Wearing Sheer In Real Life

Why on earth is “the naked dress” a trend and what are the rest of us supposed to do?

Skin is everywhere…on social media and in headlines at least. The red carpet at the Vanity Fair Oscars party was scantily clad. Ecomm sites are offering skimpy straps and sheer layers on every page of new arrivals. What gives? I am definitely not walking around naked. If you do, I salute you and your confidence! But for a lot of us, it’s just not something we will ever feel comfortable with. Or even if we feel fine about our bodies, still don’t feel like baring that much.

Trends are trends though and it can be fun to figure out why they are percolating and place them within the context of actually getting dressed. So today, see through clothes, and how to make them….clothes. 

At first I thought this was just going to be about finding sheer things and making them work. But as I started trying to create imaginary outfits, I realized, this is actually a story about layering. To wear sheer clothing, you need the right base layers, tops, shirt dresses, etc etc etc. It became a bigger beast than expected. Below a breakdown of what I mean. The best of the categories, and how to put them all together.

That dress you bought that you didn’t realize was going to be sheer but now you never wear it

It’s happened to the best of us. I recently bought a polka dot Comme des Garcons slipdress on The RealReal only to have it be totally see through upon arrival. The current trend research would say, just put on a cute boy short and let those thighs shine through. But I honestly just cannot. When I tried it on, my husband happened to walk by and say “you’re not wearing that outside are you?” So yea, not a great first comment on a new purchase. 

These accidentally sheer pieces end up being a great place to start experimenting with the trend. Because by nature they aren’t (usually) extremely transparent and you can play with layering in a way that reveals just slightly more than you are used to.

Vintage sheer polka dot dress. If you too are on the prowl for polka dots, look how cute this one is on sale! Not even sheer (I don’t think!) Black mini half slip from Amazon. It also comes in some longer lengths if this is too mini for you.

The dress above, for example, I’m pairing with a mini half slip procured from Amazon. I wear it hiked up to my natural waist and a black cotton bralette with a slim strap. the bust area in this dress happens to be double layered so you just get a thin line of skin between the skirt and the bra and then a hint of leg above the knee.

I intentionally didn’t wear a full slip dress with this because there are already two skinny straps at the top. Adding a third made it look messy. If it had a different neckline though, I might have gone for a slip dress.

Amazon half slips: Black (which comes in longer too if that’s your jam) Ivory (which comes with hysterical cutting instructions to “hem” yourself. I plan to leave mine long.

Below, another use of a half slip, in creamy ivory paired back to a ‘way too sheer to ever wear confidently’ white poplin skirt. I like that it peeks out a little, but you don’t need to let show if you don’t want to. *Note on ordering cheap poly Amazon slips though* I also bought one in stark white and….not good. Stick with the black and/or ivory. The ivory is softer under white garments and you can’t tell as drastically how …ehh hem… cheap they are.

Vintage Prada shirt. But here and here are some great short sleeve gingham button down alts. An old Jil Sander white poplin skirt. Again, here is an awesome alternate from Banana Republic. In fact, maybe I also need this one!? The ivory Mancyfit Amazon slip. Ayede sandals, Mizuki drop pearls.

Excuse me, your slip is showing

One part of this trend, that can literally be drawn in a straight line back to Prada Fall 2022, is the intentional sheer slip layer. I love this idea - first attempted in my group texts by Leandra late last year…and finally, the rest of us catching up.

Just take any short skirt or dress I already have and let a slip hang out of the bottom? So simple! I ordered this Kye intimates sheer slip because I liked the square neckline, skinny straps and the sheer material itself. It was way too long (to the floor!) when it came so I hemmed it about eight inches. But cool if you were going an evening route! *Editor’s note, it somehow sold out in the week since I ordered it, so if you love it, sign up for the waitlist. Here are two others…also on preorder, but maybe this is an experiment in waitlists to see which becomes reality first.

Prada Fall 2022, see what I mean?

Lots of layers, but surprisingly comfortable: Prada dress from TRR that came without a slip and I have always wondered what to do with it! Kye Intimates slip (that I hemmed about a foot!), Spanx shorts and my trusty Else bra in black (which you all already have from this newsletter). Manolo mules.

Three fabulous sheer under layers. From left: Tibi (also in black, but I couldn’t get you a good visual. Love the black!), Gauchere sheer skirt pleasantly found on super sale, Mango knit skirt with built in shorties

And working backwards. Four easy pieces to put on top, in extremely different categories of dressiness. But so you get the idea for shapes. A baggy sweater-vest-dress. A shirt dress - which actually! shirt dresses often look like you forgot your pants, so the sheer layer improves this category all together tenfold!!!! A t-shirt dress (the dress version of our favorite Cos t-shirt from last summer), and a mini party dress. Can you start pairing these in your head and see what I mean?

