I’ve never been able to pull off the one shoulder/one strap look made popular by movies such as Fame. I do have great shoulders, if I might be allowed to brag just this once, but I prefer exposing them both or hiding them both. Having one shoulder peeking out just feels plain weird. I’m always a little afraid that whatever I’m wearing is going to fall off!
And yet I know my opinion counts for very little because asymmetry is in. Even when hemlines run parallel to the floor, there are diagonal overskirts, listing waistlines, and necklines in need of some V-8.
An asymmetrical neckline from Lara Hélène:
An asymmetrical skirt from Ian Stuart:
An asymmetrical waist from Sottero & Midgley:
An asymmetrical…something-or-other from an older Anne Barge collection:
I love the Lara Hélène gown because it feels classic, and I love the Ian Stuart dress because it feels modern. On the other hand, I hate the Sottero & Midgley gown. As much as I like the color, the wrapped and ruched waist looks clunky and awkward to me.
And the Anne Barge? I hate myself for loving it. The back is horrid–utterly and truly–but there’s just something about it that makes me dream of walking through Manhattan in the early morning hours. I’m wearing large jewels and gloves. I am in desperate need of coffee and a pair of cheap drugstore sunglasses but all my money is in the clutch I forgot at the party I hurriedly left after an eruption of unwanted emotional drama.
Perhaps I can’t help loving clothes that spark my imagination. What say you, oh, astute and clever readers?
That Sottero&Midgley one isn’t helped by the fact that the model’s stance combined with the cut of the cups gives the impression that’s she’s trying desperately through sheer force of poor posture to keep it from slipping straight off her body.
I like the first one best…but color me less than wowed by pretty much all of them.
Then again, maybe it’s just me being jealous of women who actually have shoulders to show off. Mine are super slopey. That’s just one of the many reasons I love and adore shoulder details that actually cover the shoulder.
I adore the first one, but probably wouldn’t actually wear it due to my concern about the security of that neckline. It looks like it sits a tad on the low side to begin with, and neither or those straps like it would be tremendously effective at holding it up. Not the kind of dress I’d want to boogie down in!
I love that first one!
I’ve noticed that Sottero gowns look *vastly* better on real brides than they do on the website. OK, most gowns look better on real brides, since all of the models are making the same “fierce/miserable/homicidal” expression. But I think it’s particularly true with Sotteros.
If you don’t have a well defined waist, the Sottero gown would just look lumpy and chunky – but if you are like the model and are long waisted with a thin waist and notsoexpansive hips, I can see it working.
But I only know 1 girl like that in real life….and yah, she did get a wedding gown with a ruched bodice and waist…and looked gorgeous.
IN fact, I can see that being an issue with many asymmetrical designs – the only asymmetrical thing I can pull off, with my short waist and curvy body is a hemline or sleeves…everything else just looks like I have a dress that doesn’t fit right!
my heart stops for that first one. it looks so classic. i wouldn’t mind donning that gown for any reason.
i’m not always big on assymetry because i honestly love symmetry way too much than a person should be allowed to. assymetrical designs, as cool as they sometimes look, feel forced to me for some reason. but that first dress, defies reason.
Ooh, I love the Sottero gown. I tried a similar gown on, and would have gotten it if I hadn’t been going Renaissance (I tried a couple gowns on at an expo just to make the ladies with me happy).
I think I would like the first one, but the way the model is standing or something just makes it feel too lopsided to me. I have to say that I have shoulders left over from my surfing phase that I’m pretty proud of 🙂
I like the Sottero gown as well. I actually tried a very similar one on, and I found that a) it does not, in fact, look like it is falling off of me and b) it gives me a figure. As someone who has a boyish silhouette, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who already has hips. It actually gave me curves though, which I found to be fantastic. And the top half sat much higher on me, thankfully!
Linda Carter wore something very similar to the Sottero (but in different colors) to the Met Superheroes Gala.
http://www.blogdorfgoodman.blogspot.com/
Scroll down a bit to find her.