One Dress, Two Ways

Cheryl Cole celebrated her 26th birthday last week and the pressure was on to wear something special for the big party. Not that celebrating one’s 26th birthday is that important an occasion but when one’s everyday wardrobe is dissected in a weird Dannii versus Cheryl battle in the Daily Mail, it must seem vital to pick a knockout party dress. And so Cheryl, apparently desperate to shake off the WAG tag, turned to Alexander McQueen for her birthday OF. But she somehow managed to choose just about the waggiest piece that McQueen has ever designed. The short sheer dress drew comparisons with a Dancing on Ice costume with even the ever-polite Vogue.com commenting that “the fashion jury is still out on whether Cheryl Cole managed to pull off this look from Alexander McQueen's spring/summer 2009 show”. They did think that Cheryl “cleverly” wore her hair in a sleeker style so as to compliment the dress, but I actually think that it was Cheryl’s styling that made the dress look tacky. OK so a cut-out panel that reveals one’s navel and breasts is never going to be demure, but the dress looked completely different in an Observer shoot this weekend. On a waif-like, flat-chested model and teamed with an edgier hairstyle, it was pretty and delicate. And so Cheryl has made that most basic of fashion errors – stuff that looks really good on models might not look good on you, even (or perhaps especially) if you have very expensive accessories like hair extensions and breast implants. LE

Images from the Daily Mail and Observer