Would you wear a dress like that (or let your daughter do so)?

[pne]

aka $500 for a piece of string that may stop you from even getting into the prom (barely work-safe).

Apparently, the model in that picture is wearing the dress back-to-front; this is supposedly the dress worn the right way around (from this comment by allah_sulu). As yendi points out, that way of wearing the dress "doesn't require Krazy glue to avoid violating decency laws".

Comments

[ubykhlives.livejournal.com]

You must admit, it is a lovely dress she's almost wearing. :D

[pne.livejournal.com]

Well... not my opinion.

[ubykhlives.livejournal.com]

Sorry, my sarcasm doesn't carry very well when I write. :) Perhaps the emphasis should have been "It's a nice dress she's almost wearing".

[karen2205]

No, 'cos it'd look awful on me.

Whether I'd let my daughters wear it is something of a theoretical question atm - by the time my daughters are in their mid-teens I wouldn't see it as my place to try to control what clothes they wear. If I haven't taught them by that stage how to choose appropriate clothing for particular occassions then they'll have to learn the hard way. However, I would try to make sure they were confident enough to deal with any unwanted advances. Provocative dressing != open invitation, it = woman full of confidence in herself and her body and is therefore something to be admired, not frowned upon.

[robnorth.livejournal.com]

Provocative dressing != open invitation, it = woman full of confidence in herself and her body and is therefore something to be admired, not frowned upon.

That's true. But communication isn't just what you say and how you say it — it's what the other person sees/hears and how they see/hear it.

Whenever my daughters (ages 7 to 11) are tempted to wear something iffy, I remind them that no matter what they might be trying to "say" with the outfit, many boys and men will "read" something completely different, e.g. "Mmmmmmm, she wants me!" This, most of the time, is Not What Was Intended.

Maybe I'm just a perv, but I read that dress as saying "Look, I'm easily accessible for your tactile pleasure!" Me and some-huge-percentage of all other males out there. So unless that's the message one wants to portray, I'd say leave it on the rack.

[karen2205]

Whenever my daughters (ages 7 to 11) are tempted to wear something iffy,

Your daughters are rather younger than the virtual adults who attend proms:-) I agree, if I had daughters of that age, ie. before they were aware of how provocative dressing might be interpreted by others, I'd protect them by pointing them towards more modest clothes. But I don't think that's at all appropriate when dealing with someone aged 16-17ish.

I read that dress as saying "Look, I'm easily accessible for your tactile pleasure!"

Which is entirely your problem and not that of the dress wearer. If you act on that thought process and progress to touching rather than just looking (and remember some women really enjoy those looks!) and get thumped/arrested then you've only yourself to blame.

So unless that's the message one wants to portray, I'd say leave it on the rack.

Nope, why should someone constrain what she chooses to wear because of the way strangers might interpret her choice of clothing? Why should she care what you think? (now, yes, I don't think that is a particularly nice dress, and yes, there are times and places when such clothing should be covered eg. walking home after going out).

(err, I'm kind of argumentative atm - haven't slept all night, due to caffeniated coffee yesterday)

[leora.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't wear it for the various practical reasons mentioned, and I simply don't think it's the most flattering dress for most people. If you want to do revealing, you can do it in a more attractive and more practical manner.

I just don't think it's all that good a dress. And while it looks nice on the model, it's only going to look really good on a very small number of people. You can't wear a bra with that.

[entirelysonja.livejournal.com]

I find it hard to believe that anyone would go out in public wearing such a dress.

I can't think of an occasion where it would be appropriate -- and certainly not at a high school prom!

[sphyg.livejournal.com]

I hope she catches a cold.

[pleiades829.livejournal.com]

Wow. Thank goodness my family isn't built to wear things like that. And thank goodness we have, you know, taste.

[catamorphism.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't wear it myself, but if I had a daughter and she wanted to, I'd let her, because I'd hope that any daughters of mine would grow up feeling like they should wear whatever they want without concern with how men will look at them. And because I'd want to taunt her with the photos later on ;-)

In the article, I found the guy's comment "I'd let my daughter wear it if she had the body for it" a little sketchy. Assuming he actually has a daughter. How would *you* feel if your father told a national publication that you didn't have a good enough body?! (I can't decide what's worth, that, or knowing that your father thinks at all about whether you have a good enough body for something...)

[pne.livejournal.com]

I'd hope that any daughters of mine would grow up feeling like they should wear whatever they want without concern with how men will look at them.

As long as she doesn't mind if teenage boys leer at and/or attempt to grab her.

As robnorth said further up, provocative dress != invitation, but many boys (or even men, for that matter) aren't mature enough to disregard this. And I'd say that there aren't that many who can completely disregard it; men and their hormonal responses go a lot on visuals. (Hence the thing about "men prefer good-looking girls to smart girls because they can see better than they can think".)

So if she's self-confident enough to ignore the leers and dexterous enough to fend off the grabs, she can enjoy herself.

[catamorphism.livejournal.com]

I'd also be sending any daughters (or sons) I might have to martial arts classes from any early age, so that wouldn't be an issue :-D

(Hence the thing about "men prefer good-looking girls to smart girls because they can see better than they can think".)

Not that women are particularly different; otherwise "Playgirl" would feature photos taken at the Institute for Advanced Study.

[alister.livejournal.com]

And it would look even better if she didn't have it on the wrong way around. (seriously, the picture shows it on back-to-front).

Here's the front

[alister.livejournal.com]

http://www.brianrobak.com/images/fark/front.jpg (via http://www.livejournal.com/users/yendi/657474.html)

Re: Here's the front

[pne.livejournal.com]

Whodathunkit.

Thanks for the link!

Re: Here's the front

[ubykhlives.livejournal.com]

!

Still very skimpy (and perhaps inappropriate for a prom), but at least double-sided tape won't be necessary. :)