After a few years as the reigning hot girl uniform, showing up everywhere from Real Housewives confessionals to fashion parties, the Mugler bodysuit has been dethroned. With a burgeoning profile in 2023, and a promising start to the new year, it has now become clear that the Rick Owens Prong dress has taken the title from the paneled bodysuit.
Any fashion-minded individual knows the Prong dress is nothing new. In fact, it’s been around for a few years now, originally debuting in Owens’s spring/summer 2022 collection in September 2021. Kim Kardashian was the dress’ original champion, wearing it in black with a looser, more demure skirt to Paris Hilton’s wedding in November 2021. Clearly, whatever addictive substance is sewed into the seams of this dress hooked Kardashian in, because less than a year later, the reality star turned to the dress again—this time the silver, column skirt version—for an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden. As we know, though, fashion moves quickly these days, and ever since Kardashian’s double endorsement, the dress has gone through many life cycles.
It’s not hard to see why the piece is so popular. It’s edgy and modern, but still simple enough to make it wearable. It’s also seems supportive up top, meaning you won’t be constantly pulling it up the bust when you wear it out for a night of influencer event hopping. These days, it comes in various colorways—everything from black patent leather to vampy red to a sort of extraterrestrial green—so you can make the dress your own. Unfortunately, the silhouette is so distinct, no matter what color one goes for, the Prong can be spotted from a mile away.
Think of Miranda Priestly’s classic “cerulean blue” monologue in The Devil Wears Prada, except in this version, the journey of the dress starts with Owens runway show, then on to Kardashian’s public approval. From there, it trickles down the line of celebrities, first appearing on more prominent names like Paloma Elsesser and Cardi B. It then filters down to Heidi Klum and Katy Perry, who wore a holographic green version on American Idol last May. Now, the list of those who have embraced the dress with its geometric, plunging neckline is too long to count.
Likely, the dress’ initially turn from celebrity favorite to influencer uniform can be marked by its appearance on the Real Housewives of Potomac when Ashley Darby donned a purple mini Prong dress in the show’s confessionals. Over the years, these floating head interviews have catalyzed a sort of fashion face-off between the housewives as they attempt to one-up each other with bigger brand names and flashier styles. These days, an appearance on an Andy Cohen vehicle is almost a kiss of death for a designer item. It led to the cultural downfall of the Mugler suit, so it seems the Prong dress’ fate is written in stone at this point.
As proof, let’s look at how the first two weeks of 2024 have gone for the Prong dress. Last Sunday, Internet personality turned card game purveyor Serena Kerrigan wore it in brown to the Moët & Chandon Golden Globes after party. Just days later, Real Housewife of Miami star Lisa Hochstein said, “I’m not going to be basic and wear this for show’s confessional like all of my costars.” So instead, she put it on for a date night in New York City with her partner, Jody Glidden.
Not to equate the Real Housewives or SFK with the “clearance bin” of celebrities, but it is definitely safe to say the Prong dress has reached the masses. Don’t expect to see the style on Kardashian anymore, but chances are the Bravo girls are quickly replacing all the Mugler catsuits in their closet with Prong dresses as we speak, so they’ll be ready to go for all their upcoming confessionals.
Shop the Prong dress before it sells out (because it’s looking like it will):
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