How about now?
I know I'm going to get creamed for this, but here is my honest opinion: this dress is not bad, but it's not good either. It's fun that she wore something sweeping and romantic, but I could not get over the craftsy little embellishments. I mean, rhinestones, darling. Also, the shoulder strap juts off the body of the dress at an odd angle instead of organically developing out of it. I can't believe I'm even saying this, but I think she got outclassed by JLo's white one-shouldered number.
I know I'm going to get creamed for this, but here is my honest opinion: this dress is not bad, but it's not good either. It's fun that she wore something sweeping and romantic, but I could not get over the craftsy little embellishments. I mean, rhinestones, darling. Also, the shoulder strap juts off the body of the dress at an odd angle instead of organically developing out of it. I can't believe I'm even saying this, but I think she got outclassed by JLo's white one-shouldered number.
Perhaps that makes me an irredeemably vulgar Angeleno, but so be it.
You know I think Ms. O is lovely, and I want her to succeed at all her ventures - lawyer, mother, wife, first lady, clothes horse. I think she dresses admirably well, but perhaps she should have a professional to trade ideas with, a neutral third party not beholden to a particular designer, who can translate her inherent taste and sense of color into seriously competitive knockout looks. There are always herds of stylists wandering around Los Angeles. I know a town where they would, or should, be welcomed.
You know I think Ms. O is lovely, and I want her to succeed at all her ventures - lawyer, mother, wife, first lady, clothes horse. I think she dresses admirably well, but perhaps she should have a professional to trade ideas with, a neutral third party not beholden to a particular designer, who can translate her inherent taste and sense of color into seriously competitive knockout looks. There are always herds of stylists wandering around Los Angeles. I know a town where they would, or should, be welcomed.
Postscript
So apparently Ms. O works with Chicago designer Maria Pinto. How often and how closely? Did Ms. Pinto contribute to the inauguration choices? Who can say? I think her collections are worth a look-see. I'm not dying over every single piece, but I think some of the looks are pretty darn fabuleuse.
I agree on all points.
ReplyDeleteBut I must alert your attention to the fact that Barack is dressed for two different occasions (and therefore he is dressed for no occasion). He's wearing a white bow tie without tails.
I mean almost NOTHING calls for white tie anymore, so I wonder why he wore one? Surely he doesn't dress himself. Who's in charge here?
With respect to Mr. President, dear, you know what they say: business in the front, party in the back.
ReplyDeleteSo his was the mullet of tuxes. :)
ReplyDeleteFrom www.slate.com:
ReplyDeleteWhile the dress new First Lady Michelle Obama wore to the inauguration balls—"a fluffy, many-layered gown by a 26-year-old designer named Jason Wu"—got a typical amount of press attention, President Obama's attire was barely mentioned. Which is probably a good thing, because it was, by the standards of men's formal dress, simply incorrect.
Obama was wearing a white bow tie and a tuxedo with a notch collar. There are many things wrong with this. First, the inaugural balls were not white-tie but black-tie events, and dressing more formally than required is a faux pas. Second, if Obama wanted to wear white tie, he should have done it right. White tie, or men's formal dress (traditionally black tie is known as "informal"; there's no such thing as "semi-formal"), is not simply a tuxedo worn with a white tie. It consists of a tailcoat, not a tuxedo jacket, and it is worn with a wing-collar shirt with a front of cotton piqué. The trousers traditionally have double piping on the side seam. Black tie consists of a tuxedo jacket (which traditionally has peak, not notch, lapels with satin or grosgrain facing) worn with a black bow tie and a pleated straight-collar shirt. The trousers have a single wide piping on the side seam.
Of course, it has become popular among prominent men to scramble formalwear conventions completely. It is now very common to see wing-collar shirts with tuxedos, or—even worse—that Oscar-season atrocity: A collarless shirt paired with a dark suit and called "black tie." But it's too bad the president couldn't have started off his term in a more appropriate outfit. He's proved that he can look fantastic in proper formal dress as he'll need to do for state dinners, and it would have been nice to see how elegant he looked in a proper tuxedo.
I adore what you posted Lauralee.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wish we were Siamese twins.