Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Are you ready for Covid couture?
When model Lottie Moss was spotted in a face mask dress, it seemed like the perfect answer to what to wear during a pandemic. Our writer Elizabeth Archer tries it out
As I walked down the high street, I started to feel a bit self-conscious. I’d set out pretty confidently in the latest in Covid fashion – a dress with a built-in face mask. But as more and more strangers stared at me, I started to regret my outfit.
The dress made headlines when 22-year-old model Lottie Moss was spotted wearing one. Lottie – Kate’s younger sister – is known for her designer wardrobe. She’s usually on the front row at London Fashion Week, and rubs shoulders with Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid.
So it was a surprise when she was snapped walking down a London street in an outfit from online fashion retailer Pretty Little Thing priced at just £15.
The tight-fitting, long-sleeved dress has a polo neck that doubles up as a face covering as it hooks behind the ears. She opted for plain black, so I did too, although there is a leopard-print version. And she paired it with black, knee-high boots, and wore her long blonde hair in two high ponytails, bringing a healthy dose of supermodel glamour.
As soon as the pictures began circulating, the dress sold out online and social media channels were flooded with requests for it to be restocked.
I couldn’t help thinking she might be on to something. Since July, when it became compulsory to wear a face covering in shops, I’ve been happy to comply with the rules.
But I’ve also lost count of the amount of times I’ve sat in my car swearing because I’d left my mask on the kitchen table.
So could this dress be the answer to my woes?
When the dress arrived, I was sceptical of the thin fabric and £15 price tag. Would it even last a day? But when I pulled it on it wasn’t see-through as I’d feared and was surprisingly comfy.
Inspired by Lottie, I donned thick socks and chunky black boots, and headed out feeling fairly confident.
But as I strolled down my local high street in Southport, Merseyside, I started to attract some funny looks.
“Perhaps they just want to ask me where I bought it,” I thought, not entirely convinced.
I popped to the supermarket and as I stood in the queue, it crossed my mind that I might not be let into the shop.
Would they insist I had a proper mask on rather than an extra-long polo neck over my face?
But the security guard waved me in without batting an eyelid.
There was a woman in front of me in the queue doing her weekly shop in 6in heels and dripping with large fake jewels, so at least I wasn’t the most outrageously dressed person in Morrisons that Sunday.
As I strolled around, the mask started to irritate me as it slipped down over my nose.
In the end, I wrapped one of the loops around my ear twice, which seemed to do the trick as I browsed the baked beans.
It was certainly easier to breathe in than my usual mask, but perhaps that meant it offered less protection too?
As I queued for the checkout, one woman did a dramatic double-take at my mask-dress combo and I started to wish I hadn’t worn it.
I finished my shop and drove to the petrol station.
“You need to put your mask on, love,” someone quipped as I walked in.
I smiled weakly – although of course he couldn’t see that – and paid for my petrol.
When I got back into the car, it was handy to be able to slip the mask down from my ears without having to stash it in my handbag.
But I wasn’t quite sure it was worth the funny looks I’d been getting all day.
Perhaps next time I’ll leave the Covid couture to celebrities.
As soon as the pictures began circulating, the dress sold out online