The pomp and circumstance around prom — and the importance of finding the perfect ensemble to wear to it — goes back decades. But prom trends have come and gone since young men wore powder blue tuxedos with matching cummerbunds in the 1970s, and it wasn’t until the aughts that lavishly beaded and bedazzled gowns became the standard for high school grads — largely thanks to young stars upping their game on the red carpet and millennial TV dramas beginning to adorn teen stars in luxury brands for their senior dances. (Take Marissa Cooper from The O.C., who showed up to prom dressed in Chanel!) It’s as if the night has become an extension of the star-studded red carpets and best dressed lists we ogle at each year. After all, these grand-scale Hollywood events are where designers and celebrities flex their influence — and are a quintessential stop on a trend’s journey from the designer runway to the high street.
Consider the 93rd Academy Awards that recently took place on April 25. Although this year’s event was smaller than usual due to the pandemic, it didn’t fail to deliver on trends. After postponing the date by two months and safely altering the evening to fit into a COVID world, the stars dove onto the red carpet, albeit a more scaled-back one that normal years, in a variety of glamorous looks, include deep plunging necklines.
Stars walked the red carpet in a variety of deep V-neck dresses or gowns with plunging bustier torsos. Regina King’s Louis Vuitton fusion of Cinderella and the fairy godmother delivered an embellished, structured neckline. (Yes to the 3,800 crystals and 62,000 sequins.) Maria Bakalova also took a page from Louis Vuitton’s tome of fairytales in a whimsical white frock, while Halle Berry’s custom Dolce & Gabbana gown showed off how craftsmanship can subtly put a major plunge in a sweetheart neckline. And from Vanessa Kirby’s Gucci gown to Amanda Seyfried’s red Giorgio Armani number, not to mention Tiara Thomas’s white pantsuit, there was no shortage of décolletage.
There’s no doubt this style will trickle into prom looks this season. Even with expected adjustments — like virtual proms instead of IRL ones — fantastic costuming should still take place to fête this momentous occasion. With that, we’ve searched for some deep-V neckline dresses so you can to attend the prom feeling like an Oscar nominee.
Browse the gallery below for 11 dresses inspired by 2021 Oscars dresses.
You already know that unless you’re nowhere near a window at any point during the day (in which case, please seek some light?!) you should still be wearing SPF daily, even if you’re indoors. But while you may have formerly put up with some less-than-ideal sunscreen formulations when we were out and about (remember being out and about?) or at the beach on a scorching hot day, brushing off the harsh scents or slight white tints as inevitable, borderline charming parts of summer, this year your expectations are higher. We get it! If you’re going to wear SPF while stuck indoors, it better look and feel good to wear. Sound like a tall order? No problem. We’ve rounded up the very best sunscreen launches of 2021 that you’ll actually enjoy reaching for each morning.
When cult favourite sunscreen brand Supergoop! first launched in Canada last year, we could hardly wait to get our hands on the brand’s selection of SPF products that actually make sun protection fun (no, really!). Our fave launch yet? The brand’s Glowscreen SPF 40+ ($48), released at the beginning of this year. The hydrating sunscreen has a pearlescent finish that leaves skin seriously glowing and luminous. No highlighter needed.
Beloved Australian sunscreen brand Blue Lizard has finally made its way to Canada. “Throughout our entire heritage we’ve taken dermatologists [views] into consideration, whether it be for product testing or selling exclusively through dermatologists’ offices [which at one point, was how the brand was distributed] in the U.S.,” says Andrew Lipscomb, Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen brand manager. The brand’s portfolio of mineral sunscreens clocks in at under $15 for a standard 3 oz. tube, making these sunscreens accessible and affordable for the whole family.
The latest SPF offering from Vichy is the brand’s LiftActiv Specialist SPF 30 Sunscreen ($62), which launched this past spring. The moisturizing lotion features high UVA protection, powerful active ingredients like vitamin C, peptides, hyaluronic acid and glycolic acid, and broad-spectrum SPF 30 protection.
