The Herve Leger bandage dress – the look mostly associated with Bachelor contestants or Kim Kardashian circa 2007 – is back in the spotlight after the UK distributor advised "committed lesbians", "voluptuous" and older women to steer clear of the look.
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In an interview with the Daily Mail, UK managing director of Herve Leger Patrick Couderc enraged the internet with his fashion advice for potential buyers of the $1800 dresses which are now more popular on eBay and the high street.
"If you're a committed lesbian and you are wearing trousers all your life, you won't want to buy a Leger dress. Lesbians would want to be rather butch and leisurely," he said.
His comments about curvy women wearing the dresses were not published in full, the Mail instead used snippets of his "dangerously outspoken interview" with the tabloid.
"Patrick Couderc has urged 'voluptuous' women and those with 'very prominent hips and a very flat chest' to steer clear of the £1,300 creations."
He then turned his attention to middle aged customers.
"You women have a lot of problems. You will lose the plot. You will come and you will put a dress on and you'll be in front of the mirror, like, "Argh, I'm so fat.'
"Yes, you have a 12th of an inch around your stomach, it's not really a disaster, and what you're not noticing is that your cleavage is about two inches too low because you are 55 and it's time that you should not display everything like you're 23."
His advice was too late for some given Caitlyn Jenner, 65, was photographed wearing a Herve Leger gown recently.
However Couderc did have some enlightening tips on how to avoid the dreaded "visible panty line" by suggesting women should not wear underwear that was too small.
"The knicker line cuts through the flesh and goes through the other side of the dress," he said.
According to New York Magazine Couderc is no longer associated with Herve Leger. No word yet if he has decided to become a Senior Sergeant of the Fashion Police.
Herve Leger's parent company, BCBGMAXAZRIA, have since issued a statement distancing itself from the rogue fashion cop.
"The statements made by Mr Couderc are not a reflection of Herve Leger by Max Azria or MJH Fashion [the UK distributor] ideals or sentiments. The Herve Leger by Max Azria brand celebrates sensuality, glamour and femininity without discrimination."
The body-conscious bandage dress is the brain child of Herve Peugnet, the founder of the Herve Leger brand, in the late 1990s. At the time the gowns were made out of silk or viscose and woven with Lycra to give them their trademark stretchy, Spanx feel.
"My dresses are designed for women who are at ease with their bodies," Peugnet told Vogue in 1992.
Cindy Crawford and Tyra Banks were early adopters of the trend before Victoria Beckham, at the height of her spray tanned WAG period, Miranda Kerr during her Victoria's Secret Angel phase, and the Kardashian sisters poured themselves into the skin tight gowns when Herve Leger was relaunched by new owners BCBGMAXAZRIA in 2007.
The look has since gone from high-fashion to Supre thanks to the likes of Jersey Shore's Snooki and human trainwreck Lindsay Lohan donning the garb while grabbing kebabs instead of the attention of photographers on red carpets.
Unfortunately the body-con, bandage dress trend, due to its close to 20 year life span, has become as enduring as tracksuits in suburbia with eBay last year reporting a 200 per cent rise in sales of the frocks during the northern summer.
