The term 'revenge dressing' was coined during the ’90s, due to famous celebrity couples breaking up and one of the aggrieved individuals performing a red carpet comeback in unapologetic clothing. It has prevailed as a vibe that means so much more than a rebuff. It has expanded beyond a move in break-up culture to being a signpost of wellness and personal evolution. It’s giving Pamela Anderson’s zero make-up while attending fashion month a few seasons ago, inspiring once high-octane, airbrushed women to be truly confident in keeping it real. It’s giving Rihanna arriving at a premiere in an outré look, but this time it’s a plaid shirt worn off the shoulder. It’s the flex of wearing your gym kit but sliding on a double-breasted blazer for brunch downtown. It’s Zendaya in just about everything. Sometimes the statement is not trying to make one at all. And the revenge component of the outfit can be targeted at haters or industry critics, not just former flames. It’s also giving, ‘this is me’, without needing a caption.

Of course, one could declare that important female figures in history have mastered the art of dressing to make a statement, to command power or to elevate themselves in any given situation. Case in point, Queen Elizabeth I took revenge on her conspirators by staying on the throne and doing so drenched in pearls and ornate garments. Here is the origin story:  ‘revenge dressing’ came into being in 1994 when another British royal, Princess Diana, attended a dinner at The Serpentine Gallery wearing a bold LBD by Greek designer Christina Stambolian. The dress had allegedly been bought years before by the Princess but deemed too look-at-me for her to wear in public, until the widely-discussed breakdown of her marriage heated up in a televised admission by Prince Charles. What happened that night in summer 1994 marked a new-found period of freedom that took shape in Princess Diana’s wardrobe. Her style became a crucible for taking ownership of her world. The red carpet became her runway, and on her terms. The script was flipped and headlines across the UK the next day were not about a cowering woman headed for divorce. Georgina Howell’s book Diana, Her Life in Fashion published in 1998, stated that the dress was "possibly the most strategic dress ever worn by a woman in modern times," and added it was a “devastating wisp of black chiffon”. It was a moment that wouldn’t stand outside the bounds of a Noel Coward script. Today’s equivalent is to turn up as yourself, dressing to reflect your current mood and leaving all the social receipts of past wounds at home.

“Catharsis, the purification or purgation of the emotions (especially pity and fear) primarily through art.” Well, that’s what Britannica says. Dressing oneself in a contextually inflammatory look can often signal you’ve been through a personal growth period, and come out the other side with aplomb. That’s the cathartic element we all enjoy. Revenge dressing isn’t wearing a form-fitting dress with a Hangisi stiletto and a bold red lip. It’s not getting back at someone else anymore. No, no, it’s much more than that. This phenomenon combines overcoming adversity with a sartorial selection process that meets the mood of your return, or better still, your self-realisation. And it’s well-placed to include a friendly reminder here that fashion is, above all, meant to be a joyful and euphoric component of self-actualisation.

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