Zoe Saldana in Dolce&Gabbana

Posted on Feb 27, 2013 in Fashion

We want to like this for being bold and bright and eye-catching:

Zoe Saldana attends the 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards in a Dolce&Gabbana striped dress paired with Casadei contrast piped pumps.

Dolce&Gabbana Spring 2013 Collection/Model: Nikolett Bogar

But let’s face it: She looks like an awning in heels. And that’s so not sexy, kittens.

Props to her, though: she’s working the hell out of it. She looks like she cycled through about 40 poses in under 2 minutes.

[Photo Credit: Andrew Evans, David Gabber, Emiley Schweich, PR Photos, style.com]

Tags:

http://twitter.com/stellaphone Stella Zawistowski

I actually DID like it until I got to the “awning in heels” bit! Now I can’t unsee it.
- Carly Warnock
  
  Agreed she has such a pretty, tiny waist though in this and that’s never a bad thing. Awning in heels…
- Jessica O’Connell
  
  Same! Though seriously, this is a fucking beautiful looking awning in heels. The fabric also looks a little towel-y but it’s still bold and gorgeous in my eyes! LOVE those shoes.
MK03

That fabric would make for some lovely lawn furniture.
- http://frankbettecenter.org/ sleah_in_norcal
  
  i was thinking a beach umbrella. and then, the texture of the stripes in the close-up, which attempts to convey a hand-painted brush stroke, is actually giving me terrycloth beach towel realness…seal beach, california, 1955.
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZBFH32YG44LIIZYLSQPMBXMYCU Sarah
    
    Yeah, from the first photo, I was getting terrycloth. Then the model showed me the truth, but I couldn’t shake terrycloth, so I was scrolling down waiting for TLo’s take, and there they are with “awning,” which is apt, but damnit, that dress is so a towel. It looks absorbent, for chrissake.
- sunnycalif
  
  I was thinking cabana tent!
Sobaika

I loved it until I got to the shoes – she’s too good for such matchy-matchy.
- imperfectlaura
  
  That’s something that really bothered me. She really had to go out of her way to be matchy matchy. I doubt there is an endless supply of white pumps with green heels.
  - MoHub
    
    Not just green heels. There’s a green band around the throat of those shoes as well.
- Tatiana Luján
  
  I would love it if she had worn black shoes.
- Elizabeth Silverstein
  
  I agree I actually really like this, but wish she had chosen some better shoes. I would totally wear this dress though. I don’t mind looking like an awning or circus tent or what have you.
  
  ETA: I just realized she and Kerry Washington could switch shoes and both greatly improve their looks.
  - Celandine1
    
    That’s actually a brilliant idea.
  - 3boysful
    
    I’m with you–loving the dress, the heels, notsamuch.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=610791985 Aniela Marie Perry
  
  I actually quite like this dress, but the matchy shoes are not a good idea.
siena Mystic

I love it. Love a woman who can work those bold stripes.
Martha Deutsch

The pattern makes it look like it’s made from terry cloth, no?
- Eclectic Mayhem
  
  I think it’s some kind of damask. The lines between the colours are deliberately rough and that’s where the ‘towelling’ look seems to be creeping in.
- http://remedialstitcher.blogspot.com/ Sara Leigh Merrey
  
  That’s what I thought at first.
BP180

Thoughts:

1) Beach towel.
2) Those shoes are cute, but look excruciating to wear.
3) She’s still pretty much pulling this off.
- http://twitter.com/crush_onyou crush on you
  
  This. I kind of like it, particularly from the waist down. It fits perfectly and she has the (petite & really thin) body for it. Love those shoes, even with the matchy green heel. What I don’t much like is the top of the dress. If it was a little bit more flirty, or in any way more interesting… As it is it looks like a matching long sleeved t-shirt.
appliquer

I just have to assume that these poor women are forced to wear ugly clothes.
AwesomeMargie

It’s looks like it has the texture of a towel.
- http://twitter.com/MaxineDance Maxine Horne
  
  Hahaha. I had a dress just like it (well sorta) when I was a kid and that was made out of beach towelling. I loved that dress. Did you guys used to have Pacer mints? They were these green and white striped chewy sweets. Looked just like this
  - Eclectic Mayhem
    
