On Caftans and Muumuus

Here is the most elegant and beautiful Isabella Rossellini, ya'll, who has gotten quite voluptuous in her dotage. Look at her. She's all beaming and round-faced because she's not really modeling any more and she's eating butter and drinking Merseault in places like Gstaad and Biarritz. She's Isabella Rossellini. She doesn't care if she's got avoirdupois. She is eternally gorgeous.



There's a lot that works here: the big smile, the classic red lips, the colorful beads, the creative, flowing garb.

Unfortunately, there's a lot more that doesn't work here:
the hideous color of the caftan (she can sort of get away with it but I doubt you can, and I certainly can't), the hacked-at hair with no movement and no shine or discernible style to it, the sneakers (ack! sneakers!?). And it's too bad she's dragging around that white bedspread; she looks like a first-grader heading to her first sleepover.

The caftan, ideal for hiding a multitude of sins, should ideally be about mid-thigh, and she should have beautifully flowing pants on underneath, and maybe a boot with a heel. Unless she's been on a flight all day, in which case the dressed up sneakers might be temporarily forgiveable.

I understand that the caftan is a traditional Indian garment, or at least I think it is. And I respect that. However, she still looks like she's swimming in it and it's just not flattering.

The way to redeem this look would be to do something with the hair (like grow it to balance out the chipmunk cheeks), cut about half the caftan off, put on a more appropriate shoe, and stay away from mustard yellow.

She'd still do a lot better if she wore a fitted jacket or tunic and created the funky ethnic look she seems to be after with lots and lots of beads and a turban. She could absolutely tear it up in a turban.

If you want to see a really cute caftan look, check out Gwen Stefani at nine months pregnant (and I'm referring to the far left photo in particular):




Thanks to Go Fug Yourself for the photo.