I Tried the Exposed-Thong Dress Trend à la Hailey Bieber and Alexa Demie
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The thong dress. The whale tail. The visible G-string. No matter what you call it, this going-out trend is not for the faint of heart, and I should know.
The style is enjoying a casual resurgence, though adventurous dressers gave the look a spin as far back as 2019, when Hailey Bieber rocked a bold pink gown at the Met Gala and Alexa Demie showed off a crystal thong strap at the "Euphoria" premiere. More recently, Bieber sported a strappy Mugler minidress on New Year's Eve. And Dua Lipa layered a thin, iridescent sheath over white panties.
These are just a few examples of celebrities who commit to the thong dress with utmost confidence and dedication. Meanwhile, I am a rookie. I called in designs from the likes of Revolve, I.Am.Gia, and PrettyLittleThing, brands that specialize in alluring yet boundary-pushing pieces. What arrived were various thin strips of fabric I was somehow meant to configure across my body.
I'm not going to lie, out of the four looks I tried, I felt completely comfortable in just two. I BMOT (brought my own thong) to the I.Am.Gia halter, as it did not have one built in and featured low-slung material at the open back that would have fully displayed my — ahem — crack. Even after accessorizing and adjusting my glam, these more revealing options just felt a little too skimpy for me, personally. After photographing my outfits and taking them for a whirl on the town, I decided I prefer the thong dress trend when the detail is utilized as the only element of surprise on the back of a much more modest front.
Ahead, join me on my journey to reaching this conclusion, and browse the exact dresses I wore.
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I.Am.Gia Thong Dress
For my first look, I expected to be as comfortable as possible since I was wearing my own underwear. To play up the illusion of the built-in-thong dress, I chose one of my ultrastrappy styles that seemed to "disappear" into the back of the dress. However, I ended up feeling altogether exposed and, frankly, pretty cold, seeing as the I.Am.Gia Tiffanie dress only has one adjustable strap and a harness-style buckle that wraps around the waist. The mostly polyester fabric was also super slinky, though I did appreciate its stretch.
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I.Am.Gia Tiffanie Minidress ($75, originally $110)
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PrettyLittleThing Thong Dress
PrettyLittleThing's thong minidress is certainly secure, and I was attracted to the sporty appeal of the racerback. It felt movable from the waist up. But it's also made from extremely thin fabric, so even if you want to wear underwear and move the straps lower on your hips, you'll still want to check for visible panty lines. I spent most of the night tugging at my hemline every time the dress began to ride up, defeating the purpose of a "thong" silhouette. Perhaps if I had opted for a different size, I wouldn't have felt as constricted.
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Camila Coelho Thong Dress
Camila Coelho's Elena design takes the top spot on my list of thong dresses. The lightweight crepe fabric feels movable, and I love the slight bohemian touch of the bell sleeves. While the back cutout is large, it also doesn't dip too low. The thin accent straps felt perfectly secure — not too tight and not too forgiving. From the front, this LBD looks basic, but spin around, and it's a whole different story. Personally, that's just the kind of allure I'm going for.
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NBD Thong Dress
There were so many details I loved about the NBD Calista. And as a longtime Revolve shopper, it's one of my go-to brands for evening wear. The velvet, midnight-navy fabric feels luxurious to the touch; the mockneck is sophisticated; and the crystal embroidery puts you in the mood to party — hence the reason I slipped into my silver-satin Nina Vetty heels. However, I'm not always going for high-octane glamour, so if I wanted to take on the thong dress as more of an everyday trend, I'd choose something more basic. Also, the nonadjustable thong straps were slightly loose, though you could easily fix this at the tailor.
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