I’m going to try to explain to you why I love tacky shit right now.
It’s something that’s been asked a lot of me lately, as my attraction to all things gaudy (animal prints, gold chains, long red nails) and stupid (Juicy Couture, giant logos, rhinestones) is a recent and somewhat perplexing development in my personal style trajectory.
Thus far, I’ve failed to come up with a good explanation. I’m Italian-American! I love The Sopranos! I was born in the ‘90s! What more do you need to know? It was only until I attended a Versace fashion show in the flesh during Milan Fashion Week on Friday night that I began to understand the complexities of all of the above’s appeal.
Before going any further, let me explain what I mean when I say “tacky” in this context. Tackiness, as a form of taste, lies in the eye of the beholder. Society dictates that most tacky things are cheap-looking, but not necessarily cheap; kitschy; stuck in the past; flashy; and overly sexualized. Sounds amazing, right?
In its late-’80s, early-’90s heyday, Versace was not considered tacky because everything else in the world was on the same page. Then, minimalism happened, and Versace said fuggetaboutit, so it stood out. The brand has pretty much maintained this stance ever since, even following the assassination of Gianni Versace in 1997 (a subject that was just revisited on the 20th anniversary of his death with a tribute collection as well as a fictionalized television show on FX.) Today, no one does “tacky” better than Versace, and I mean that as a sincere compliment.
It is rare in this fast-paced world for a brand to remain relevant while stubbornly hanging onto its roots, but the pure, extravagant, feminine fun of Versace clothes keeps the brand alive each season. Fall 2018 was no different.
The show took place across from the Duomo inside Milan’s historic Royal Palace, which is exactly as regal as it sounds. As one tall, blonde, Donatella Versace doppelgänger after another entered the room in full spring looks, I figured they might have an answer to my question. So I went over and asked them why, exactly, they loved what the brand was offering.
“I like the shapes. I like the materials. But most of all, I like the fact that Versace does a sexy woman,” said Kallirroy Danalis, a mother of four from Greece whose wedding dress and “every important dress” after that was made by Versace. “The woman Versace designs for is sexy and powerful,” she said. “That’s the look.”
I heard the same thing from everyone else I spoke to. Like literally, the same words: “sexy” and “powerful.” The blogger Denni Elias added that Versace was “empowering.” Meanwhile, Margaret Zhang chose “strident” and “unapologetic.” But I got the gist: Versace makes women feel awesome.
This season was considerably less tacky with a capital-T, but it was still deeply Versace. The theme of the show was “clans” of “new royals,” with classic Versace motifs on one side of the spectrum and girls in chain-sole sneakers and t-shirts on the other — all of which were blended together in the end as a symbol of breaking boundaries. The only way to follow a blowout retrospective like last season’s show was to take Versace’s tentpoles and mix them up. It worked, and was also in step with what brands like Gucci and Prada are doing by offering a modern, hybrid woman.
In addition to hyper-flattering looks like one particularly stunning cinched leather dress worn by Imaan Hammam, there were also power suits and more “modest” looks, which showed almost no skin and sometimes included head scarves. These, however, still had the look and feel of Versace women, who are diverse in their origins but knows exactly what they want.
In 2018, we’re way past shaming women for their different definitions of sexy and how they choose to express it. Or at least, we should be. Just this week, Jennifer Lawrence responded to tabloids who remarked on how cold she looked in a “plunging” black Versace dress while promoting her new movie, Red Sparrow.
“This is sexist, this is ridiculous, this is not feminism,” Lawerence wrote on her official Facebook page in response. “That Versace dress was fabulous, you think I’m going to cover that gorgeous dress up with a coat and a scarf? I would have stood in the snow for that dress because I love fashion and that was my choice.”
At the end of the day, I think this is why I love tacky shit: It makes me feel sexy and powerful in ways that I know other people think it shouldn’t, which of course, makes it even sexier and more powerful.
There’s a lot of talk about #MeToo right now, and whether or not fashion should respond on the runway. The only brands who’ve come close to hitting a nerve are the ones who continue to give women what they want. It’s really that simple. A lot of designers thus far have been afraid to acknowledge that in this moment, women still want to have sex.
Miuccia Prada, however, wants her woman to be able to “go out in the street and not be afraid” at night. Donatella Versace showed completely different clothes, which some women might throw a puffer over at night, but her work had the same message: bye, haters.