Olay Regenerist Hydrating Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30
Olay launched its first mineral sunscreen this year as a response to a study of 4,000 U.S. women, which found that 70 percent of women prefer a mineral-based sunscreen, but more than half haven’t found a mineral sunscreen they like due to greasiness, white casts, lack of additional benefits, and difficulty blending. Olay’s non-greasy formula is ultra-moisturizing and spreads evenly and easily, so you can avoid that dreaded white cast that often appears with less sophisticated mineral sunscreen formulas.
Sonrei’s Sea Clearly Gel Sunscreen SPF 30 ($35 USD) is a sunscreen lover’s dream, thanks to its translucent gel formula that features vitamins C and E, plus ferulic acid. It’s super spreadable, gentle on skin, and of course, goes on totally clear.
La Roche-Posay Anthelios Ultra-Fluid Body SPF50+
Photography courtesy of La Roche-Posay
La Roche-Posay just launched a body version of its favourite Anthelios Ultra-Fluid Body SPF50+ ($36) and we’re already obsessed. Featuring high UVA and UVB protection (recommended by the Canadian Dermatology Association) and specifically developed for sensitive skin, it’s everything we like about the brand’s face SPF but…bigger. What’s not to love?
Lotus Aroma’s just-launched Daily Mineral Sunscreen ($30) features organic aloe vera and soybean oil to hydrate as it protects (not to mention deliver a glorious dose of healing antioxidants). The formula is safe to use during pregnancy and is so gentle it can even be used on babies older than six months. So go on and reapply (and then reapply some more).
After a distinguished panel of judges — including Canadian-born fashion media entrepreneur Imran Amed, Dover Street Market CEO Adrian Joffe, journalist Susie Bubblem and British Vogue EIC Edward Enninful — and the public got their say earlier this month, the nine finalists for this year’s LVMH Prize were revealed this morning.
In addition to New York’s Christopher John Rogers, who recently dressed Regina King for the Costume Designers Guild Awards, names on the roster include London-based menswear designer Bianca Saunders, Colombian creative Kika Vargas, and South Africa’s Lukhanyo Mdingi.
Delphine Arnault, director and executive vice president of Louis Vuitton, notes that this is the first time in the prize’s history that Colombia and Albania (represented by Nensi Dojaka) are highlighted; this might be due to the fact that also for the first time, fashion fans could have their say on who advanced from the range of semi-finalists.
Photography courtesy of LVMH
“The all-digital semi-final this year, in the context of the health crisis, was a new opportunity to showcase the work of the designers,” Arnault said in a press release. “I would like to salute their creativity, optimism and reactivity, and congratulate them all. I would like to thank the 66 Experts for their involvement, as well as the public, who for the first time took part in the semi-final: 32,000 people voted for their favourite candidate! This year, nine designers (including two equally ranked semi-finalists) will go on to compete in the final of the LVMH Prize.”
Other designers in the running are Conner Ives, Charles de Vilmorin, Colm Dillane of the brand KidSuper, and Rui Zhou. The group is vying for the LVMH Prize’s financial reward and mentorship opportunity, and there’s an additional award named after Karl Lagerfeld that’s also up for grabs. Given how top-of-mind sustainability is in the fashion sphere, expectations of the winners will lay heavily on how they can interpret an eco-centric ethos in their work.
Winners of the two prizes will join fashion talents like Thebe Magugu, Marine Serre, Grace Wales Bonner, Simon Porte Jacquemus and Canadian Vejas Kruszewski, who won the Special Prize (since renamed for Lagerfeld) in 2016.
“How have I been doing this for so long?” Toronto-based fashion entrepreneur Julia Grieve says with a laugh when she’s asked to reflect on the beginnings of her innovative label, Preloved. A former jetsetting model in the ’90s, she had a penchant for altering vintage duds to transform them into more modish pieces to wear to go-sees and gigs. While she loved the creativity and excitement surrounding her career, Grieve yearned to return to her home base and embark on a new project. So she came up with the idea of a clothing label that features second-hand finds that have been reworked into more contemporary garments.
