In late June of 1994 Diana, Princess of Wales stepped out to a dinner party at Kensington Gardens in a black silk evening gown created by designer Christina Stambolion. This dress would later be referred to in pop culture as the “Revenge Dress” due to Diana wearing it in the immediate aftermath of the media revealing that Prince Charles, her former husband, had been unfaithful during their marriage. This off-the-shoulder dress featureas a sweetheart neckline with ruching along the sides to fit the contours of the body and an asymmetrical hemline. Diana paired it with an extravagant diamond and pearl choker necklace that had a prominent statement-making sapphire in the center. Specific elements of this iconic outfit of Princess Diana’s continues to be referenced in media to this day, as does the general spirit of revenge dress.
After being at the forefront of the media for countless years, Taylor Swift is someone who has mastered (or at least her stylists have mastered) the art of revenge dress. As Swift says in her song “Vigilante Sh*t”, “I don’t dress for women / I don’t dress for men / Lately I’ve been dressing for revenge”. One instance when Swift “dressed for revenge” was at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards. On the carpet, Swift wore a fitted black gown with a high slit that featured gold buttons snaking up from the hemline to the bodice. Similarly to Diana’s dress, Swift’s gown also included ruching and a sweetheart neckline. The MTV Video Music Awards was one of the first awards shows Swift attended after it was announced that her six-year relationship with actor Joe Alywn had come to an end. By wearing this Versace gown, she was straying from the oftentimes more playful looks that she favors which feature pastel and metallic fabrics as well as silhouettes that lean towards being more conservative. This dress was a statement piece and the cherry on top of this revenge look was that she took home nine awards. For a celebrity who has been so intensely criticized for her entire career about the relationships she has had with men, utilizing clothing as a form of self expression gives her back some of the power she has lost over the years and allows her to create her own narrative.
With that being said, the art of revenge dress is not limited only to people in the public eye. We all take on our own forms of dressing for revenge in our lives. As I am thinking about life on a college campus, there are many situations where revenge dress is the best way of getting even. Want to make someone jealous? Show them what they are missing out on? The “post-breakup glow-up” is a real thing that can be anchored by putting on the top you feel most confident in and then going out to where the other person is and having a good time without them. The best satisfaction is not always getting into a fight in front of one of the fraternities while surrounded by people who you will have to see in class on Monday. Sometimes, it is protecting your peace and ignoring the person causing the problems while utilizing clothing to not only look, but also feel your best.
I would like to clarify that I am not pushing the notion that women exclusively dress in response to the actions of men. That we are so “emotional” that we can only be capable of looking our best when it is for the purpose of vengeance. That is not true. The art of revenge dress has more to do with the person wearing the outfit than it does with the person who is the reason for the outfit being worn. The goal of revenge dress is to feel confident in yourself and to remind the people around you that you are so much more than whatever happened to inspire the revenge dress. And if the person who motivated the revenge dress is jealous? Then maybe that is an added bonus.