Naomie Harris was, in the early part of 2017, celebrating her nominations for Moonlight. But, while many of our admittedly repetitive headlines were basically like, “SURPRISE, Naomie Harris looks great,” she had a very weird stretch of lackluster outfits in this time, beginning with a satin-PJ-themed jumpsuit and then continuing with this and ending with a custom Calvin Klein that came across like it was inspired by a strapless bra and a pencil skirt and then just glammed up with sequins. Of those three, this Gucci is my least favorite. Even she looks like she’s trying to smile at her best friend’s wedding, but mentally composing scathing messages for the bridesmaid WhatsApp chain. The skirt is a pretty idea, but such a muddy yellow. The pink top is too twee. I want to take the skirt, have it be a simple strapless top, and make it the colors of the ombre flower detail, or a richer yellow, or… something, anything, other than a dusty palette. It just doesn’t feel sophisticated to me. Especially when compared with what she wore the year after:
I know this seems like a case where I would be like, “WHAAAT, just line it and make it a dress,” or something, but I liked it then and I still like it now. I just think the whole thing works beautifully on her, and is a sexy use of sheers that also showcases the work on the garment without being crotch-forward. She’s also completely in command of it, rather than — as with the Gucci — appearing to fight her way through it. And the good news is, if we can outpace the freaking variants with vaccine, she’s got three projects on the docket for 2021, including that long-awaited Bond movie. So she’ll get to flex her fashion muscles again soon. May she flex them HARD.
