Jordin Sparks in Alice + Olivia

Posted on Aug 27, 2012 in Fashion

This whole look seems a little off, from a proportions perspective.

Jordin Sparks leaves “Good Day New York” studios in New York City in an Alice + Olivia maxi dress paired with Stuart Weitzman wedges.

Alice + Olivia Kell Maxi Tank Dress

Stuart Weitzman Crocheted Ankle-Wrap Espadrille

It’s a great dress with a fabulous skirt, but we’re not sure someone as bodacious as Jordin should be wearing it. Check the model. This was clearly not designed with breasts in mind. The waist is too high for her and belting it would be a mistake in the Shelley O mode, even though the dress probably needs a belt. Then there’s the hem length, which stops just above her ankles. That’s an awkward length, and while the strappy wedges are supercute and should go with this dress, the fact of the matter is that they’re large and heavy-looking paired with it. Essentially, we look at her in this getup and see the following in order: boobs, shoes, skirt. If that waist sat a couple inches lower (and was belted) and the hem had a couple more inches on it, we’d love this look.

[Photo Credit: WENN, aliceandolivia.com, bergdorfgoodman.com]

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J D

Yeah, the dress isn’t really for her, but DAMN her face is looking gorgeous in that first picture. Good for her.
- dress_up_doll
  
  My thoughts exactly. It’s not horrible, but I can’t take my eyes off how absolutely gorgeous she looks in these images.
- kimmeister
  
  I’m amazed at the wind tunnel effect she has going on with her hair in that shot, when all she’s doing is going through a doorway.
gabbilevy

Hmm… I don’t think the proportions on the top half are a problem, but a belt and a couple more inches to the skirt could have solved it. The combo of the hem length and the high waist are making the dress look funny, but I’m blaming the hem more than the bust.
- Vickiefantastico
  
  I concur. I think the bust looks good. The hem is what looks off. Also, I think the shoes could stand to be a little more brown. Otherwise, she looks great!
http://twitter.com/foodycatAlicia foodycatAlicia

She’s so pretty! But yeah, not her dress. I don’t understand what’s going on in the picture of the model. Somehow it looks as though she’s looking back over her shoulder, but her feet indicate that she’s facing forward. Bizarre.
- kimmeister
  
  Yes!! I kept staring at the model’s pic, trying to figure out how her feet or head were on backwards.
HomeOfficeGirl

Huh. I think she looks great in the dress! Just the shoes are a miss for me – as you say, too heavy for this. I guess I’m having a “hate the model Monday” because that girl looks like her feet are facing front AND her butt is facing front, and she is actually having to turn her torso to look at us. WTF!!!
- mshesterp
  
  what in the hell is up with that pose? My knees are crying just looking at her. I don’t understand what the photog was going for.
- janetjb
  
  I don’t understand the model’s body either! Maybe she’s a mannequin put together wrong?
  
  I think flats would have been a better choice, I agree that those shoes are too heavy.
  - http://twitter.com/MajorBedhead MajorBedhead
    
    Yes, this! Is she photoshopped? Did she have her neck snapped a la Torchwood: Miracle Day and is still able to walk around? Freakin’ bizarre.
    - mike__tv
      
      Don’t you mean a la death becomes her.
- sockandaphone
  
  omg I noticed that too. I was looking at the model picture way too long trying to figure out what the heck is going on with her body…
- schadenfreudelicious
  
  i am not convinced that is even anatomically possible, wtf is right!
  - AudreysMom
    
    I couldn’t even make my Barbie stand like that.
http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd

I love this look on her for everything BUT those shoes. They are too clunky and chunky for something that needs a light and airy look. What is it with me and people’s shoe choices of late?
- Sobaika
  
  Yup, I think the only things wrong with this look are the shoes and perhaps the hem length.
  - http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd
    
    The hemline doesn’t bug me, really. Its the shoes that throw everything off kilter. Lighter looking shoes, and it would be a go.
- janetjb
  
  I don’t understand most shoe choices lately either.
  - http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd
    
    thanks! I feel slightly less obsessive, knowing I’m not alone.
Pupioso

The top is fine to me. I agree that the waist should be a little lower and a belt is a necessity here.
In_Stitches

It does end up looking like a sports bra with a maxi-skirt hiked up underneath it.
YousmelllikeAnnaWintour

