A TALE of Two HEMLINES

This season, UNEVENLY CUT skirts and dresses SIGNAL a moment where FASHION-and the zeitgeist-is caught between LIBERATION and CONSERVATISM, INFORMALITY and ELEGANCE, FANTASY and PRAGMATISM

- TEXT BY CAMILLE FREESTONE

Lately, it seems like we're willing to look for signs (and bet on them) anywhere and everywhere. But before Polymarket, we looked at hemlines as some kind of economic oracle. The hemline index refers to the phenomenon where hemlines rise in boom times and fall in recessions, though it’s proven to be more of a cultural phenomenon than a true economic indicator. (The theory stems from Wharton School economist George William Taylor's 1929 PhD thesis, which only identified that postwar sales of hosiery had exploded, likely due in part to rising hemlines.)

What to make, then, of the wonky hemlines making headlines on the red carpet and the runways?

Addison Rae attended the Grammy Awards in February wearing a curious white dress. It was sleeveless, with a neckline that scooped down to her navel. The garment’s full skirt poofed out at her hips and rippled to its longest point between her legs. Rae posed as cameras flashed, then turned to reveal a completely different silhouette. At the back, the skirt was short enough to show her underwear. Each photo from the evening offered a new perspective. The garment was one of Pieter Mulier’s last custom pieces for Alaïa (he will begin his new role at Versace in July) and was inspired, in part, by Marilyn Monroe standing over that famous subway grate.

For Rae’s stylist, Dara, the uneven hem “feels a bit like what my childhood self would imagine a fabulous dress to be: short enough to be sexy, yet long enough to be dramatic,” she says. “It’s glamour disrupted, as if something has gone awry. It recalls bad taste and wardrobe malfunctions, which feels like a modern way to approach beauty and elegance. It’s mystery and a reveal all at the same time.”