In the era of à la carte dressing, what constitutes a ‘revenge’ look? It may not be an exact formula but chances are your mind goes to the place of something feminine, black and boldly cut (read: short). 

For the uninitiated, the purpose of the revenge outfit is to look so radiant, so damn good that the person who wronged you feels instant regret for doing so, or – at the very least – extreme jealousy. It seems we’re preoccupied with the idea of a dress that has the power to enunciate more than ‘Look at me’; speaking to the ‘Don’t underestimate me’ or the wildly popular ‘I’ve still got it’ schools of thought.

In fact, when photos of gamine Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki on set of season five of The Crown leaked last week, particular nooks of the internet became frenzied. Debicki was shooting the famous scene of ‘the revenge dress’. That is, the night Princess Diana shed royal protocol, attending the 1994 Vanity Fair annual fundraising gala for the Serpentine Gallery in a clavicle-flashing, sweetheart mini-dress by Greek designer Christina Stambolian.

Of course, the crucial detail to revel in is that it just so happened to be the night Diana’s ex, Prince Charles, publicly admitted to his affair with paramour Camilla Parker Bowles on national television. 

Debicki, just like Diana, looked divine. So much so, that within a day fashion index Lyst reported that online searches for off-the-shoulder black dresses increased by 58 per cent while searches for sweetheart-neck black dresses surged by 103 per cent.

Nowadays, we speak more of the revenge body than the clothes that drape it. When Bella Hadid attended the 2017 Met Gala, looking every bit the Gen Z Cat Woman in a sheer body stocking, she was fresh from a breakup with The Weeknd (who arrived with then-girlfriend Selena Gomez on his arm). 

What is great is how revenge dressing has transmogrified through the years. A decade ago, we would have balked at the notion of knitwear as sexy. That opinion was revoked when Katie Holmes hailed a yellow cab in a knitted bra and coordinating cardigan by US label Khaite. Since, the great ‘bradigan’ moment of 2019 has been etched in the cultural consciousness. Tom Cruise, who? 

Since the pandemic, revenge dressing has been more likely to happen on Instagram, than real life. Notably, thanks to social media, we have the means to control the narrative of our moment. Curating it, even. A selfie that radiates success and self-content is perhaps the ultimate signifier of revenge in this hyper-shareable era. A wellness thirst-trap, if you will. 

Post-Covid-19, the idea of revenge dressing might be changing completely. It could be a rebellion against tracksuit bottoms, WFH dressing; a two-fingers to the Crocs-and-no-makeup look. Just as we rebelled against office attire and formality when we went into lockdown, our new state of revenge is a rally against the contemporaneous comfort that’s clouded the last 20 months. 

“The new revenge dressing is about shedding the constraints of comfort and embracing optimism,” says Dublin-based stylist Corina Gaffey. When it comes to clothes, there’s no singular look. “Revenge dressing in 2021 means different things to different people. It could be the frivolity of a Molly Goddard tutu dress, the togetherness of a sharp suit, a short and sexy LBD.”

The unifying link? “It’s something that makes you feel feminine and empowered. It’s sparkly, it’s fun and it’s optimistic.”

Main image (left to right): Thebe Magugu autumn winter 21, Self Portrait autumn winter 21, Molly Goddard autumn winter 21.