Love the dress, but yes, the fit is all wrong.
mshesterp

I like the whole thing–just give a few more inches on the skirt and darker sandals. I don’t like the color and think they’re just off. But her bust isn’t a problem…it’s really just a simple tank dress, and she’s making it work. Love the skirt, if only it weren’t at the ankle!
S_Swift

I actually like the dress on her, just not with those shoes. What terrifies me is the picture of the model. She looks like she’s twisted the wrong way ’round.
- Judy_J
  
  I thought the same thing myself! Those boots make her feet look like they’re on backwards.
Eclectic Mayhem

Love the skirt fabric though, beautiful!
mjude

she is a pretty girl but her hair drives me crazy, it looks like it weights 10lbs. i think the dress is to short?
ASK26

I think this one works better with breasts (and sick of designers who think that having ANY breasts is a negative)

olivereoreryiyqeiyqwe
Anathema_Device

I have a lounge-wear thing just like this that I got at Anthropologie four or so years ago. So, all I can think is that she should be wearing this at home after a shower.

She is looking prettier than ever right now, though.
Kayceed

I see a lot of these shortwaisted/empire maxi dresses about – in general I think flat sandals are the best accessory.
frannyprof

I want to cut off the last two inches of her hair.
frannyprof

Scratch that–the last EIGHT inches.
teensmom99

TLO, love you guys but you have obviously never been a large-breasted woman on a hot day. I think she looks fantastic and love length and the shoes together. I know you didn’t ask but this is a big IN. And extra points for dressing like it’s hot and muggy out.
- http://www.tomandlorenzo.com/ Tom and Lorenzo
  
  Sweetie, we love you but you obviously have no idea about proportions.
  - alyce1213
    
    It’s her opinion, fellas, and she was just making a funny. Please don’t hurt your minions.
    - http://www.tomandlorenzo.com/ Tom and Lorenzo
      
      So when she says something like that, she’s stating an opinion and making a funny, but when we say it we’re being hurtful. Gosh, that’s not stacking the deck at ALL.
      - alyce1213
        
        Maybe your skin’s thicker. It just seemed a little brusque, no unfairness intended.
      - http://www.tomandlorenzo.com/ Tom and Lorenzo
        
        You’re very interested in how thick our skins are or are supposed to be, because this is at least the 3rd or 4th time you’ve brought it up.
      - alyce1213
        
        You’re keeping score! That’s fun!
      - http://www.tomandlorenzo.com/ Tom and Lorenzo
        
        Funny how you still see her response as a joke, but not ours. Ours was hurtful and brusque, even though it was constructed exactly the same as hers. Here’s the other thing: Our response referred back to the original post, which was entirely about proportions; her response had nothing whatsoever to do with it, opting instead to bring up our gender as a way of bolstering her critique. Sorry, “joke.” And yet, I doubt you’d run to the defense of any man who told a woman she didn’t know what she was talking about because she’s not a man.
        
        And let’s be clear here: you didn’t think our skin was thicker than that because you’ve gone out of your way to in the past to tell us how thin-skinned we are every time we say something you don’t like.
      - teensmom99
        
        Whoa–I thought TLo’s response to me was funny. And I would have made my comment to any one of any gender who doesn’t have large breasts. And while I thought TLo were being funny, I actually have to disagree with their assessment of me (easy for me to say). Usually the proportion thing really gets to me, & I was surprised that I liked the way these proportions worked on her. And Alyce, I don’t want to be an ingrate about your rush to defend me . . . so I am grateful but I was ok with the comment I got back.
      - http://www.tomandlorenzo.com/ Tom and Lorenzo
        
        Sorry, hon. This became about something else. We wanted to make a point cheekily and it seems like you got that, even if you don’t agree.
      - teensmom99
        
        Group hug!
http://profiles.google.com/scaponigro Sarah Caponigro

If this was a maxi to the floor it would have been awesome. I actually think the top half is very flattering.
l_c_ann

The bodice IS longer on the model, it’s not just her figure.
One thing that makes Jordan’s version better is the placement of the print…so that the dark blue gray splotch leads from the bodice into the skirt. I don’t think it would have looked anywhere near as good, if her version had small orange splotches there.
jahphotogal

Disagree with TLo. Love this.
alyce1213

Love it, every inch. Nothing wrong with the length or proportion in my eyes.
http://twitter.com/PhDKnitter marlie

The dress looks fine enough on Jordin, but can we please talk about the model?? It looks like someone took their Barbie and swiveled her torso around so it’s facing the back. That is some really wackadoo posing there. Seriously – her feet and torso are facing in different directions.
formerlyAnon

I’m voting with “lengthen the waist and the hem will not bug.” While admitting that adjusting both might be best. She’s so good looking though, that she’s actually making that ombre hair (which I think fails more often than works) kinda work.
BuffaloBarbara

I think a couple of extra inches on the bottom might have actually made it more awkward, though I agree with dropping the waist. On big busts, the high waist always looks like, “And now, we stop the part where we’re covering up the breasts and begin the rest of the dress.”

