It’s time to channel Pretty Woman
Wearing a certain print can speak volumes. Leopard is vampish, florals ladylike, zebra stuck in the ‘80s. But what of the polka dot? It often gets a bad rap, and admittedly, in certain incarnations, can be a tad “little girl’s tea party” for grown up women. But in the right hands, polka dots can strike that tricky balance between modern and elegant.
And apparently, fashion’s tastemakers have thought so since at least as early as the 1860s, when Impressionist painters Claude Monet and Frédéric Bazille spotted ladies’ dresses with unmistakable polka dots on their canvases. In 1921, a polkadotted ballgown made the then-illustrated front cover of American Vogue, and in the 1950s, Marilyn Monroe not only wore polka dots on the silver screen, but also off it — photographs of Monroe in a polka-dot bikini look fashionable to this day.
Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s love of all things dotty hasn’t just graced art galleries; in 2012, Louis Vuitton tapped Kusama for a collaboration that saw the French fashion house’s signature bag shapes reinvented in poisonous toadstool spots, and their Fifth avenue store covered with monochrome polka dots that could be seen from blocks away.
Not that polka dots always need to be quite that loud. A spotted shirt under a navy suit will liven up workwear, and a dotted silk scarf can be tied at the neck, onto the strap of a handbag or into the hair for a dash of print. If you do opt for an all-over print, pay attention to scale — the slighter you are, the smaller the dot should be, and vice versa.
Black and white spots might be classic, but if colour is more your bag then there are plenty of options to choose from. As Kusama discovered, red looks particularly striking, and Uterque have a candy-floss pink cotton shirt if the blue silk isn’t for you. Otherwise, softer shades — think burgundy and bottle green, or the brown that Pretty Woman’s Julia Roberts looked so smart in — will soften the print a little for everyday.
For those who find florals too fussy, there’s something refreshingly clean about spots — they’re graphic, but better suited to occasionwear than stripes. Bold rather than pretty, polka dots lend themselves to tailored sil- houettes just as easily as frilly ones — and as the Duchess of Cambridge proved at Wimbledon earlier this month, in monochromatic black and white, dots can pack a punch.
Tracking the trend 1
Portrait of a print: Hungarian artist József Rippl-Rónai 1889 painting, Lady in a White Polka Dot Dress, speaks for the longevity of a print still popular today. Even earlier examples exist — Monet’s Luncheaon on the Grass, 1865, and Bazille’s Family Reunion, 1867, both show elegant polka dot gowns.
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The polka pin-up: Perhaps not what you’d normally put on to dash round Waitrose, but Marilyn Monroe’s stylish portrayal of the girl next door in 1954’s The Seven Year Itch taught women everywhere of the lure of a polka dot dress — and good air conditioning.
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Making of a lady: In the 1990 film Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts’ My Fair Lady moment came at the Polo. A brown polka dot dress and matching trimmed hat completed her style transformation, leaving her perfectly dressed to stomp the divots at the Polo.
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The Royal touch: The Duchess of Cambridge doesn’t often experiment with print, and when she does, it’s usually a delicate floral — which is why the graphic Dolce & Gabbana polka dot dress that she chose for this month’s Wimbledon tournament was such a stand out look for the royal.