    Great minds Maxine – you must be one of the UK Bitter Kittens (or Aus/Kiwi/Canadian?) to get that reference!
imperfectlaura

I don’t know…I like it. On a mere mortal, I think awning in heels is all I’d seen, but on Zoe it has a sassiness to it. That is the power of Zoe I guess.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=724916801 facebook-724916801

I actually love it. I think it looks better on her than the model. And she is working the hell out of it.
karenbttc

Brandon Walsh called. The Beverly Hills Beach Club wants its robe back.
Roosevelt 85

LOVE IT
http://twitter.com/maggie162 Maggie

I actually love this – it’s fresh and different. Love the bright green and the slightly blurry stripes. Shoes are a little matchy, but so cute I’ll forgive it.
rajf

Isn’t this the second awning/beach umbrella in as many days?
http://twitter.com/chylde chylde

Ew! I want to put an Anne Hathaway Fatwa on her for taking the role of Nina Simone, which she so clearly is NOT right for.
MilaXX

I was thinking beach towel, but yeah, try as I might, I couldn’t like this look.
Eclectic Mayhem

UK Kittens of a certain age will understand when I say PACERS!
http://www.facebook.com/rocio.bellotti.3 Rocío Bellotti

The print kind of makes it look like made out of towels! Wierd texture. Otherwise it’s lovely on her.
http://www.facebook.com/CameronETurner Cameron Turner

I think she looks fantastic and is working it OUT. She looks ten times better than the runway model….
l_c_ann

I’ll always hate this pattern, esp in these colors. I spent quite a while with it covering the four bunk matresses in the Vberth of our sailboat.
Come to think of it, she could sleep in our Vbirth and disappear.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VZLU6YVO4BRTELTTH3GRAAMWZQ Dot

Those shoes look terribly cheap and they don’t even fit.
http://profiles.google.com/denise.alden Denise Alden

I love it and she’s working the crap out of it.
http://twitter.com/thousandfabrics Houseof1000fabrics

I wasn’t a fan of this dress on the runway either but Its actually amazing how good she looks in these stripes. Any normal human being would look like a walking sofa. Don’t like the match-matchy heels though.
Tr16ia

Kutsher’s Hotel called and they want their pool towels back.
Annabelle Archer

Awe, I do like it. Maybe on a bigger girl it would give a tent/awning vibe, but she’s such a wee thing that I think it works. I like the matchy shoes too, so there.
- tvmovielover
  
  It looked good when she walked onto the stage to present at the IFC awards-you did not notice the shoes.
momogus

I like it. I have a feeling it looks better when she’s not posing so determinedly.
Alyssa

I like it, but maybe I’m just a fan of awnings!
filmcricket

I quite love the colours, and she’s working hard to pull this off, bless her. Love the shoes. But I am not one who is smitten with Ms. Saldana – clothes just seem to hang on her. If I want a clothes hanger with a face I’ll just look at runway photos.
- http://frankbettecenter.org/ sleah_in_norcal
  
  or print out a random face and stick it on the top of a wire hanger.
http://twitter.com/BigBearSpeaks Big Bear

I have suddenly developed a fetish for awnings.
teensmom99

I think my mother bought me this in the 80s.
Janet B

What was it about this event that made everyone wear odd clothes?
- http://frankbettecenter.org/ sleah_in_norcal
  
  i guess independent=bizarre in the celeb/pap world.
Pants_are_a_must

She also looks like it’s putting her to sleep. I would too, if my dress looked like a lounge chair.
Corsetmaker

In all seriousness, in my city wearing that dress would be making a very big statement because it’s basically a football strip in dress form. In fact there are places that would bar you at the door.
mhleta

It’s editorial, anyway? I quite like the crispness of the green and white stripes, but my first thought was, “Jesus, is that Astro-turf?” My second thought was, “Dad has towels like that that I bought him in 1987. It’s high time I get him new towels.” So, a different fabric would have kept this off the playing field and out of my dear old dad’s loo.
capybara_cafe

It looks like it’s made of terry cloth. Wth.
elemspbee

the shoes! the shoes!
KayEmWhy

Why are these women always wearing shoes that are too big? That dress is not for here.
- BrooklynBomber
  
