The frock that rocked the world turns 50
When designer Diane von Furstenberg debuted her iconic wrap design five decades ago it revolutionised how women dressed. If only I had the body for one, says Sarah Vine
The deep, sexy V; the casual, fluid lines; the long, close-fitting sleeves; the silken, sensuous jersey. Could there be anything more chic than a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress? Or, for that matter, the woman who wears one? Jerry Hall, Michelle Obama, Kate Moss, Madonna, even Kate Middleton – all have succumbed to its charms. And as this iconic garment enters its 50th year, its popularity shows no sign of waning.
All my life I have wanted to belong to the DVF club, to be one of those fabulously cool Studio 54-style chicks who can just slide one on and stride out, all casual in a pair of espadrilles, or sexy in some fabulous knee-high boots. I cannot tell you how much I aspire to be that kind of woman, how much I love a wrap dress.
If only they loved me. But they don’t. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that they have it in for me. Wrap dresses – especially of the DVF kind (other brands are available) – are designed for a very particular female body type. Born in the 1970s, they very much adhere to the prevailing aesthetic of the day – that is to say, slim shoulders, tidy arms, small, well-mannered breasts and neat behinds. The sort of body you used to see in adverts for Charlie perfume (another youthful obsession of mine) or draped over the bonnet of a car in a men’s magazine. The kind that is either the result of fortuitous genes or a strict diet of Quaaludes and vodka, or that infamous egg-and-wine diet popularised by Vogue in the 70s.
If you have anything approximating a curvy shape – in my case rather vulgar and unruly knockers, a bit of a tummy and extremely stubborn bingo wings – they just make you look like Humpty Dumpty.
Even when I was young and theoretically svelte, I could never make them work. The wrap bit never quite sufficed to cover my chest, which meant I always had to wear them with a slip,
‘ALL MY LIFE I HAVE WANTED TO BE IN THE DVF CLUB, TO BE ONE OF THOSE COOL STUDIO 54-STYLE CHICKS’