Are you bleary-eyed after last night’s Game 3? Me, too, and I didn’t even stay up for the whole thing. That’s okay. We’ll just ease into our day with a cup of coffee and a frivolous fashion face-off.
Last week, I nominated the best-dressed women from the WTA Gala and Draw Ceremony. I got some pushback both in the comments and in person: Where are the short, clingy dresses? Why are you nominating someone wearing a beach towel? Stop being such an old biddy!
Hmm. Maybe I have become too prim. I still don’t think these are the best of the bunch, but in the interest of salvaging my fashion cred, here’s the slate of slinky nominees:
1. Sloane Stephens
The standard uniform for evening wear is a black or red dress, so I have to applaud Stephens for thinking outside the box. I absolutely love the colors and beadwork.
The sleeves surprise me, though, and not necessarily in a good way. Stephens is super fit, but the tight sleeves make her strong arms just look bulky. Maybe we don’t need to be that far away from the box.
2. Caroline Wozniacki
The Dane’s a comely girl, and she chooses a dress to showcase her assets. All the standard evening wear boxes are checked. Short? Tight? Red (or black)? Yup, yup, and (yawn) yup.
What elevates this dress above the cookie-cutter cocktail style are the cute ties on the arms. They lend the dress a hint of playfulness, totally in keeping with Wozniacki’s personality. (Anyone remember the “I was attacked by a kangaroo” joke she played on the press?)
3. Petra Kvitova
Wow, Kvitova’s legs look long in that photo.
I really want to like this dress. Sure, it’s short and black, but it’s trying to do something a little more, with the sheer illusion at the neckline and tiers of fabric.
It’s almost a great dress, but for me, it doesn’t go far enough. I want just a little glimmer of beading or sequin. Or maybe some flapper-like fringe added to the tiers. The dress needs a little life and movement to give it the wow factor. (Those are some seriously excellent shoes, though.)
We have two polls today. The second asks you to recall Elina Svitolina’s tuxedo outfit from last week’s poll. Here’s the link, if you can’t remember it. (Having trouble with your short-term memory? Now who’s the old biddy?!)
Thank you for sharing a few of the more traditional outfits. I was wondering — about what they looked like and about trusting your fashion sense (that beach towel!).
Of these, I have to agree that only Sloane stood out. Yes, I think you’re right that ripping off the sleeves would be an improvement. I will disagree, though, that the little bows on Caroline’s sleeves are an improvement. I would like that dress without sleeves, too. These ladies have nothing to hide, so less is more.
Last week’s poll would have been much better with Sloane in place of beach towel. That said, I still have to go with Tuxedo for the overall win. It’s flattering and fresh. Nice choice (for her, and for you). Your reputation in fashion choices is salvaged. 🙂 Your writing and ability to entertain are always winners.
Aww…thanks for the compliment! Made my day!
I guess what I like about Woz’s sleeve-bows is that they’re different. Maybe they’re not beautiful. (Well, no maybe about it. They’re NOT beautiful.) But they’re original.
We could cut off the sleeves, and in one sense the dress would be better–less strange–but in another sense, it would be worse. What would you have, then? Just a very tight piece of red fabric. It’s not very interesting. I wore plenty of those dresses in my 20’s, so I’m not critiquing tiny, tight dresses from a moral perspective. There’s simply no imagination or creativity to them.
For me, the tuxedo wins hands down, followed by the beach towel. 😊