UNDRESS MUSES I JOLITA VAITKUTĖ

Jolita Vaitkutė is one of the most intriguing Lithuanian artists - a master of visual impact and an ambassador of creative everyday life. She creates using food, sand, metal, plants - all those simplest materials we live with day in and day out.
Jolita is a true UNDRESS ambassador. In the artist’s wardrobe, there are no fewer than ten UNDRESS dresses.
“Will the dress endure?” I ask Jolita, because in a world that is increasingly hard to understand and predict, artists tend to have the sharpest intuition. “The dress is timeless. As a form, it has always existed and always will. Only what surrounds it changes - and will continue to change.”

Why dresses?

As a teenager, I thought jeans didn’t suit me, so I naturally gravitated toward dresses. With adulthood came a desire to know myself better, and along that path of self-discovery I strongly realized how important dressing is to me. The question “What should I wear today?” doesn’t tire me - on the contrary, it delights me, it interests me.

The need to “costume myself” is part of my life. Different environments, formal occasions, and events require different outfits. For a while, I had almost created a uniform for myself: black trousers, a black blazer, a black hat. Now I more often choose a more eclectic image. I felt that I feel best in a dress. It is comfortable. It helps me feel more like myself.

I have a fairly large wardrobe, and at least ten of the dresses in it are UNDRESS. I often wear a dress without any special occasion. I believe a dress is suitable for everyday life.

“Seasoning” for a dress: accessories, footwear?

A belt - often, but not necessarily. Most often earrings, sometimes a scarf, a hat. There are dresses that don’t need any seasoning at all - they complete the look on their own.
When it comes to footwear, I’m quite conservative. I could never wear sneakers with a dress. To me, that’s nonsense - an “indigestible” combination.
A dress is very flexible, accessories can completely change its format. The same dress can be playful on one occasion and very formal on another.

The first dress. What’s its story?

As far as I remember, I didn’t wear dresses in childhood - I didn’t feel suitable for them. I didn’t have a dress for my high school graduation either. A colleague (yes, I was already working) lent me one. It was a simple but elegant, fitted knit dress - modest, without sequins, but it framed me beautifully and was comfortable. I felt very good in it.
It was a sincere gaze of one woman toward another. She saw what suited me. I think it was thanks to that colleague that I dared to wear dresses.

The most memorable ones: what are they like and why are they special?

For a long time, I was very conservative in my choice of colors and silhouettes. UNDRESS and Ana changed my beliefs. I remember that for one event she suggested I try something completely new to me. It was probably around 2019 when I put on a fairly conservative silhouette but a very bright pink dress - one that Ana had made for herself but persuaded me to wear. That new experience caused a small revolution in my wardrobe: uniform-like combinations were replaced by new silhouettes and bolder colors.
Another time, Ana again said to me, “This one with sequins is for you!” And I had never in my life worn a shiny, scaly dress! But how good I felt in it. Or the leopard-print dress - one I resisted for a long time, asking for something more conservative - but Ana managed to convince me. And how spot-on she was! I know very well what suits me, but when I want an experiment, I always end up in Ana’s boutique, and she always finds the best option: a dress that I feel very comfortable in, yet different and truly special. I have dresses that are elegant and not for everyday wear, yet incredibly versatile: they reflect any mood of mine and adapt to any occasion. For one very festive evening, I wore an UNDRESS lace dress with an open back. That same evening, I went to a karaoke bar, a billiard hall, and McDonald’s - and in every environment it adapted and allowed me to feel great.

Which dress is not Vaitkutė’s format?

Ana doesn’t have such dresses (laughs). I don’t like puffy, cake-like gowns, though I’ve tried one on once. Strangely enough, even in that I felt quite good.

A dress as a gentle weapon. Do you have ones that make you feel protected?

Those would be blazer-style dresses - I have several of them, the same model in different colors. They work in various contexts, and with them I always feel good and at ease. Another weapon of mine is shirt dresses. I choose them when I want to feel calm and composed - especially for occasions when I need to speak to an audience or present an exhibition. It’s a safe and reliable option.

A “traitor” dress: the one that was supposed to feel good but didn’t.

I usually imagine and sense the environment well, so I successfully eliminate unsuitable options. Still, I’ve had some less comfortable experiences. That dress was very revealing, movements in it could be treacherous, exposing too much. That time, I was very cautious while wearing it.
My approach is this: if you can’t change anything, accept it and adapt.
Another time, I literally got stuck in a dress. The event was about to start, and I couldn’t put it on or take it off! I had to rip it. That was probably the most controversial incident in my dress history

The most interesting journey of a dress into my wardrobe.

I’m not an impulsive shopper - most of my purchases are very well planned. I always have a list, and this one “came” without a list.
I simply stopped by the boutique for something. And I saw it - a special red evening dress. I had no occasion for it, no event, no particular reason, but it went home with me anyway. I simply felt a great need for a red dress at that moment. I know women will understand me.
One day, it did go out into the world - it found its perfect occasion.