When good dresses go bad, part one - a bad fit meets an overwhelming silhouette

 

Ahhh - the big night - the makeup, the hair, the jewels, and yes, oh yes - the dress.  An exquisite look can take days of shopping, hours of primping, and thousands of dollars to pull off.  So after all that effort and expense, (and stress) we all hope against hope that we do not turn up at an event looking like a punchline to a bad joke.

Unfortunately, we don't all have stylists to help us along (or at least *talented* stylists - your girlfriend who watches the Fashion Police on E! occasionally doesn't qualify) to make sure our gown fits, that the color is flattering, and that it accentuate the negatives instead of the positives. 

So here we are, faced with outfits such as the one above.  This dress worn to a New York City Gala fundraiser recently is a study in poor fit (among other crimes).  While it probably looked very glam on a 5'10" 120 lb fashion model, here it overwhelms the wearer with an overly exhuberant bright pink bow and a silhouette that defies definition.  It's a look that demands height to pull off, which is not what we have to work with on this wearer. 

The look is further exasperated by the fact that it cinches in a very poor spot for this gal - right across the fatty area near the arm and shoulder - offering a very unattractive bulge that makes her otherwise relatively toned arms look lumpy as a result.

The bright color and Romanesque zeitgeist of the gown would be more at home in Southern California or Texas in the Springtime, certainly not New York City in the Fall.

The worst part is the wearer looks very uncomfortable (we've cropped out her face for obvious reasons, but I can tell you she wasn't smiling when these photos were snapped).   For all the effort of getting ready for a big night, the cardinal rule is that you absolutely love what you wear, and show it off (sell it) with a pizazz that makes every head in the room turn.