 | | A look from the Paco Rabanne fall 2023 collection. Yannis Vlamos, via Paco Rabanne |
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Hello, Open Thread. Hope everyone had a great International Women's Day. |
I'm back from Paris Fashion Week, just in time for the Oscars. Before the pandemic, the ceremony always fell smack in the middle of the fashion month, which caused an insane scramble as designers attempted to both put on shows and think about The Show. But this timing, with the Oscars as essentially a punctuation mark to the whole season, seems kind of perfect. |
I know it's a coincidence — Hollywood does not schedule itself around fashion — but even so, it a fortuitous one, given how deeply the two industries are now intertwined. (For more on that, check out Guy Trebay's interview with the author of a new book on the subject.) |
Many of the designers I spoke to in Paris were planning to go to L.A. right after their shows, and brands like Armani, Saint Laurent and Chanel were all hosting dinners and parties. Versace even followed in Tom Ford's footsteps and abandoned Milan to stage its fall show on Thursday, as a sort of pre-Oscars red carpet curtain raiser. |
Nicolas Ghesquière, the Louis Vuitton women's artistic director, said he was very excited because he was actually attending the ceremony for the first time. Bets are he will dress such LV women as the best actress nominee Michelle Williams and possibly even her fellow nominee Ana de Armas — though I doubt they will be wearing the black tie peignoir/board shorts combination he proposed in his show. (It was so weird, I kind of liked it.) |
But fashion month was full of potential gowns for nominees to choose from. Given recent red carpet trends toward silver and other metallics (hello, Grammys), I hope someone wears the high-necked, long-sleeved silver-sequined dress from Balenciaga, a sort of perfect throwback to the more soignée days of the silver screen. Also winners in this category: Paco Rabanne's chainmail-meets-leather, Guinevere-meets-Valkyrie gowns (see the one above) and Alexander McQueen's silver orchid number. |
Schiaparelli is another red carpet favorite, and from that show I nominate the black couture dress that alternated strips of sheer with strips of lace. It was provocative and elegant, which is a hard balancing act to pull off. Someone ought to wear the final Armani look, a long-sleeved slither of black sequins that was awfully chic. Jamie Lee Curtis maybe? And there's nothing that conveys insouciant dress-up like Valentino's white shirt, black tie and long crystal-covered skirt combination. |
Speaking of couture, I've been hoping since January that someone would wear one of the feathered tuxedo suits from Haider Ackermann's collection for Jean Paul Gaultier on Oscar night. They're not the typical mermaid or princess dress, but they are the essence of chic. |
They'd look great on Cate Blanchett, for example (and nod to her character in "Tár"), though she has made a practice this awards show season of rewearing gowns from what must be an extensive collection, and if I had to choose between her modeling a new look or an old one this time around, I would come down on the side of the old. |
In fact, despite everything above, I wish every actress would do so. Believe it or not, the Oscars have a "Sustainable Red Carpet Style Guide" created in partnership with Red Carpet Green Dress, an organization founded by Suzy Amis Cameron. Imagine a night in which every actress shopped an archive for her gown, rather than getting one custom made. And, given all the eyeballs, the potential effect it might have on our own shopping habits? |
It would be a wonderful tour through fashion history and a real moment of change. |
Anyway, join us Sunday evening to see what really transpires. Guy and I will be live-blogging the red carpet here before handing over our duties to our colleagues in Culture for the awards show itself. Then check back in with Styles for a review and pictures of all the looks. |
| GOODBYE, FASHION MONTH. HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW. | | | | | |
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Your Style Questions, Answered |
Every week on Open Thread, Vanessa will answer a reader's fashion-related question, which you can send to her anytime via email or Twitter. Questions are edited and condensed. |
 | | A Miu Miu look for fall 2023.Edward Berthelot/Getty Images |
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I bought a sporty, stretchy, bone-colored dress in a mid-calf length for day wear. Now I find that in sunlight one can see through the dress. What is the underwear protocol for a sheer dress? How much skin should I show? — Joan, Wayland, Mass. |
Like so much else when it comes to dress these days (trends, dress codes), there is no longer a specific underwear protocol for what to wear under a sheer outfit — only a variety of options. That's good news on one hand: It's great to have the freedom to make your own choices, free of strict social dictates. On the other hand, it's stressful: Who needs so many more everyday decisions in their life? |
Also, you have to consider how, exactly, the choices you make will be read by those around you; the messages you are sending to those around you. No matter how much we celebrate body positivity and the idea that being unafraid to show your skin is about owning it, there is no getting around the fact that there will be people who misconstrue what is on view. |
How much you want to deal with that issue matters. So does context: Sheer on the street or among friends, for example, is going to be received differently than sheer in the office, where you probably don't want your clothes to distract from your points. |
As I see it, there are four choices. |
First, the most obvious — and safest — solution is to wear a knee-length slip underneath; a dress under the dress. That lets you be a bit provocative but without any real revelation. Then the question becomes do you emphasize that fact with, for example, a black slip, or do you go tone-on-tone or neutral, by matching your skin, so the effect is sort of fake sheer? That's a little more challenging to those around you, often eliciting a sort of double take. |
Second, you could take a cue from the nature of the dress itself and swap the slip for a sports bra and Lycra shorts. They would provide coverage and underscore the "sporty" aspect of the look. And if the dress is simple, the undergarments could also add layers of color, or even pattern, beneath. |
Third, you could look to Miu Miu, where Miuccia Prada has been flirting with sheer looks on her runways for a few seasons now, often matched with underwear in similar shades to create a sense of depth. That demands a little more gumption — it's a sort of veiled comment on the body and the equally veiled nature of dress — but it's also very pretty, and generally flattering. You do need to pick your undergarments with care; you can't throw on any old bra and pants combo. |
Finally, you could ignore the bra altogether à la Florence Pugh, and just wear the dress with some briefs. That's how Anthony Vaccarello showed his sheer looks at Saint Laurent, though he also paired them with big jackets for a bit of coverage. |
Still, as Ms. Pugh's experience with related internet commentary and controversy showed, if you go this route, you need to be ready for the response. Freeing the nipple is, even now, not exactly a simple choice. |
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