Raw Glamour When the history of fashion is written from the perspective of the upper classes, the cultural heritage of rural America is ignored. Garments made from the material of flour sacks were a common article of clothing from the 19 th through the mid-20 th century. Most of us wouldn’t think of a sack as something fashionable. The Parisian public certainly didn’t, in 1957 when Balenciaga’s new silhouette was the sack dress. The dress with its shapeless form turned away from the hourglass look that was popular at the time. Today the sack dress has emerged in all of its glory. The humble flour sack garment has been elevated to star status in opulent fabrics from Prada for the Fall/Winter 2025 season. The anti-body con silhouette sought to move away from sculpted, form-fitting designs, emphasizing freedom of movement and rejecting traditional constructs of feminine beauty. Some of the roomy sack-like dresses were simplified to tubular shapes, loosely cinched at the ...
Vicki Rosemont.
