Stella McCartney's 'Miracle Dress' Is A Simple Illusion

There is a dress so gorgeous, so flattering, so magical that it’s causing celebrities to throw caution to the wind and live the major faux-pas that is wearing the exact same ensemble as another celebrity. That dress is The Octavia, a $1600 feat of fashion by Stella McCartney that upon wearing, will make anyone look 2 sizes smaller than they really are.

Yes, we’re still talking about the dress because it is quite glamorous, actually, and the idea that so many leading ladies have worn it is noteworthy — most celebs, it would seem, want to avoid the “who wore it best” treatment. Kate Winset most recently stepped out in the so-called “Miracle Dress” at the Venice Film Festival, and Liv Tyler, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Scherzinger, La La Anthony and Gloria Estefan have all worn the look recently as well, albeit in different colors. This dress must really be magic, eh?

So what are the winning components that equal a piece of fashion so lust-worthy? People’s Kate Dimmock explained that the stretchy fabric “holds everything in” and “a very beautiful girdle, to a certain extent.” Sounds comfortable! Much of the flattering credit can be attributed to the black layer on the backside of the dress: thins out your bottom half in a crazy optical illusion that other designers are now trying to emulate. Optical illusions, you say? I’ll be counting down the days until a Magic Eye appears on the runway, in that case!