Put on that slip dress, we’re going out! For years, lingerie has lived behind closed doors: beautiful lace, satin slips and barely-there bralettes reserved for occasions that rarely involve leaving the house. Now, the rules around what counts as underwear—and what does not—are getting rather blurry. Bras are peeking out from beneath blazers, babydolls are being paired with boots, and the humble slip dress has officially graduated from bedtime to dinner plans.
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Of course, lingerie dressing is hardly new. It has been building for several seasons, finding ways to expose what was once meant to be hidden for decades. In the 1990s, French lingerie designer Fifi Chachnil became synonymous with a distinctly Parisian take on lingerie—playful, overtly feminine and designed to be seen, not simply concealed beneath clothes. Madonna turned the conical bra into pop-cultural iconography, while Kate Moss made the barely-there slip dress a defining look of the decade. By the early 2000s, corsets, camisoles and visible bra straps had entered the mainstream. The difference now is how seamlessly the idea has folded into everyday dressing. It is simply another layer, or in some cases, the entire outfit. After all, these are pieces designed to make an impression, so why should they only be seen at home?
The resurgence also arrives at an interesting moment for fashion. After years of pared-back dressing, hyper-femininity, Y2K nostalgia and the return of the boudoir aesthetic have made lace, satin, corsetry and sheer fabrics feel newly relevant. Social media has accelerated the shift, too, collapsing the distance between the runway, the street and the bedroom. The once-private styling codes have become part of the wider fashion conversation, with lingerie increasingly worn as a visible, deliberate part of the look.
Pop-culture celebrities have been getting behind the movement, each in their own way. Sabrina Carpenter has made corsets, lace trims and satin almost inseparable from her ultra-feminine image, balancing them with polished hair, heels and deliberately glamorous proportions. Olivia Rodrigo is giving the babydoll a new lease on life for her current you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love era, with Peter Pan collars, puff sleeves, bloomers and Mary Janes recalling the sweetness of ’90s girlhood dressing, but with the slightly unruly riot-grrrl-esque spirit that has always accompanied her style. Meanwhile, the global girl group Katseye has folded bralettes, sheer layers and Y2K-inspired pieces into its high-energy, maximalist wardrobe.
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And that is perhaps where lingerie dressing has landed: not as a shocking act of rebellion, but simply a loosening of the rules. The trick is not to look as though you have accidentally left the house in your underwear. Make it look intentional! From a flash of lace beneath a blazer to a satin slip thrown over a T-shirt, there are plenty of ways to take the intimate apparel out of the bedroom. You are simply giving your favourite nightwear a little more time in the spotlight. So, ready to take the lingerie drawer out for a spin? Below, shop the pieces worth investing in and the styling tips to take them beyond the comfort of your sheets.
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Babydoll it up
Nothing says innocent troublemaker quite like a babydoll dress. Styled with knee-high socks and platform boots, the look leans into a playful, almost schoolgirl-adjacent nostalgia, while the puffed silhouette keeps the whole thing feeling rather cheeky and mischievous.
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Valentino Garavani Floral Lycra Knee-high socks, $646
Available at Valentino Garavani.
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Dr. Martens 1B60 Bex Pisa Leather Knee High boots, $305
Available at Dr. Martens.
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Peek-a-bra
There’s a fine art to leaving one button undone too many, and this is a masterclass in it. An oversized striped shirt completes the off-duty, borrowed-from-the-boyfriend ease, but it’s the bralette underneath, left partially in view, that seals the look.
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Fleur Du Mal Lily Embroidery Balconette bra, $235
Available at Fleur Du Mal.
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Massimo Dutti Linen Striped shirt, $160
Available at Massimo Dutti.
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Thom Browne Solid Wood Flannel pencil skirt, $6500
Available at Thom Browne.
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Jimmy Choo Zandra Silver Metallic Leather clutch bag, $2175
Available at Jimmy Choo.
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Stuart Weitzman Bareitall Slingback 85 pumps, $390
Available at Stuart Weitzman.
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Short and lace-y
Sportswear and lingerie rarely end up in the same sentence, let alone the same outfit, but the pairing clearly holds up. Styled with a cropped track jacket and matching heels, the look leans into a retro, off-court sportiness, while the lace trim running along the hem keeps the outfit from staying in its athletic-wear lane.
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Saint Laurent Cropped Shell jacket, $4,668
Available at Saint Laurent.
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Giuseppe Zanotti Intriigo Braid 70 heels, $515
Available at Giuseppe Zanotti.
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Just slip it on
For a piece that spent thirty years being told it wasn’t allowed outside, the slip dress is having a very public moment. Slingback heels and a structured clutch dress it up for daylight hours, with the scalloped lace hem as the last giveaway of its nightwear origins.
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Bottega Veneta Knot Aviator sunglasses, $930
Available at Bottega Veneta.
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Tony Bianco Victoria White Nappa heels, $216
Available at Tony Bianco.
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Well, of corset
Corsetry has been normalised as outerwear since Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier put boning on runways in the ’90s. Paired here with cargo trousers and a leather jacket slung over an arm, the corset trades its usual evening-wear context for something closer to off-duty.
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Dilara Findikoglu Rushing Hour jeans, $1,856
Available at Dilara Findikoglu.
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Emporio Armani Slim-fit Double-breasted Leather jacket, $2,450
Available at Emporio Armani.
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Maison Margiela x Gentle Monster MM216 A030(G) sunglasses, $410
Available at Maison Margiela.
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Dilara Findikoglu Hysteria bag, $4,604
Available at Dilara Findikoglu.
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See-through and through
Sheer has quietly become the boldest expression of lingerie-dressing yet, moving from runway accent to full-blown red carpet strategy over the past few seasons. Styled here with strappy heels and a quilted clutch for evening polish, the lace print leaves little to guesswork.
