In 2017, This Trend Will Replace the Naked Dress

 Where Michelle Obama and Kendall Jenner tread in fashion, others follow. Should they both divert down the same path . . . well, that’s a recipe for a trend to sweep the nation. Such was the case in the fall of 2016, when both the First Lady and the First It Girl of Modeling sported chain-mail dresses. Mrs. Obama’s was a rosy, custom-made Atelier Versace gown that our own Michelle Ruiz called “a mic drop on eight years of fashion slayage.” Jenner’s dress was also custom, a silvery sliver of a thing that evoked Paris Hilton’s metal mesh 21st-birthday dress from 2002. (Maybe it’s no coincidence that Jenner wore the frock to her own 21st-birthday party.) Though dissimilar in style, the pair of evening ensembles set in motion a trend toward chain-mail fashion that’s taken hold of celebrity style—and shows no signs of letting up in 2017.

For the noncelebrity looking to try out metal clothing, the stylist recommends keeping it simple. “You can start with a chain-mail top, it doesn’t have to be a full dress,” she says. “Either way, I think it’s all about feeling good and being confident. You’re wearing the dress, it’s not wearing you.”