Vera Wang's Quest

I'm increasingly convinced that the clever Vera Wang is the non-white designer-du-jour. She was recently picked by Michelle Obama, who is on a mission to have her clothes designed by non-whites. Michelle Obama cannot find the black designers she would have preferred, so Asians fit the bill. Wang seems to be on her own mission of marketing her clothes by targeting black celebrities.

In the March 2012 issue of Vogue magazine, in a section called Vision Quest where

A panoply of prints - Hawaiian, hothouse, hallucinogenic, hypergraphic - pops on spring's sharply tailored silhouettes

is on display, Vera Wang has a tie dye piece she calls "trippy":

Trippy Dress by Vera Wang
Top Left: Incongruous "bow tie" from another designer
Top Right Wang dress from March 2012 Vogue
Top Left: Close-up of print
Bottom Right: Fuller view of dress (from a different source)

In her program notes, [Wang] said the distorted colors and bright shades of "aggressive" hems provide "a 'trippy' counterpoint to the modernity of the pure whites in the collection." [Source]

Trippy, of course refers to the psychedelic, drug-infused culture of the 1960s. And the slang "trip" has entered our language where it means being high on drugs.

Wang intentions are clear with her clumsy use of "counterpoint." The 60s drug culture is now known as the "counterculture." Wang is out to create a counterculture of sorts. This counterculture that she seems to be advocating with all this blinding psychedelia is to neutralize, if not efface, the "pure whites" and display the colorful panoply of ethnics that includes Asians, blacks, Hispanics and anyone else that doesn't fit the "pure white" category.

So, lets all get high with hallucinogenics (which the Vogue introduction clearly spells out), lets all get loud and colorful, and lets all shove those pure whites out of our way.

Back to fashion. If Wang is really interested in creating a unique, twenty first century tie dye dress, then she has failed. Her attempt is nothing special. Other designers, couture designers at that, have come up with more authentic 60s styles, yet with a creative twist of their own.

Top
Left: Halston tie dye kaftan, 1975
Right: Steve McQueen, Butterfly Dress, Spring/Summer 2008

Bottom
Left: Valentino, Spring Summer 2010
Middle: Ungaro, Spring 2012
Bottom: Dior tote bag, Spring 2011

At first glance, like all things Wang designs, the "trippy" dress looks interesting, the color is bright, and the pattern worthy of a closer look.


Upon further analysis, several things come short [here is a larger image of the dress, click on the "magnifying glass" to enlarge further].

- The dress is silk, but it looks like cheap stretch nylon
- The gaudy lime green takes over the more subtle "dye" effect
- The tie dye looks like a random drip effect (yes that is part of the point of tie dye, but most of these techniques do have a strategy and design to them - look at the examples provided below), with too large a section left uncovered.

- None of the accessories fit:

- A star spangled "bow-tie" which Vogue describes as a "cotton collar" is out of place on a dress with no collar
- The clutch is too big and overbearing for silk, as are the clunky boot-like shoes
- And the boots/shoes are out of season for this Spring dress dress