The White Shirtdress

This Viktor & Rolf shirtdress is a total fiasco.

On the other hand, I like how it manages to evoke both a nurse AND a mental patient.

The perfect accessory: a thermometer.

$1,125 at Shopbop.

What fashionese gibberish would you use to describe this dress?

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42 Responses to The White Shirtdress

  1. MoonShine says:

    this is a joke costume form a skit? right? only a costume designer working on a comedy show would take this seriously 😀

  2. hahaha i think fiasco is the perfect word to use here 🙂

  3. Sonja says:

    haha! looks like dueling Project Runway designers were forced to work together.

  4. annemarie says:

    Ahem!

    “This beautiful white shirt dress will quickly become your go-to wardrobe staple. Dress it up with heels for an uptown polished look, pair it with boots and distressed denim for downtown chic, or dress it down with simple flats and flowers in your hair for a boho beach vibe! This classic-with-a-twist dress is the ultimate investment buy, becoming better and better as the years go buy, and the dirty it gets the happier you will be that you paid so much for it.”

  5. E says:

    “You will be completely obsessed by this soon-to-be classic staple. The unique asymmetrical, reconstructed/deconstructed, futurist, iconic, crisp white item will be your go-to obsession. It’s purity will speak to you. You will be obsessed. You will search obsessively until you have thrifted the perfect white bloomer to compliment it – or keep it minimal, with a simple crystal – mounted in a solid silver talon setting.
    Others will be envious and simply obsess over and over as to where they too, can find such a twisted classic – packed with ease and effortless chic. We think this shirt evokes the decadence of the 60s boho-groupie in its shoulder-bearing insolence, the clinical precision of 80s synth bands in its uncompromising whiteness and looks forward into a bright future projection of modern femininity and power.”

  6. E says:

    …. or “putting the ass in asymmetrical”.
    Obsessed.

  7. deja pseu says:

    The perfect accessory: a thermometer.

    {snort!} You’ve captured the essence of this piece perfectly and succinctly.

  8. David Duff says:

    Is she leaning to one side – or am I pissed?

    (Who said, “Again!”?)

  9. turn to the left and you present a model of composure to the world, turn to the right and and your louche personality will be on display for all to see – you choose …but we’ll all know you spent shed loads of money on looking like a ….

  10. Witch Moma says:

    This designer is after both the “petite” & “plus size” markets. Ms. Petite would wear the dress as shown & Ms. Plus would use the neck for her right arm & head thus rendering it a one shoulder look for day or warm evenings. A very green, moneymaker.

  11. Sister Renata, I promise you, this is the school uniform, I’ve just changed it a little bit…

  12. Nancy Lopez says:

    I love your blog , just stumbled upon it and its great!

    I left you an e mail with one proposition , hope you can answer it.

    Best Regards

  13. honeypants says:

    To me, it evokes the Elephant Man. He could use a weirdly shaped shirt like this.

  14. kate says:

    the perfect dress for the girl who is bigger on one side than the other.

  15. liz says:

    i have nothing witty to say, it’s..just.. so.. ugly.

  16. annemarie says:

    haha, i just clicked on “Nancy Lopez”– wonder what kind of proposition it is??

  17. Ann says:

    That thing is ugly as shit.

  18. andrea says:

    Guaranteed to be worn by Tilda Swinton if she goes to the Oscars this year. It looks like it’s trying too hard to be avant garde. Just makes the wearer look like a fashion victim.

  19. jlynn says:

    My fashionese gibberish fails me. I can’t help but think some farsighted 9 yr old in a Malaysian sweatshop suffered a caning over this horrorshow…
    Surely it wasn’t designed to look like that?

    The perfect accessories: a full length mirror and a sense of shame

  20. gretchen says:

    It looks like a Home Ec project done on drugs…

  21. candy says:

    the dress is too long and this trend was very popular around 2001-2003, they used to make skirts and dresses cut that way at the hem.

  22. kt says:

    Looks like something I made when I wanted to learn how to sew and didn’t know the concept of using a pattern. I should’ve kept those practice pieces, I could’ve come out with my own line by now.

