By now, in 2021, we’ve seen this stuff enough that we aren’t fazed. But in 2002, I have to think this was one of those frocks where nobody quite knew where to look or what they were seeing. “Is that her underwear, or a modesty patch?” is only one of the potential questions. Everyone in the background seems to be looking studiously elsewhere, as if afraid to make accidental contact with the wrong thing. It’s like the Medusa of dresses: Meet its gaze, and pay a price.