  Because they can get their feet into them (as opposed to too small, which they really would not be able to get on).
BrooklynBomber

It’s really hard to pull this off in the middle of winter. I think if it was July she could get away with it. It’s just almost impossible to look at those broad stripes and not think lawn chair.
schadenfreudelicious

this endless parade of too big shoes is making me all stabby!!
- Judy_J
  
  Me, too. It’s my pet peeve.
Judy_J

I’m really dating myself on this one, but that material looks like those towels you used to find in boxes of Breeze detergent (the kind Dolly Parton used to sell on the Porter Waggoner show). And her shoes are too big for her foot.
http://twitter.com/ambientqueenie Christa

When a stripey print recalls the repressed memories of Jeffrey Sebelia, nobody wins. (Sure, his final Project Runway collection was all right, in places, but … shudder.) The unpleasantness-by-association is bound to offend. :p
GorgeousThings

I got more of a wrapped-two-beach-towels-around-herself vibe, but the awning works, too.
j_anson

Aw, it is a bit awning-like, but I still like it.
Indigo54

looks like upholstery fabric. Hate it.
Rand Ortega

LOL! An awning in heels!
She should have taken a page from the runway & did something to offset the strong stripes: A scarf around her head or neck, a statement necklace, big door knocker earring– Anything to take a little attention away from such a bold dress.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1355527007 Rain Jezek

I do like it as bold and eye-catching, but that the fabric reads as terry cloth in pictures means I can only see it as bath towels. It’s a shame because I rather like the dress otherwise.
http://remedialstitcher.blogspot.com/ Sara Leigh Merrey

Reminds me of the wallpaper in the dining room of the house I grew up in. In the ’50s and ’60s.
kschwarting

I take your point about the awning, but as Carly said below, it’s very flattering and her waist looks tiny in it. For the more casual environment of the Spirits, I think it works. If only the shoes were the right size.
http://twitter.com/Goldielox73 Goldie

I think the hem is an awkward length. If it hit at or just above the knee, it would be greatly improved.
Stubenville

Looks like she laid on a park bench covered with wet white paint.
decormaven

It’s a very fresh look, but she appears a bit tuckered. Not her best fashion day.
another_laura

From afar it looks like toweling. From close it looks sloppy. ”Awning” is complimentary. What’s up Zoe, you fab fashionista, that you are missing it these days?
Adriana_Paula

The skirt is the wrong shape for its length, and the shoes are too damn big.
Zippypie

The cut of the dress is really flattering so it’s a shame it’s an awning in motion.

And, dammit, stop with the too big shoes! Grrrrr!
Trisha26

Something about this just shouted “World Cup” to me. That or tacky bath towel. ZS is one of my irrational hates but even so I wouldn’t wish this dress on her. And I hate the match-y shoes.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1447060898 Lori Wade Miller

Those are indeed my awnings. I wonder if it’s Sunbrella fabric, too.
http://asskickingadviser.com/ Ass Kicking Adviser

I am slightly concerned about the world opening up and swallowing me because I didn’t like Zoe’s Indie Spirit look, I didn’t like her Oscar look and I didn’t like her post-Oscar party look either. It’s the three bad outfits of the apocalypse! She is supposed to be our savior from bad fashion, not the bringer of it.
formerlyAnon

The only thing that elevates this from a “Friday night drinks on the deck with the neighbors” tee-shirt dress is the texture to the fabric.

(and, like others, at first I thought I was looking at terrycloth)
Imasewsure

Might be cute as a mini I think…. it’s an awning though… you are right
Super_Red

oh but I love it! She looks fabulous!
libraangel

I thought patio unbrella. Same diff. Still terrible
understateddiva

the length is BAD. right above the knee and with ANY other shoe and I’m on board.
YousmelllikeAnnaWintour

Oh, if the dress were shorter she would look great. Too bad.
Pterodactyl111

I love this dress.
Monabel

I still like it, awning or not.
quiltrx

It looks cheap and ‘home painted’, knowing full-well that it is neither.
Lisa_Cop

It’s hard to combine those vertical stripes with the horizontal ones on the bottom. I think if she had worn big, bold earrings like the model it would look more “fashion” and less “awning”.
OrigamiRose

I love it; maybe would have loved it a little more if a bit shorter, but either way, she looks great.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=651385034 LoJoSo

Is that terrycloth? I mean, Idoubt it but it sure looks it!
http://www.facebook.com/louise.lister.10 Louise Lister

What? She looks stunning. This is so modern and fresh.
http://twitter.com/omg_dora Dora K.

