Rita Ora Brings Back One of Fashion’s Most Iconic Prints
Rita Ora was in London to promote Phoenix, her new album, yesterday, and managed to serve up a fashion history lesson along the way. Proving that the nostalgia trend really does have legs, the singer wore a highly sought-after vintage John Galliano slip dress featuring his famous newspaper print, a motif first made famous by Elsa Schiaparelli in 1935. Schiaparelli used prints of her own press clippings to decorate her designs and years later, Galliano riffed on the idea for the infamous "Hobo Chic" Christian Dior Haute Couture Spring 2000. At the time, Galliano was criticized for taking inspiration from the homeless population in Paris and the Tramp Balls of the 1920s and 1930s which saw the wealthy elite in derelict cosplay at glamorous soirées. The once-controversial print would end up being flaunted by Sarah Jessica Parker on Sex and the City later that year in the form of a cowl neck slip dress from Galliano’s follow-up Fall 2000 collection. Sarah Jessica Parker also donned the same Galliano for Dior dress for Sex and the City 2 the movie.
Being a longtime fashion fanatic, Ora undoubtedly appreciates the significance of the famed newspaper print. Galliano repurposed it for his namesake line as well, which is the version Ora wore yesterday underneath a plaid coat and accessorized with a bowler hat and black patent leather boots. The dress is a prized possession for anyone who has been able to unearth one eBay or by trawling vintage shops. There have been several copycats in recent years but nothing will replace the original black and white type of Ora’s dress. No fake sartorial news here.
