Princess Diana in an off-shoulder minidress when Prince Charles went public with his affair. Mariah Carey in a hip-high slit after leaving a tumultuous marriage. Ariana Madix in a fiery-red cutout set in the wake of # Scandoval . And most recently, Huda Mustafa in a black mini lace cutout frock after being dumped by Jeremiah Brown on " Love Island USA ." The revenge dress isn't a new phenomenon, but it remains at the forefront of everyone's minds. Inspired by the black mini worn by the Princess of Wales in the 1990s, the modern revenge dress is fashion at its most communicative. It's bold, fitted in silhouette, and red or black in color. It boasts plunging necklines and conspicuous cutouts, high splits and open backs. It's a comeback story, rendered sartorially. Despite the revenge dress's enduring legacy, I always felt uneasy about it. How vengeful is a sultry dress anyway? A better act of revenge would be, well, cheating back, as Chloe Bailey sings . ...