Sartorial WTF of the Week

[akirlu]

Paging smofbabe: Never mind the Oscars and other such decorous affairs of magisterial grace and restrained good taste, have you seen what passes for "national costumes" at the Miss Universe competition this year? Ya gotta go look, only first be sure to put on your Fashion Police helmet and your Foster Grants. You do have to scroll down past Miss Albania, who apparently did not get the memo about the rule requiring costumes that challenge the viewer's comprehension and sanity, not to mention eyesight. Did you ever wonder what happens if your local mad scientist succeeds in crossing a Las Vegas showgirl with a carnival Carioca? Well, wonder no more. Miss Brazil is one of the restrained ones. After you get used to it, there is a sort of godawful majesty to the spectacle, and I confess to finding both Miss Cayman Islands and Miss Costa Rica quite fetching in their outlandish do-me-do duds, but then you catch yourself criticizing the restrained outfits that actually make some sort of sense, because they don't fit the idiom. And you think, poor Croatia and Estonia, I guess they didn't have the budget to hire the bastard stepchild of Erte and Bob Mackie to design for them. Those poor girls had to settle for normal clothes.

But seriously, can anyone explain what Miss Australia is supposed to be that relates to, um, Australia? Or Miss Ireland for that matter? And why did no one tell Miss France, "Honey, either two panniers, or no panniers, but the one pannier look is not working for you,"?

Comments

[athenais.livejournal.com]

My comments this morning over at baby_elvis's journal:

Ooh, Miss Trinidad & Tobago in her national costume of gigantic implants. Niiiice.

Apparently, the Swedish national costume is an ice dancing ballerina.

Miss Ecuador's costume appears to feature both the birds she's wearing and the netting they were trapped with.

I am left speechless by the enormous mouth hovering over Miss Canada's lady parts.

It is my fervent hope that all Chilean miners go to work in boots exactly like Miss Chile's.

The national costume of Kosovo is short shorts? AWESOME.

I would have awarded first prize to Miss Tanzania, Transformer Warrior Princess.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

*Snerk* - I'm also digging Romania's interpretation of Vlad Tepes, Swan Maiden.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

It is my fervent hope that all Chilean miners go to work in boots exactly like Miss Chile's.

Oh, YEAH. And the balloon-skirt mining shorts.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

I don't watch the show, but from the bits and pieces I have seen, it seems to me that this trend has been going on for some years, hasn't it?

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

No idea. I haven't actually watched a beauty pageant on television since, oh, possibly some time in the 1970s. This is actually the first I've seen of what goes on at the Miss Universe pageant since about then. I just thought that if my eyeballs were gonna be flensed from my head, I could at least share the joy.

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

Darn! Just woke up and found this and was getting ready to post it but you beat me to it (might do anyway).

But seriously, can anyone explain what Miss Australia is supposed to be that relates to, um, Australia?

The outfit caused a lot of controversy when it was unveiled before the pageant. Here's the designer's explanation:

The base of the costume is a yellow bikini, representing Australia's beach culture and picking up the yellow of the sun that Australia is known for. Paired with the bikini is a skirt of cascading blues on the outside representing the ocean and vivid reds and oranges on the inside picking up the colours of the desert sands. The gold of the belt buckle and headband represent the minerals, such as gold, that are also found in Australia's desert.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Go for it (posting, I mean): that is what you call a target rich environment, and I haven't even gone for semi-auto mode.

Re: Australia - I guessed it was something along those lines but, frankly, I don't think it works. In this kind of field, you might as well go for the full-blown Priscilla castoff look.

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

Posted here, including a link to a snarky commentary site online.

Miss Brazil is one of the restrained ones.

[apostle-of-eris.livejournal.com]

I don't know if that says it all, but it says enough, irrelevant of context.

[ceemage.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Isn't it amazing how many different countries Lady Gaga is clearly an honorary citizen of?

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

I'd love China and Singapore for myself and Venezuela, OTT me, but a lot of peacocks and other fowl certainly gave their all for some pretty weird efforts.

[mac-arthur-park.livejournal.com]

Evidently, the look for next season is "barely dressed bird-like creature"?