So fetching were the pieces she had modified to wear herself that people would ask her all the time “Where did you get that?” It’s what gave her the push to launch Preloved in 1995. Eventually, the business grew to include four physical stores across Canada; now, though, it’s focused on wholesaling and e-commerce. “Preloved has evolved with demand,” she notes. Retailer requests eventually prompted Grieve to reconceptualize its designs, taking them from being one-off upcycled items to also being pattern-based. “We moved into using vintage pieces as fabric to ensure consistency,” she says of the point when the brand started to get the attention of major retailers like Urban Outfitters, which needed a larger volume of items to sell at their multiple locations.
Photography by Emmett Charuk. Preloved Spring 2021 collection.
Grieve adds that working with Roots in 2012 on a collection that blended its heritage fabrics with second-hand togs sourced by Preloved nudged her toward even further reconsideration about the potential of its pieces. “It laid out the future of how we could work with different materials and blend them with our vintage,” she says. “It sparked an interest in using ‘new’ fabrics, and from there we started learning about dead stock.” At one point, Preloved’s pieces featured lining made from unused textiles procured from a liquidating fabric store in Montreal.
Twenty-six years after its launch, Preloved (which has partnered with the same local manufacturer, Redwood Classics, for about 15 years) is still poised to lead the fashion industry from a sustainability angle — even though Grieve labelled herself an “accidental environmentalist” because at the outset, the notion of making old clothes into something new was centred on exclusivity and aesthetics rather than eco-friendly intentions. And she’s thrilled that today, reusing materials is more de rigueur than démodé.
“It’s really exciting and really wild,” she says about today’s sustainability focus in the fashion world. “For so long, we were out there on our own and nobody under- stood what we were doing.” This season, Preloved will introduce pieces made from material entirely composed of recycled yarn, adding another feather to the brand’s forward-thinking cap.
Here are Julia’s favourite sustainably-minded brands from across Canada:
Photography courtesy of Instagram/@chokitem_jewelry.
Photography courtesy of Instagram/@anavidesigns.
Photography courtesy of Instagram/@weardorianwho.
Photography courtesy of Instagram/@annemulaire.
Photography courtesy of Instagram/@lezethelabel.
Photography courtesy of Instagram/@lesley_hampton.
Photography courtesy of Instagram/@laughbylafaille.
Photography courtesy of Instagram/@prettydenim.
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Chokitem
Montreal design meets Kenyan craft in this accessories maison that utilizes recycled brass in its pieces.
“I never thought I would write a book,” says Christian Allaire endearingly. Allaire, whose recognition has grown since joining the U.S. Vogue team as a writer in 2019 — where he lends a particular expertise in highlighting Indigenous fashion creatives — admits he’s not used to being on the other side of the interview. But he’ll have to get used to it, especially after today’s release of The Power of Style: How Fashion and Beauty Are Being Used To Reclaim Cultures, his approachable, heartfelt and informative exploration of style.
The name of Allaire’s book comes from a very personal place, and he hopes it will resonate with fashion fans who, like himself, grew up not seeing themselves — or seeing caricaturized versions of their community — represented in the style world. Allaire grew up in Nippissing, Ont. on a First Nations reserve, and initially came to understand the dynamics of dressing via his Ojibwe roots.
“I always loved fashion growing up,” he says, adding that while he consumed all manner of style-focused media in his youth, his appreciation for design and what it communicates was largely piqued from a more familiar source.
Photography courtesy of Annick Press
“What got me into it was seeing our traditional wear,” Allaire says of examples like watching his sister, a jingle dancer, dress for powwows; his mother and aunts are also avid sewers, and his late grandmother made him a ribbon shirt when he was young. This item holds special significance in his ancestral community, and in his book, Allaire details the process of making it and the pride in having a new ribbon shirt made as an adult.
“I grew up around [these] beautiful garments, and it shaped my love for them,” he acknowledges, going on to say that the Ojibwe tradition of beadwork, often featuring bold floral motifs, also drew him to a love of colour. “But it’s about more than a love of pretty things,” he adds. “It’s an appreciation of craft. A jingle dress can take months to make. So, I appreciate the thought and time that goes into a design.”
