Mask Dresses Are The Most Fitting Fashion Trend For The Pandemic. And Indian Brands Need To Start Making These
It’s been almost seven months in the lockdown now and I am still not used to wearing my face mask when I step out. I keep forgetting it at home and have to go back to fetch it, every time. Happens, right? I am sure it happens to everyone. In our defence, we had expected (read: hoped) that the pandemic would be long gone by now. Wasn’t the vaccine supposed to be out in like May and everything was supposed to go back to normal by September? But here we are, covering our faces with the face masks and forgetting them at home. Enter, mask dress!
Why am I cribbing about not remembering to wear my face mask all of a sudden (I do that a lot of time without a reason, but here I have an actual one) is that the fashion retailers took care of this as well. Looks like the coronavirus isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and thus the fashion brands are coming up with convenient and corona-safe outfit options so you are safe and look cute at the same time, because, can’t compromise on that. While you thought about how it would be truly amazing if your dress and tops came with an in-built face covering, well, someone somewhere was already working on it. And, and the outfit is being called mask dress.
The latest fashion innovation of 2020 and probably the next big thing in fashion, mask dress looks like your normal cowl neck or turtle neck dress but is actually a safeguard against the coronavirus. The fabric of the dress extends from the neckline towards the face and comes with loop straps to go around your ear just like your masks. If this isn’t the most fitting outfit for the pandemic, we don’t what is.
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Also Read: Move Over PJs, House Dress Is The Latest Quarantine Fashion Trend Women Are Slipping Into
Face masks elevated from being a mere survival tool to being a fashion statement somewhere during the lockdown. It became a fashion accessory of the year. We may have started the pandemic with those boring N95 masks and then moved on to matching masks or complimenting masks, but this beats all. A mask dress is the utilitarian and most practical sartorial option in these times. A lot of celebrities have already hopped on board on the mask dress bandwagon including Kate Moss’s sister Lottie Moss who was spotted wearing one recently which got sold out within minutes after her pictures were out.
Talking about the functionality of the mask dresses, yes, there is some serious warning. Unless the mask details in your dress comes with a double or triple layering and a protective fabric that works on safeguarding you against the coronavirus, you might would want to skip on the dress. Cotton masks are less effective than surgical masks but serve as a barrier if they are created with proper layering. The sheer fabric dress masks just won’t work. You can’t risk your life just to look cute and on fleek. Tempting, but hard pass. So, make sure the fashion label you are going for states that their dress mask meets the guidelines and protects you from the virus.
Our social media feeds are also flooding with the #maskdress. There are so many styles that mask dress comes in but a solid bodycon seems to be an ultimate fav. Others include a comfy and roomy T-shirt dress with a covering that features drawstrings and a gorgeous georgette maxi dress. Psst, some even have pockets, can you believe that? If you are looking for some inspo on how to rock the mask dress, here is some straight from Instagram.
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If you already loved this dress and can’t wait to add it to your pandemic wardrobe (that’s a thing, I swear), well, hold your horses. Currently, no fashion brand in India has these dresses in their arsenal, but here’s hoping they’d come up with it soon. International brands like UK retailer Pretty Little Thing (the label Lottie Moss wore) has these dresses on sale and other brands like Overstock have mask tops. Just saying. Or, until the Indian fashion brands debut a mask dress, you can DIY a cowl neck bodycon dress with a proper covering if you are blessed with some stitching talent.
It does have some downsides too like you’d have to wash the entire outfit every time you are back from your little trip outside instead of just the teensy mask and you’d still need different face masks for your other outfits, so there’s that. But it still an amazing and a super fashionable way to deal with the pandemic. Who knew such creative outfits could sprout from the crisis! A hybrid of a mask and a dress so you are up to your nose in style and protected from the virus? Now who doesn’t want that?
