Women know all about the little black dress and probably have a collection of them in their closet. But what about the red dress? Red dresses have strong connotations of power and sexuality. The red dress has evolved from a wild exclamation to a more modest but still powerful fashion statement in movies and on TV.
Fictional Ladies in Red
From fictional images of the innocent Little Red Riding Hood to the cute and sexy cartoon Betty Boop, it's hard not to run through a pop culture flipbook of red dresses in your mind. Most recently Number Six on Battlestar Gallactica, as played by Tricia Helfer is the most sultry woman in red.
Before Number Six, Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura on the original Star Trek wore a signature red dress uniform. The dress was short, and paired with black boots. The dress had long sleeves and a black collar, under the collar bone. Lt. Uhura was a strong female character on the show, allowed to be both smart and have sex appeal.
In 1938, Bette Davis plays a rebellious woman who throws conventionality to the wind and wears a red dress to a society dance, causing a scandal, in Jezebel.
In The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Cate Blanchett wears an elegant red dress, in a Retro 1940s style. While the dress is modest, it's used to represent the passion between Brad Pitt's and Cate Blanchett's characters. The symbolism works because of the moviegoers' collective association, built on all previous incarnations of the red dress on film. The dress represents sexuality, power and passion.
Red Dresses Now
The First Lady wears subdued red suits modestly tailored, making red and the red dress an acceptable choice for all women. Formal red dresses have raised the bustline and dropped the hemline, upgrading red to a positive choice even for modest party goers. Adding a patch of pattern to a red dress adds an element of sweetness to a red dress.
