The best thing ever to come out of Project Runway is Christian Siriano. Austin Scarlett’s cornhusk eleganza is a close second, but Siriano takes the cake. I say this with such unshakeable authority and conviction because I believe it to be true, but also, look at this dress, which he sent down the runway Thursday evening at New York Fashion Week. It’s fun! Ignore the people frowing (sitting in the front row, hello) holding up their phones to capture what is CLEARLY a moment. Just feast your eyes on Coco Rocha in this Dior-ass throwback reinterpretation and tell me you are not having fun.
Hard to say where anyone might wear this dress in real life, but clearly it is versatile enough to work anywhere. The red carpet! The grocery store! The funeral of a lover who still has a shirt that you really like! The wedding of said lover, to which you were definitely NOT invited but found yourself attending anyway, fashionably late, of course, so that you might make an entrance and settle your large, square silhouette into a folding chair in the way back. The hat is perfection, the tailoring more so, and honestly, I know in my heart that this dress is really meant for one famous person to wear while waddling towards a step and repeat, but I want to advocate for more DRAMA in the EVERYDAY.
Yes, a sweatshirt feels nice, like a hug from a friend or a stranger with whom you might engage in middling sexual congress, but try something else! Try a gown. Wear the sweatshirt backwards? Face paint, that’s fun. I’m not suggesting you dress like an actual clown, but I am urging you towards a more fanciful form of personal expression, whether it be purple pants or a sweater version of a novelty tuxedo t-shirt (if this exists, please let me know.) Though these items are not the SAME as this dress, they are spiritual sisters. Fun! Fashion! It’s fine.
