is REALLY comfy

Thanks to PP for the reminder of BiBA (used to go there with my mum in the early 70s, i still have one or two of the lip"stick" pots) and liberty prints. Laura Ashley had a few things like this at some times, but by the late 80s early 90s it was all taffeta and velvet. (although they did have a gorgeous 20s style wedding dress for about 80 quid which i wanted but had sold out by the time i went to get one)

I’ve got a few similar dresses, very comfy & easy to wear with chunky boots or trainers + leather or denim jacket. I don’t like the huge collars or any ruffles though. It’s not compulsory to wear trends, just wear whatever you like!

I like dresses but those are particularly hideous OP