Vaida and I picked up the dress from Alicja this Tuesday and had a quick test to see what shapes the dress produces when worn.

The dress is longer on the front than the back, and this produces a lovely S shape when viewed in profile. For us this communicates ideas about feminine body shapes, maternal shapes and curves. This works in opposition to the body of a professional model which has straighter lines, smaller hips and less defined waists.
We also feel that the racer back which exposes the shoulders creates a very masculine line, this could contrast nicely with the curves on the front of the dress.

We think this could really work in a location setting, for example our last shoot in Sea Palling made use of the wind on the beach and a simple piece of fabric, and this dress could really be transformed with the wind. In profile the curves could be emphasized with the wind, as could the hood.

Group Critique:
A big issue that came up in the group crit was that the dress is very sexual. The front of the dress (2nd pic) has the shape of female genitalia, and this frames the face so its has a strong first impression on the viewer. This is definitely something to consider when planning our shoot. Our previous hasn’t been concerned with sexualizing the model, or women in general so we don’t feel this is something we want to start working with now. We also feel the dress has other potential, a less obvious reading with the ‘S’ shaped curve when viewed in profile, it has a maternal and feminine shape that could work in contrast with a typical fashion model’s body shape, which is very ‘up and down’.