Red Carpet Dress Disintegration

I love that these days I can see the latest formal styles being worn on the red carpet right away, in full color and zoomable, with commentary. Stars are much more polished these days compared to even the 1990s. Everyone looks perfect with makeup, coiffures, manicures, with perfectly coordinated shoes, bag, jewelry and most importantly a lovely designer dress. All kinds of actresses and hollywood women young and old, fat and spindly, wear lovely evening gowns to awards shows. I love it.What I don't love, what I am confused about, is why three times now I've noticed stars having major dress malfunctions. What's going on?

Sofia Vergara : Separated Zipper

Sofia Vergara: before

Sofia Vergara: Busted Zipper

Sofia Vergara's dress's zipper has failed. This dress is very fitted, and the seat is a stress point. Usually ease is added to the seat but this dress has been tailored perhaps too tightly, removing ease. (This fabric obviously has no stretch either.) If you must have a closure at a stress point, consider a more robust one, such as hooks and eyes or a metal zipper.


Julianne Hough : Ripped at Seams

Julianne Hough: Before

Julianne Hough: Ripped at Seams

This dress has ripped at the seams between the flat textured fabric and the charmeuse. Ostensibly the dress ripped due to vigorous dancing. The only way to avoid such a failure is to add design ease (or stretch), for movement. This dress appears to have been tailored too tightly, removing ease. When having a garment fitted, be sure to sit down, climb stairs, and if you're a vigorous dancer give that a try, too. Looking good standing still isn't worth it if you look like a goof when your seams fail.
This is an interesting example of the importance of stitch length. When choosing a stitch length, choose one long enough so when you stress the fabric, the stitches break rather than the fabric ripping. This is what happened to this dress, so it is repairable.

Jennifer Lawrence : Ripped or Weird Design?

Jennifer Lawrence: Before

Jennifer Lawrence: Exposed Thighs

I don't know who to believe on this dress. In the case that a seam has ripped, it is due to the same problem as Ms. Hough. The tailoring has been too tight, and the threads have ripped out due to lack of ease.
According to Dior the design is layered and the sheer panel is supposed to appear at the thigh. Apparently the actress was holding her dress up during her speech to cover her thighs. I guess designers and personal stylists having no clue what actual women do when they wear a dress. No one predicted this Ms. Lawrence would sit down, stand up, and climb stairs (an everyday activity done often at awards shows!) and expose her thighs to her own surprise. Prevent this by testing your dress during fittings to see if there are any design surprises.

I hope this series of "wardrobe malfunctions" playing out on Twitter, Instagram, and live on TV convinces stylists and designers to consider the importance of ease and of testing movements in a design. For people who sew or wear fancy dresses, consider carefully your stitch length, choice of closure, and amount of ease.