14 DAY TRIAL // One red carpet staple in recent months has been the so-called “naked” designer gown, the kind that blends mesh or see-through fabric with jewels and cut-outs to create the impression that the wearer is leaving nothing to the imagination, while, obviously, showing only very little.
Jennifer Lopez is the celebrity who most favors this type of dresses, especially now that she’s thinner and stronger than ever. Obviously, she gets headlines every single time, which explains why she will probably continue to wear these gowns for some time to come.
If she does, she can’t call herself a fashion icon, designer Carolina Herrera believes.
“In life, there should be a little mystery”
This year’s MET Gala, which took place in May, was an overdose of this type of gown, with 3 major stars wearing them on the red carpet: Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez (of course) and Kim Kardashian. Perhaps even making matters worse, Kim’s gown was seen as a copy of the feathered design Beyonce had worn the year before to the same event.
So yes, revealing gowns that trick us into thinking we’re seeing every inch of a celebrity’s body, are a huge thing with certain celebrities, usually the very body-confident ones.
But that doesn’t mean they’re high-fashion and worthy of someone who considers herself a style icon. Here’s looking at you, Bey and JLo.
Robin Givhan profiles designer Carolina Herrera in the latest issue of The Washington Post, and she had nothing good to say about this new, worrying trend in terms of red carpet fashion.
“They’re supposed to be fashion icons, and they’re not wearing anything,” she says. “It’s so modern to be naked or almost naked. They think it’s going to attract younger people if they do those dresses. No! They’re trying to get people to pay attention to them. In life, there should be a little mystery.”
Herrera, as Givhan points out, never wanted to be cool, hip or edgy, having always sought to attain classic, timeless elegance in her designs. She is hardwired not to like anything as trendy as a “naked” dress, if you will, so no wonder she’s blaming both the designers who make it and those who wear it.
Fashion should be fun for everyone
However, one might argue that Mrs. Herrera is expressing and trying to impose her own, elitist point of view.
Indeed, there are many people out there who can’t stand the sight of such a dress, even if it’s on Beyonce or Jennifer’s flawless figures. There’s something Peeping Tom-ish about it and the abundance of sightings makes it tacky, cheap and whoever wears it too attention-hungry.
Jennifer Lopez, for one, has been wearing so many of these dresses that, at this point, she could start wearing only one over and over and no one would notice anymore.
Then again, fashion should be different for any one of us. It should also be fun and edgy and a risk-taking opportunity, or whatever else we want it to be.
If women like Bey or Jennifer or Kim feels like this is the way to best express themselves, then they should feel free to do it - and they should have a range of designer creations to choose from.
But it does look like Mrs. Herrera has a point about them not being allowed to call themselves fashion icons. Showing off skin doesn’t equate to risk-taking in fashion.