Herve Leger

Seeing the bright neon pink bandage dress, displayed on its own table in the middle of Flannels designer store in Cardiff, I had to try it on; just to see how it felt to try on a £1,300 dress.

You can see how cleverly done the bandage dress is made, each woven piece of fabric of the dress bound layer after layer from the bottom to the top of the dress. It’s very heavy despite how short the dress is due to the amount of bandage wrapped around you. Once the dress is on it feels as if the dress has personally been made for you. It hugs your hips and is bound perfectly around your buttocks, making your whole body look beautiful. If I had £1,300 it would not be a question as to weather the dress would still be on the shelf. However for now it will only be a dream away, but at least it will be a beautiful one.

Many women are forking out for the original Herve Leger Body con bandage dress despite the recent credit crunch. It is interesting to ask, are women doing this because of what the dress promises, or for whom they see wearing the dresses in the magazines?

Girls Aloud, Rachel Bilson, Mariah Carey, to name but a few. We are not talking celebrities, but stars that wear and influence us to wear the ultimate figure hugging revived body con bandage dress. The body con bandage dress is not one for the faint hearted, putting women’s curves in the right places, without having to diet or hit the gym. The cost of the body con bandage dress is £1,300. Would you pay this to feel like a celebrity? Like most dresses women see on magazines, you can usually get a replica from ASOS.com or Oli.com for a 5^th of the original price. But this dress is not made from your average 100% cotton or silk like many Gucci dresses, or ones on ASOS.com for that matter.

Herve Leger, a French designer is the original creator of the bandage dress. It all began when he was walking through a factory and saw some old bands of fabric that were considered garbage. He started to ‘wrap’ the pieces around each other and created a figure hugging dress. The design “mummifies” the body to give the perfect look.

Cindy Crawford was one of the first celebrities to wear the bandage dress. It was a huge hit during the 1980s and 90s.

It has now been revived and designed by Christopher Kane, including a serious of neon colours. Max Azria bought the name in 1999 and began to expand the range in 2006. The dress debuted in the Herve Leger collection by Max Azria in autumn 2008.

What is so special about the dress is the way it is made. It promises to give you the perfect figure without dieting, the gym or magic knickers. It literally is the miracle version of the Wonder bra. The dress is made of 90% rayon, 9% nylon and 1% spandex. What is different to these materials in comparison to the materials other dresses are made of are that rayon is breathable, comfortable and soft to the skin, ensuring you can feel at ease in the dress despite it looking figure hugging. A little nylon, which is a synthetic fabric that is strong and lightweight, and finally 1% spandex which can be stretched repeatedly, and will return almost exactly back to the original size and shape, it is also soft and smooth to give you the comfort as well as the figure you want.

Regardless of the credit crunch the dress is bought by many women around the country alike. Gemma Peterson, 28, Assistant Store Manager or designer shop Flannels in Cardiff comments that “despite the small supply in stock the bandage dress is very sought after. Celebrities have contributed to the influence of purchase of the dress.

The dress comes in a variety of colours, such as neon pink, to multi tonal dark greens to plain black.” Prices vary from £600-£1300. Gemma comments “what’s so special about the dress is the construction; it is made up of woven fabric bandaged around colour. The dress in unique as it comes in bold colours and is simply designed.”

One of the criteria of the dress Gemma adds is that it is for the fashion savvy and the confident individual.

What is great about the Herve Leger body con bandage dress are that the sizes do not come in your standard, 8, 10, 12. They come in extra small, small, medium and large. This is great for those who are size conscious when it comes to shopping, as it does not bound women into a number category, but of a size which is considerably generous thanks to the spandex material.

Hannah, 21, of Goldsmiths Collage, “The dress has made a huge comeback as it can make any woman feel amazing without surgery. Unlike most dresses women need to wear the magic knickers for dress to compliment their figure, where as with the dress you feel like you are wearing a pair of magic knickers in a different array of colours.” She thinks that the dress is even more popular amongst many young women as in many magazines the dress is worn by lots of celebrities of all ages and tastes. Hence making women want to indulge and buy the famous body con bandage dress as well as feel like a star with a star studded body in the famous Herve Leger body con bandage dress.

For those who can’t folk out on a Herve Leger bandage dress, but have a 5^th of the £1,300 price tag, it is available to buy a close replica in lots of neon colours on ASOS.com costing a digestible £60. With the help of spandex magic knickers, there will be no need to go to the gym or faddy diets before a night out, so you can spend your extra money exercising your wallet and moves on the dance floor rather than your credit card.

If you want to feel like a celebrity for the evening, without having to diet and have a spare £1,300, then it would be highly recommended to wear the Herve Leger bandage dress, as you truly will look a million dollars.