THE WAY WE DRESS:A column by Jessica Ramoshaba

Exploring fashion, identity, behaviour, sustainability and our relationship with clothes.

28 Sept 2026

01: Fashion Admin: When Your Clothes Become Work

Something I noticed this long weekend, on a couple of separate occasions, was women wearing boob-tube dresses (also known as bandeau or strapless dresses) where the bust area simply wasn’t sitting correctly.

And this is something I think we need to talk about concerning style.

Sometimes, when women buy these dresses or even have them made, they don’t notice the problem at the fitting stage. Or they notice it but are convinced that “this is just how the dress is.”It’s not. If a strapless dress keeps slipping, needs to be pulled up every few minutes, or requires you to constantly adjust it, there is a fitting issue that needs to be addressed.

This is what I call fashion admin.

Fashion admin is when you’ve bought something, but you’re not actually getting your money’s worth in functionality. Instead of the clothes working for you, you’re constantly having to work around the clothes.

And that matters.

Because your energy starts going into the dress instead of into you. You’re pulling it up, checking it, adjusting it, thinking about whether it’s moved when you should be walking into the room feeling styled, comfortable, confident, and completely present.

This is one of the things a stylist considers when approving a final look. It’s not only about whether something looks beautiful when you stand still in front of a mirror.

Can you actually live in it? Can you move in it? Does it stay where it’s supposed to stay? Does it allow you to forget about your clothes and focus on yourself?

These details make the difference between simply wearing an outfit and being properly styled.

Moral of the story: A boob-tube dress should stay in place. If you’re constantly pulling it up, something is wrong with the fit, and it needs to be fixed before you leave the house.