A cape dress describes a woman's dress which combines features, of the cape and the the dress. Either a cape-like garment is attached to the dress, or otherwise integrated into its construction, or the dress and cape are made to co-ordinate in fabric and/or colour. Cape dresses were traditionally worn by (conservative) Mennonite women. Unlike the prayer (head) covering, the cape dress never became part of dress regulations. Besides its historical associations with Mennonite dress, the cape dress has become part of fashion vocabulary.
In the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century the cape dress was worn by women from conservative Mennonite communities. The cape dress had a plain style and a piece of fabric covered the bodice. This piece of fabric had a square or V-shape form and de-emphasized the female form. The women of the Holdeman Mennonite community in California wore a cape-dress that had a high neckline, loose bodice and fitted waist. The cape of the dress covered the shoulders and bust. Because of religious reasons, no (or only minor) adornment of the dress was allowed.
The plainer the dress, the higher it was valued. For Mennonite community women’s clothing symbolized gender roles. The dress showed women’s ‘submission to God, to men in general and their husband in particular.
Cape dresses have been making a splash lately, thanks to the celebrities who have been embracing this chic trend in the past few years. Gwyneth paltrow stunned at the 2012 Oscars in a white Tom Ford cape dress; Lupita Nyong’o managed to make an off-the shoulder cape dress an actual thing when she wore this red Ralph Lauren dress at the 2014 Golden Globes; Solange Knowles wore three caped ensembles for her wedding last month; and Angelina Jolie wore a demure white Ralph and Russo cape dress to the November 25 premiere of Unbroken.
The cape dress has occurred in different variations in fashion and film. Recently, the cape dress has occurred in different collections and fashion designers. {SEE PHOTOS OF SOME CAPE DRESSES}
Wow nice
ReplyDelete