I can't believe I'm typing this, especially after that deal I struck with Monte to never forgive this half of Michelle Tanner for ruining my entire pre-birthday month with her painfully inarticulate "op-ed" in The New York Times last February, but I here I am absolutely in love with the self-designed kimono-sleeved plunge-neck column gown Mary Kate Olsen wore to the CFDA Fashion Awards in New York City last night.
And when I say "self-designed," I really mean self-designed.
A selection from the 'Elizabeth and James' label, the twins' more affordable side of their new upscale fashion house, 'The Row,' this gown was MK's first and favorite sketch from the collection that is slated to debut in its entirety during Fashion Week later this Fall in Bryant Park.
This is not a universally figure-flattering cut, nor is the bralessness it requires practical for most naturally well-endowed ladies. That being said, if you are slim with a reasonably perky set of upper-bits, I can't think of a silhouette that more effectively marries sophistication, simplicity and whatever that was Rita Hayworth carried in her trademark smirk all in the same three yards of lightweight neutral-hued silk.
Beyond the aesthetics of this dress, there's just something very effortless, very easy about it that I find attractive. Much like a traditional DvF, this dress looks like one you could slip on and off in a single movement; whether you took the most meticulous or the most reckless care was immaterial, for the end result - a fabulous fit and drape - would always greet you in your three-way mirror. No buttons or zippers with which to fiddle, no cumbersome design that forces the wearer to contort her body into one and only one pre-determined position to achieve the perfect fit.
Don't get me wrong, I'm occasionally in the mood for those other, fussier dresses, too, the ones for which you feel you deserve a bejimmied soft-serve once you've wriggled and tucked and sucked-in to get just so on your frame, but nine out of ten times, I want the coupling of the implicit, behind-the-scenes casualness with a formal-gown silhouette. This contrast is something I've grown quite fond of in recent months thanks to dresses like this, this and still my favorite, this.
More of Mary Kate and her grandma-thin bag of bones at the CFDAs below:
And because I don't do the make-outright-accusations thing unless I've got your upturned wrists pinned beneath my knees, I'm just going to present you with some photos of this other dress that looks nothing like the twins' completely original design:
3 comments:
yech, no commentary on that nasty-ass hair of hers? it's a nice dress, I'll give you that much, but I just can't get past all those split ends and black roots.
I'm shocked J.Lo ever wore something that ladylike. Good for her. This is a fantastic dress.
plagiarists! I'm surprised NYU let those little copycats graduate. Oh right, they dropped out after two semesters...
J.Lo looked so much younger a year ago. Weird.
Post a Comment