The unexpected side effect of this category, in my limited experience of testing it out, has been that I don’t constantly touch the back of my thighs when walking down the street, a short skirt tick of mine. It creates a sensation of length that makes me relax. So not no to this!

From left: Margiela oversized knit dress. LouLou Studio mini shirt dress. Cos t-shirt dress. Coperni lace cocktail dress.

True beauty is on the inside :)

A potentially more conservative way to play with all this gauze is to keep the sheer layer closer to the body. Instead of it being the top layer with slips underneath, or a frisky skirt, try a colorful gauzy undershirt. You could layer it under an (opaque) slipdress for a 90s-ish look. Or just let it peek out of your jean shirt as a way to jazz up your Canadian tuxedo for dinner in the neighborhood. Also great under a suit (with black camisole layer) for a slightly edgy corporate look, something I have recommended to a client who was going to Miami for a work trip. :)

From left: Louisa Ballou, Victoria Beckham, Dries Van Noten

Two-fers

The thing about wearing sheer clothing, when you in fact want to keep covered, is that its going to be a bit of a proportional puzzle that you just have to try a bit til you find the Ravensburger click. So maybe just ditch the riddles and go for sheer pieces that come with their opaque buddies attached.

I am trying this out with a Tory Burch look from her spring show. I don’t mean to fawn, but I really loved it. I really liked not having to worry about all the different layers. At the end of the day, its just a single skirt. And it was also not so so sheer that I was stressed about people giving me glances. Definitely a fun alternate to the summer dress. Some details and other ideas below.

Tory Burch skirt which I love soooooo much! The top layer (which is actually a super dark brown) hugs you like a Miraclesuit. All that rouching makes me feel not at all stresed about underwear lines and generally all the anxiety that comes with wearing something tight around my hips (I can only speak for myself!) Paired back here to our favorite CDLP white tshirt and French Sole ballerinas for an outfit I would totally wear to a daytime event. *If your size is sold out in the French Soles, these from Margaux are a pretty good alt!!

Not soooo different, but trying to dress her up here a little more. With a sheer sweater (also Tory) a Hanro lace trim camisole (love how the lace peeks through the sheer), Mizuki pearl drop earrings, Old David Yurman bangles (save it all people!), a satin clutch from the Row and Emme Parsons suede wedges.

A styling tip for those who get stuck up on backless things. I treat backless things as if they have a back. I kind of like the messiness of it, makes it look less fraught. I also show my bra in backless or low back dresses/tops. Just try to pick a pretty bra! I guess we could go over that in a future letter. :)

From left: Tory Burch, Dries Van Noten, Lafayette148 (a more conservative but equally beautiful option), Helmut Lang, which is the best price and probably the easiest to wear of the group

The essentials

Part of what makes trying new ideas so hard is that you need a lot of styling elements in your closet. The things that are not super fun to buy but act as the glue when trying to incorporate exciting new purchases into your repertoire. For example, I met a friend for lunch last week and she had on a sheer Dries Van Noten shirtdress worn open over a white ribbed tank and jeans. So cute! But she couldn’t figure out how to wear it dressed up. If she just had a black slip dress in her closet, she could have layered the two, thrown on a black sandal and been done. Below, the things you won’t enjoy buying but will make it all work in the long run.

From left: Theory slip dress, Dries Van Noten shirt dress, CDLP ribbed tank, Goldsign jeans

The basic, boring list.

The best black slipdress is this one from Tibi. The fabric weight is divine. The skininess of the straps…so good. Its expensive. But you will have this for years. I’ve had mine at least ten.

The second best slipdress is a tie. This one from Organic by John Patrick. Love the rawness of it and the price for a high quality fabric. And finally, this one from Theory. A great run-of-the-mill classic.

The best camisoles are from Hanro. Here is the simplest style in black and white. And I personally love the lace trim versions.

The best half slips are from Amazon, because the price can’t be beat and you really don’t see them. (Plus barely anyone even makes a half slip anymore!) But If you’d like it to peek out from your dress, this one from Skin is gorgeous! And if you are more the “seamless" type (I don’t blame you!) then this one.

In conclusion. This might not be a trend for everyone. BUT, hope you found some ways that made you think twice about brushing off a crazy fad. Because when you break it down, there kind of is something for (almost) everyone and ways to choose pieces that won’t die in one season. Signing off with a couple other sheer pieces I love that didn’t quite fit our official categories but are so great, I just wanted to share.

Now that you get the gist and know what to layer under…some very cool sheer pieces that at first e-comm glance you might think: “what do I do with this?” but are actually very wearable! Happy exploring! Clockwise from top left: Nackiye dress, Acne blouse, Paloma Wool shirt, Saks Potts skirt, Issey Miyake cardigan/shirt, Acne cardigan

Yours TRULY,

Becky