Allaire says that despite his passion for Indigenous design and commitment to covering culturally significant style from around the world, both in his magazine and now book writing, as a teen he actually rebelled against wearing such attire.
“That’s why I wanted to do this book for a younger audience,” he says of The Power of Style. (But don’t be fooled by this notion — everyone will learn so much from these thoughtful pages, regardless of age or where they sit in terms of style knowledge.) “[They’re] so susceptible to wanting to fit in. I went through that myself; wearing a ribbon shirt was the last thing I wanted to do. But I wanted to show that [pieces like that] are special to you, and that’s why you should wear them. Nobody else can wear them or carry on these traditions like you can.”
He also notes that it was intentional to include inspiring creatives such as writer and editor Modupe Oloruntoba, designer Bethany Yellowtail, Cree dancer James Jones, cosplayer Surely Shirley, and fashion entrepreneur Melanie Elturk in The Power of Style. Their voices will especially resonate with a generation that is finally starting to see themselves reflected in the fashion world, primarily because of social media and the visibility it affords.
“It’s been a game-changer,” Allaire says. “I mostly found the people in the book through Instagram.” He also notes that many of his Vogue subjects are sleuthed out via social media, and that virtual platforms have given makers, particularly those not based in major city centres, the ability to reach consumers and fans far and wide. And he says that this has directly affected the fact that now, “it’s easier to find people who are embracing their cultural fashion” and in turn, amplifying these ideas and aesthetics.
Photography courtesy of Annick Press
Likewise, Allaire opened up the scope of his own book after being approached three years ago to write it. “I initially thought it would be more just about Indigenous fashion,” he says of when Annick Press reached out to him while he was a freelancer. “The more I got into my research, I thought I should open it up to all cultures because it’s not only my culture that isn’t getting covered [by the media]. There are so many cultures that are being ignored in the mainstream. I feel like it’s a much better book as a result.”
One can’t argue with this given the impressive and delightful scope of those featured in the book, from Jamie Okuma — whose bold designs are featured on the cover as well as inside — to shoemaker Alim Latif, makeup artist Jennifer Bear Medicine, and designers Henry Bae and Shaobo Han. Allaire also draws attention to Billy Porter for his zesty, boundary-pushing ensembles.
“There’s no one doing it like him on the red carpet,” Allaire says. “Every look has a narrative behind it [and] that’s usually not the case with celebrities. He works on custom looks with designers, using a specific reference or with a story to convey. He’s using fashion as art, which is how it should be. You have the privilege to dress up for fun; why not speak to a bigger moment?”
Photography courtesy of Annick Press
Allaire recalls his own moment when he felt called to do the same. As a fashion journalism student at Ryerson University, he became exposed to Indigenous fashion designers and tastemakers who were incorporating both traditional and contemporary ideas into their work. One example is Justine Woods — Allaire wore a bespoke suit with beadwork detailing by the designer to the 2019 Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards ceremony.
“I thought, I need to cover this,” he recalls about the talent he was observing. “No one else was. And I didn’t think of it as disruption; I was just interested in it. Coming from a small town, I didn’t know it was a thing. I wouldn’t see Indigenous fashion — I thought of it more as cultural and for special ceremonies. I didn’t think it could be part of the same conversation.”
Such dialogue is louder than ever these days, and Allaire is optimistic about where it’s heading. “In the past year, diversity and inclusivity have been what fashion’s talking about,” he says. “It may sometimes seem performative and it often is, but at least it’s on people’s minds. A lot of brands that weren’t on people’s radars are being researched and considered. That’s a positive thing. And there’s no going back.”
Speaking of going back, Allaire recently returned to New York from an extended stay in Canada, and says he’s looking forward to turning it out sartorially in days to come. “I’m seeing people wanting to get dressed again, and I’m excited,” he says. Pieces from the Nigerian brand Orange Culture, a necklace from Indigenous designer Warren Steven Scott, and custom-made trousers from Juliette Johnstone are currently on his shopping list. All unsurprising choices given Allaire’s preference for the bright, bold and significant. “What you wear can be more than a fashion statement,” he notes. “It can have a much deeper meaning than it looks, and I think the best fashion does that.”