At the risk of being an asshole — it annoys me that every review in the world of Adele’s or Melissa McCarthy’s dresses revolves around how they manage to work with their size, but Zoe Saldana’s skeletal thinness is not generally considered an issue to be addressed.

I kind of like the dress. The shape of it is lovely. I do think so loud a pattern requires some sort of break near the face — a solid green band around the neckline would frame her face nicely.
- http://www.tomandlorenzo.com/ Tom and Lorenzo
  
  What issues should be addressed regarding Zoe’s body?
  - http://twitter.com/omg_dora Dora K.
    
    I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to rag on you guys, if that’s what it came off as. It’s the fashion world that annoys me. I mean, whenever I see Saldana, I think “She’s so thin it’s scary” and I find it hard to focus on the clothes (I have the same reaction to many models in runway pictures). And while I don’t know much about Saldana, I do know she used to be a bit healthier looking when she was less famous. But that’s not relevant to her wearing lovely clothes. So I feel like an asshole for commenting negatively on another woman’s size, and no, I definitely wouldn’t want magazines freaking out about her thinness or whatever, because it’s not their business. But it still feels twisted that her weight isn’t a “handicap” for wearing designer clothing the way it’s a handicap to be naturally & healthily chubby.
Deedles

Man, Popular Club Plan (n/k/a J.Crew) circa 1985.
Judy_S

She looks charming, but the dress looks like a tablecloth (appears to be damask) sewn up into an Advanced Beginner pattern. Kudos to her for making it look charming.
miagain

I like it…
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=14301272 Kate Gorton

She should’ve worn the cool D&G shoes! I still like it, though.
MissAnnieRN

I actually really like this. But I would like it better if it were in a cotton Pique. That fabric looks old lady to me.
carolie_king

Someone’s got a kickin’ St. Patrick’s Day outfit.
http://twitter.com/Mlle_D Donyelle

She looks like a 50s Palm Beach patio set.
tereliz

Eh, she’s working it. Shoes are questionable but I have to applaud the lengths her stylist obviously went through to find them.

re:matchy shoes: All the dyed to match bridesmaid shoes at the Oscars were killing me, but… Did anyone see pics of the Balenciaga show? There were some black and white looks paired with black and white shoes that I thought really worked. Looks 23-30 as displayed by The Cut.
ThaliaMenninger

Awning is exactly it.
http://twitter.com/PhDKnitter marlie

I like it, but I wish she hadn’t gone so matchy with the (too-big) shoes. Otherwise, it’s cute!
peachy

those shoes are hideousness come to life. yikes! the dress is dowdy. she can do muuuuch better.
MoHub

I like it except for the length. If that hem were at mid-knee, and she had different shoes, I’d give it a WERQ.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1245406754 Tracey Magyar

Love it!
RescueMe23

Thanks for making me snort water through my nose….Awning in heels!
chitowndg

Different shoes – I see a lot of options other than spike heels this season that would have been fun – other than that I love it. She looks happy in it.

What time of day was this event? The choices of some of the ladies don’t look like they were going to the same event.
H2olovngrl

I have that same towel!
missnutkin

even the shoes would work if it was just bang on knee length – 3 inches woulda made all the difference
Librarina

I actually like it, but not with white shoes. The model did a better job. Need substantial jewely.
Tree .

I liked it, too. These comments just seem mean-spirited. Ugh.
http://twitter.com/amndad amanda lynn

i like the pops of green in the shoes.
http://korilian.livejournal.com/ korilian

The best I’ve ever seen her look. Love it!
Beardslee

I like this dress. The silhouette is flattering and looks comfortable and it has SLEEVES.
That wonky fabric though….huh???
kathrineb

I am inclined to like this. Don’t know if the length is right.
ccm800

I lke it awning or not. But I want to feed her.
littlemac8

I HATE that material. You cannot make that material into a cute dress. So there!

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Zoe Saldana in Dolce&Gabbana

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