What is ‘sundress season’? Gen Z males start debate over women’s fashion
It’s “sundress season,” but no one seems to be able to articulate what defines a “sundress.”
A barrage of men took to TikTok to celebrate the rising hemlines that accompany warmer weather, specifically citing sundresses as the best part of summer.
“Guys, they weren’t lying, the hype is real, it’s sundress season,” cheered a TikToker named Sam, pulling his sundress-clad wife, Jess, into the frame and spinning her around.
“If you’re a lady watching this, do your man a favor,” he added. “Buy them all.”
“When you realize its almost sundress season,” championed another creator, who goes only by Dayton online, on the app, calling it the “best season.”
But it begs the question: What is a sundress? And it’s a question, it seems, no one can answer.
Viewers were quick to question the men, asking exactly what kind of garment the men of TikTok were referring to.
“I see all of these videos of men saying how much they love sundresses and, ‘Oh it’s sundress season.’ What is a sundress?” Jacqueline Ryan, 24, inquired in a recent video that has scored over 9 million views and prompted thousands of comments.
“I own every dress. Which one is the sun one?”
In response, women described it as a knee length or slightly shorter hemline with spaghetti straps, a floral pattern and a more fitted bodice with a breezy skirt — akin to a “milkmaid” dress, some said — while others described a fitted maxi dress, like the “viral SKIMS dress.”
“My husband said above the knee, flowy, flowers,’” one woman wrote.
“My bf says sundresses are thin fabric flowy dresses for summer,” another agreed.
“Sundress = Maxidress; the long dresses that are not too tight, not too loose, fits JUST right. Not too dressy, not too casual. Can wear sneakers, sandals, or heels with it,” someone else disagreed.
“Some people are saying long I always thought sundresses were short,” a confused viewer chimed in.
“A dress you wear in the sun,” wrote another user.
“All I’ve learned is that a sundress is any dress that some boyfriend thinks their girlfriend looks good in,” quipped someone else.
In short: no one had a clue.
Ryan’s video was the first domino in a series of explainers and discourse that followed, with creator Randy Trembacki thoroughly crafting a dissertation-style analysis — a “mansplain of women’s fashion,” as he calls it — of what comprises a “sundress” from the perspective of “the male psyche.”
The pinnacle of the aforementioned sundress, he explains while gesturing to an image of a red frock, is a sleeveless dress that has a tight, “corset-looking” bodice and loose skirt that hits above the knee — not an athletic tennis dress, nor a tight-fitting dress — he said in the video that has since amassed 8.4 million views
“I’m not a psychiatrist, but I think it’s a mixture of the [fact that] it’s cute and also sexy at the same time, but without being trashy,” Trembacki, a video producer in Austin, told Vox. “It accentuates the female form, but in a conservative way.”
However, some viewers argued that Trembacki’s definition of a “sundress” — despite the chorus of agreement from men in the comments section — is the white-washed version of the hallmark garment.
“Ask any black person what a sundress is and you’re gonna have the OPPOSITE answer. The tight one is what they mean when they say ‘sundress season,’” explained one user.
In certain communities, a “sundress” may very well be defined as a long, bodycon dress, with an emphasis on being “tight and form-fitting,” Trembacki explained in another video.
“Does that mean one is more correct than the other? No, it just seems to be a cultural difference,” Trembacki said. “Sometimes in life there’s more than one correct answer, and this is a perfect example.”
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