GRAMMY AWARDS: Toni Braxton was dressed to ill
Sun | Nation & World
Suffice it to say that Toni Braxton is no Jennifer Lopez.
The comparison seems apt because Braxton easily wore the most revealing garment of the evening at the 43rd annual Grammy Awards on Wednesday. So one couldn't help but be reminded of Lopez, who caused a significant stir at last year's ceremony in a green tropical-print Versace scarf dress in which the only thing separating the plunging neckline from the recklessly high slit was a strategically placed brooch.
But at least Lopez had on hot pants underneath. They were a slight reassurance that should the wisp of a dress slither off her shoulders, the audience wouldn't be exposed to full frontal nudity, just a couple of bare breasts. That was part of the delicious drama. It was a sultry tease.
Braxton, however, appeared to be wearing nothing - except, one hopes, the tiniest thread of a thong - beneath her ivory dress, which looked like a slightly elongated loincloth held on by a silver belt. And the risk was not that it would slip seductively to the floor but that one of its ill-conceived panels would flop to the side, awkwardly revealing a naked derriere or worse. That was not a tease; it was more like a threat.
Braxton certainly isn't unusual in her tendency to be half-naked. What distinguishes her, however, is that she so often chooses her frocks unwisely.
Put simply: If one is going to come out in public half-dressed, it's better to wear half of an exceptional dress rather than half of a tacky one. Also, wearing next to nothing demands that one exude an extraordinary level of confidence and an air of haughtiness. Both seem to escape Braxton.
The dress resembled many of the revealing outfits that Braxton has worn by designer Marc Bouwer. But this particular gown was by Richard Tyler, from his spring 2001 couture collection.
In some corners, the technical term for the dress was "butt ugly." It made the attractive Braxton look as though she had yards of toilet paper stuck in all the wrong places.