Speaking of the fabled upper shelf, I’ve always meant to ask (or, well, at least since I started watching PR and reading TLo and therefore paying attention)–why do so many designers seem not to design with it in mind? It’s not like breasts are a newfangled invention.
- http://www.wordydoodles.com WordyDoodles
  
  Now that’s the multi-million dollar question!
http://profile.yahoo.com/FEP56YB4DUIXBWSLIMSSSGQHWY jimmack

Is Jordon coming from the beach and needed a little something to wear as she slipped into the 7/11 for a slurpee? No?! Then ICKY.
MilaXX

She looks a tall woman wearing a dress cut for a petite woman. Proportions are really off.
kelsita421

Compared to the model (wtf is up with that), Jordin can do no wrong.
http://twitter.com/kerrymccombs Kerry McCombs

I kinda like it! And she looks FIERCE coming through that doorway!
Susan Crawford

You just cannot even compare the gorgeous Ms. Sparks with that bendy-creature modeling the dress. In the name of God, how did she ever contort herself into that position? My entire body hurts just thinking about it!
- holdmewhileimnaked
  
  she didnt contort herself into that position. the intern they have doing photoshop did.
  - Susan Crawford
    
    Using the GumbyShop softwear, no doubt!
- pookiesmom
  
  I AM SO UTTERLY PERPLEXED BY THE MODEL’S BODY HOW AND WHAT IS HAPPENING TO HER TORSO?!
http://twitter.com/#!/Space_Kitty Space Kitty

It looks like a crop top, which is not a great look. A few inches short of awesome.
nannypoo

I think it’s just right on her. I’d like the shoes to be a little less bulky, but I think this is a great look for her.
j_anson

WHAT. Is going ON. With that model’s BODY?
origami dreamer

xx
origami dreamer

I don’t know that I love the dress, but I think the colors are amazing on her.
http://needtherapy.tumblr.com/ skadi1

If women only wore dresses designed with boobs in mind, we’d never wear dresses. Seriously, no one designs clothes with boobs in mind. She has magnificent boobs, you’re naturally going to see them first.
Now, let’s have a discussion on how all women’s clothes are made for a slim B cup and based on body form measurements from the 30s. How do we change THAT?
DCSheehan

A belt! What the skeg is wrong with a belt? Sigh.
ccm800

something about the whole thing gives her a Frankendrag affect.
guest2visits

Agree, but still really cute on her.
Lisa

I have big boobages too, and that is SO not the cut you want under them. I don’t have much of an issue with her look other than where it hits her bustling.
pookiesmom

I agree, but I am mostly completely and utterly disturbed by the fact that I CANNOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME discern what is happening with the model’s torso with respect to her legs and feet. Are her feet facing the back wall, with her torso and head turned towards the camera? Her feet seem to be facing forward…maybe? Are her feet facing forward, her legs facing the umbrella to her right, and her torso facing forward? How does that even work?!? Seriously I feel like she is from a scene out of The Exorcist. She will be haunting my dreams tonight.
http://twitter.com/SioConnellan Siobhan Connellan

Boobs first? Compared to Kiki? I’m so confused.
oohsparkley!

The first picture is un-flattering, but she looks great in the third picture. I probably would have preferred a different sandal, something not so clunky or a longer skirt. But I think she looks great in the third pic.
Cousin_Rose

Do I know you guys? You pretty much couldn’t find anything wrong with that silly falling off the boobs black dress on Kirsten Dunst and all you do is pick at this fabulous look on Jordan. Girl looks like she’s WERQing that first photo. I can’t believe she’s just walking through a doorway and not at a miticulously groomed (and p-shopped) photo shoot.
h2olovngrl

For once, I completely disagree with your assessment. I think she looks summery and adorable. I would love to have a dress fit my large bosom as nicely as this one fits hers. She looks great, flat out.

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Jordin Sparks in Alice + Olivia

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