Yazhini ManimudiAs billionaire Jeff Bezos, 61 married Lauren Sanchez, 55 this Friday, well wishes came flooding in along with some fashion criticism.
What we wear is a very personal decision, especially when it comes to special days like weddings. There are, however, unspoken fashion rules to create a good look. Fashion criticism is usually levied against women, but this time Bezos takes some of the heat about his fashion choices.
Jeff Bezos’s Suit
It was Twitter famous men’s fashion critic @dieworkwear (Derek Guy) who pointed it out. The Canadian men’s fashion writer and commentator is known to blast male public figures for ill-fitting and poorly tailored clothing. He’s gone after the likes of Princes Harry and William, Daniel Craig, lineups of hockey players and NATO leaders, analysing the cut and pattern of their suits to its minutiae.
His critique of Bezos’ outfit came down to his choice of waistcoat for the suit he wore. Bezos wore a ‘dinner jacket’, usually worn with a tuxedo. Also called a tuxedo jacket, it’s a formal jacket worn after 6 PM to formal events. Tuxedos are meant for evening wear, but people have been wearing them during the day in recent times for special occasions like weddings.
Tuxedo jackets give a particularly sophisticated look that makes you look the part at black-tie events. It’s paired with either a cummerbund or a formal, lower cut waistcoat. Bezos chose instead to wear a higher cut vest made to shine with business suits. You can call him a random jealous guy on the internet, but you can see his point when he shows a size by side comparison with Bezos wearing a more appropriate waistcoat at a different event.
Formal vs Business Waistcoats
Formal waistcoats give a V-shaped, elongated look in the front. A dinner jacket is completely wasted on a high waistcoat. It hides away the long, elegant lines of a dapper jacket’s pattern, robbing the wearer of the sophistication that comes with putting on a tuxedo.
Tuxedos give men the opportunity to accessorize with cufflinks and dress studs instead of the boring old buttons they wear everyday. Bezos made dress studs part of his ensemble, but in vain as his poor choice of waistcoat covered it up. The high cut waistcoat gives it a more restricted appearance and looks like business attire.
Lauren Sanchez’s Dress
The bride says she originally intended to wear a ‘simple, sexy modern dress’ but realized she wanted to wear a dress that ‘evokes a moment’. The Dolce and Gabbana piece looks different from her usual modern strapless gowns. The extravagant lace dress takes inspiration from the iconic dress Sophia Loren wore in Houseboat, 1958. They share design elements like the corset, buttons, lace, and turtleneck. But the similarities end there.
The dress allegedly took 900 hours to make. Perhaps it was too many hours for it seems they added on elements just for the sake of it, resulting in a dress that looks like it’s conflicted on who it wants to be. Corsets and fishtails are both statement design elements that draw attention to your outfit. Put together in this dress with the lace, the elements are at conflict with each other for attention rather than flowing together for a cohesive look.
The buttons are everyone’s main issue about this dress and it’s mine as well. Yes, the Sophia Loren dress has buttons too but they are on a placket, giving it a structured look. They stop at the corset, leaving the beautiful lace skirt to shine on their own. Without the placket and going from collar to hem, the buttons interrupt Sanchez’s dress, splitting it at the center visually for an awkward look. The line of buttons curve outward rather than sitting in place, looking cheap and unlike what’s expected of a prominent fashion house.
There are other strange breaks in the design, the choice of lace for one. The lace is heavy and intricate, beautiful if it weren’t for the choices surrounding it. The heavy appears soft over the solid white of the corset. Above the corset, it becomes sheer and bold. By them is the sparse lace of the sleeves. An intersection of three visually different finishes that go together like oil and water. We have seen sheer lace around the neck and for the sleeves before. Most famously in Kate Middleton’s wedding dress. But the lace is consistent throughout, preventing harsh lines.
These could all be chalked up to the bride’s preferences. But then you notice there’s thin straps close to the sleeve seams that create another harsh break. Not a designer finish at all. In all, it looks like it was Frankensteined together for a costume.
To add to it all, the loose, swept up hair style clashes with the heaviness of her dress.
The dress bears striking resemblance to the one Dolce and Gabbana made for Princess Diana’s niece Lady Kitty Spencer in 2021. This dress also faced accusations of resembling a tablecloth. But it was better tailored and avoided putting in everything but the kitchen sink.
For long, we’ve looked to the wealthy class for fashion leads. With access to the best designers, fashion houses, and all the time in the world, we expect the best money could buy. An ostentatious display leaving us stunned and creating cheaper versions in hopes to replicate the splendor of the original.
Maybe it’s time we look elsewhere for inspiration.
Yazhini Manimudi
