Every spring something strange happens online. As the warmer months approach, many men seem compelled to post about the appeal of a woman in a summer dress. The humble garment has long been a point of inexplicable obsession, but this year people are asking questions.
Why do some men get so excited when they see summer dresses? Wait – do men even know what a summer dress is? Does anyone know what a sundress is? As social media was flooded with comments, it became clear that no one could quite agree on what made a summer dress a summer dress (as opposed to a summer dress). petticoata day dressa changing dressa shirt dress, a kaftan, a tube dress or a sleep dress).
Therefore, we would like to unravel this thread a little and ask you, the reader, to answer the question: what is a summer dress?
A lot of people say sundresses are bright and floral, perhaps blue or yellow. White is generally accepted. Pastel colors are classic. Black causes division. No one really talks about gray.
On the resale platform Depop, a seller named Bianca Steele listed a “Boho Black Sundress 100% Viscose sundress made in India.” The inky black maxi was “most definitely” a summer dress, Ms. Steele wrote via messenger in the app, adding that she had personally loved black summer dresses for more than four decades. She currently owns at least 10.
But Jeannie Stith, the CEO of Color Guru, a seasonal color analysis company, said she can’t tolerate a black summer dress. “Generally speaking, black is sold to us as a universal color,” she said. “Not really.”
Ms Stith said universally flattering shades had a mix of warm and cool tones. For sundresses, that includes peony, periwinkle, teal and sage.
While in Lower Manhattan one recent afternoon, three sundress wearers—blocks apart—said that a sundress can be any color that makes you happy. Although they all acknowledged that being sad in a sundress was also valid.
Jana Smith wore a brighter example — for those who believe summer dresses should be colorful — on Sixth Avenue.
A black, figure-hugging dress spotted in the park may not meet everyone’s parameters. Anakeesta Ironwood, 19, said she would more likely identify it as a slip dress, but acknowledged that some people might also consider it a summer dress.
“You’ve left me no choice but to man tease women’s fashion,” Randy Trembacki told viewers on TikTok in May. Mr. Trembecki, a 30-year-old podcast producer based in Texas, gestured around the empty space where he would insert an image of a Shein minidress and listed some of the characteristics of a sundress: fitted top, flowy bottom.
Last month, he said over the phone: “It’s conservative but revealing. You know any music videos from the early 2010s where it’s a farmer’s daughter type thing?’
But he acknowledged that his position was not universal. Much of the feedback he received on his original TikTok came from Black viewers with different ideas about the quintessential sundress.
In “Sundress Pt. 2,Mr Trembacki responded to comments such as: “Ask a black person what a summer dress is and you will get the OPPOSITE answer.” In response, Mr. Trembacki added a pair of skin-tight Skims panties as an example of a sundress.
“The Black community’s preference for form-fitting, long dresses could highlight another aspect of allure, one that focuses on visual appeal and the celebration of body contours,” says Shelby Ivey Christie, a fashion historian and former board member of the Black in Fashion council.
It’s form-fitting, it’s black, it has spaghetti straps – but is it a sundress? Its wearer, Yesenia Valverde, 25, said no. She views summer dresses as something you wear on holiday and believes they should be flowy and printed. She said her dress was ineligible mainly because of its color.
Some consider this loose-fitting floral print dress a good example of this shape. While that may be true, Renee Monaco, 29, didn’t think summer dresses had to be flowy to qualify. A sundress is any dress someone wears in the sun, she said.
Dictionary definitions of “sundress” usually determine sleevelessness.
But how thick is a tire before it becomes a cover? Should you see your shoulder? What about tube tops?
James Hamilton Butler, director of the associate degree fashion design program at the Parsons School of Design, shrugged off the question. Talking about sleeves is outdated, Mr. Butler wrote via email. “We can be whoever we want without fear of judgement. (I’m not sure about the tube caps though!)”
Sophie Strauss, who calls herself “a stylist for everyday people,” says the question of sleeves depends on what the wearer wants to get out of the summer dress. In sun-drenched Los Angeles, she sees customers drawn to the garment because it tends to “highlight parts of women’s bodies that we need to play up, and downplay parts that we need to hide,” she said, listing brands. with large puff sleeves.
Mr. Trembacki, the TikToker, wasn’t so dogmatic about belts either. “There should be some kind of leash,” he said. “But it can’t come with a belt either.”
A scoop-neck silhouette can be divisive in the taxonomy of summer dresses. But the wearer says she considers her floral dress a sundress.
According to some, the thin straps of this midi dress may put it firmly in summer dress territory.
Sometime in the last few years, the sundress – traditionally homely and modest – took on a strange sexual charge. (At least for those who are extremely online.)
In the meme database Know Your Meme, a reference to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs replaces survival requirements like “water” and “friendship” with a refrain about sundress-induced activity, too vulgar to publish.
What is it that makes “men go crazy for ‘the sundress,’” as one user on X recently said?
Kyle Brown, a writer who lives in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood and has a bicep tattoo of Joan Didion, offered some insight into the contemporary male gaze.
“It’s all about this pastoral American fantasy,” Mr. Brown said, describing a passionate scene involving a man who came in from yard work to find his sundress-clad wife in the kitchen baking bread. “Men are confused.”
On the street, more practical considerations still dominate.
Lexi Hide, a photographer wearing a Chopova Lowena dress on Fifth Avenue on a hot day, explained her reasoning. “I thought a sundress should be airy enough that you don’t want to wear underwear.” She clarified that she just likes how it feels. “A nice warm breeze,” she said.
Laura Meyers, 31, recently wore an above-the-knee dress. She said she thought it mattered, but added that, with its eclectic print and more muted palette, it may be difficult to categorize.
Gabriella Chaves, 25, incorporated the ‘pop of red’ trend when styling her long, flowy white dress. She said sundresses should ideally be short, but she still thought hers would fit well.
It may be that the sundress is more of an idea than a garment. After visiting Lower Manhattan for a possible consensus, I stopped by Reformation, a clothing store that some consider the mothership of sundresses.
I couldn’t remember which summer dress Mrs. Strauss, the personal stylist, had mentioned, only that it was named after a type of pasta. When I asked a saleswoman for help, she encouraged me to consider every dress in the store. A sundress is whatever you want, she said, pointing out a mini fit-and-flare in the color “Last Tango.”