  23. Jan Marriott says:

    my best laugh of the day…the dress and the comments

  24. Suebob says:

    It reminds me of this old folktale:
    “A man came to a szabo, tailor, and tried on a suit. As he stood before the mirror, he noticed the vest was a little uneven at the bottom.
    ‘Oh,’ said the tailor, ‘don’t worry about that. Just hold the shorter end down with your left hand and no one will ever notice.’
    While the customer proceeded to do this, he noticed that the lapel of the jacket curled up instead of lying flat.
    ‘Oh that?’ said the tailor. ‘That’s nothing. Just turn your head a little and hold it down with your chin.’
    The customer complied, and as he did, he noticed that the inseam of the pants was a little short and he felt that the rise was a bit too tight.
    ‘Oh, don’t worry about that,’ said the tailor. ‘Just pull the inseam down with your right hand, and everything will be perfect.’ The customer agreed and purchased the suit.
    The next day he wore his new suit with all the accompanying hand and chin ‘alterations.’ As he limped through the park with his chin holding down his lapel, one hand tugging at the vest, the other hand grasping his crotch, two old men stopped playing checkers to watch him stagger by.
    ‘M’Isten, oh, my God!’ said the first man. ‘Look at that poor crippled man!’
    The second man reflected for a moment, then murmured, ‘Igen, yes, the crippling is horrible, but you know I wonder…where did he get such a nice suit?'”

  25. Cricket9 says:

    OMG, over $1000 for THIS?! SW, words fail me. The oversized cuff! The off-shoulder hideous neckline! The wrinkled and twisted waist! I kinda-sorta liked Victor & Rolf, but I’m putting them now on “Demented Fashion People” list.
    I would be kicked out forever from my home ec class for this, and I would have to repeat fifth grade of the primary school.

  26. Andra says:

    This dress and photo are very funny.
    This poor girl is trying to pretend she always wanted to look like this and it is perfectly normal.
    She is trying to do casually insouciant.
    It is not working and she knows it.

  27. Nickie Frye says:

    Absurd & unflattering. Furthermore, I could buy a whole new wardrobe for that price.

  28. Carrie says:

    Oh my. Looks like it had a stroke…

  29. K-Line says:

    Man – you called that perfectly! Hilarious.

  30. Joy D. says:

    I don’t mind the asymmetrical hem but ugh, one sleeve is bigger than the other and that is just not okay. And Nickie Frye has the right idea: save your money, buy a whole new wardrobe if you care that much.

  31. Homma says:

    haha. Sonja, you took the words right out of my mouth. Remember those two PR guys who ‘reinvented’ the shirt dress in striped shower curtain fabric? Series 6 I think? ha, good times…

  32. helen says:

    This garment is an amalgamation of thrifted and found pieces, artfully curated by a Dallas teenager to portray the very essence of shit on a stick.

  33. From the waist down I love this. But from the waist up, it looks like the tailor was trying to fit for Jekyll and Hyde simultaneously.

  34. Dru says:

    Not fashionese gibberish, but I imagine the dress is saying- “good luck ever being able to wear a bra under this bitch!” (and not the strapless kind, I hate those)

  35. Hammie says:

    Also getting out of bed and Wrapping a sheet around you. xx

  36. Kathleen says:

    Salvador Dali called. He wants his shirtdress back.

  37. gail says:

    this might actually camoflouge my scoliosis…..

  38. nadine says:

    I am sorry to say….I love it.

    I am a mental patient who thinks she is a nurse though.

    does that mean I can wear it?

  39. james says:

    Grazia would write “Deconstructed Clinical Chic”

  40. chuck n. says:

    total f-ness (fierce, duhh) right thurr.

    but seriously, ew. it’s probably gonna become some irritating blogger-diy that will be mentioned somewhere and copied everywhere (obvs. not)

    that whole collection was bizarre, way to gaudy-anna-dello-russo for my tame taste

  41. marie says:

    can only think of The Cosby Show.

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