Usually, the runway version of an outfit is the one styled either to excess, or to such specificity — as it relates to the overall vision — that it needs to be tweaked for the red carpet. This is one of those instances where I prefer how it looked on the catwalk. Some of that is doubtless the lighting, and of course even that can’t fix the intentionally crinkled fabric that I tend to think detracts from any outfit’s elegance. But I like the wan train being either hidden or not present. The darker shoe and longer length look a bit cooler together (is Maria’s hem intentionally uneven?). And the chunky green earrings look better than the diamond necklace, which isn’t necessary to me against that neckline. My jury is out on the gloves; I can see why Maria left them off, as she went with a less edgy look overall, but to me the “before” photo is the winner and the “after” just looks like it’s about to unravel.
Luckily, her college poetry professor is there to write her a comforting haiku about the experience. He’ll perform something more scathing about it at the slam at his local coffeehouse, but to her he’ll say with syllabic precision, “Your crinkled wrapper unravels with luxe panache,” he will coo. “A glam undoing!”
