Miss Havisham, 2007

Manolo says, what bothers the Manolo here is not that Carrie Bradshaw is the older bride, but that this gown emphasizes how Sarah Jessica Parker has exercised herself into the haggard state. She appears desiccated, as if all of the life and youth have been wrung out of her.

The result is pathetic and faintly tragic.



This gown hangs on her. And here the Manolo repeats his case that for older women, the few extra pounds help.

P.S. Never teh Bride asks the question: Are these cups half full, or half empty?

42 Responses to “Miss Havisham, 2007”

  1. vicki October 5, 2007 at 12:58 pm #

    Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but in my eyes she looks like death warmed over!

  2. class factotum October 5, 2007 at 1:07 pm #

    Remember that the camera adds ten pounds, too.

    It’s nice to know that it IS possible to be too thin.

  3. Cristina October 5, 2007 at 1:33 pm #

    My first thought was that the gown looks like bad cat’s eye glasses on an old face. That feather does nothing for her either.

  4. danilo October 5, 2007 at 1:35 pm #

    It’s the severity of gauntness that makes her look, in my eyes, like she could run the mile-and-a-quarter in 1:57.14 for the promise of a bucket of oats.

  5. silvermine October 5, 2007 at 2:05 pm #

    Oh my gosh. I’ve never seen a gown make someone’s chest look so shriveled up. Dessicated is the perfect word.

  6. Nancy (nanflan) October 5, 2007 at 2:44 pm #

    God, that’s a horrible dress. Couldn’t they at least hire an alterationist for the top of it? The photo where SJP leans over in it is downright frightening!!!

  7. deja pseu October 5, 2007 at 2:46 pm #

    I’ve heard that French women have a saying, “after forty, one has to choose between one’s face or one’s figure.” Sometimes we older broads look better with a few extra pounds.

    But I still adore SJP. I can’t help it.

  8. roz October 5, 2007 at 2:47 pm #

    Of course we all agree with the Manolo on the extra lbs helping the appearance of the older woman. Finding the right number of those extra lbs is the challenge?

    (P.S. this advice is good for the gander, too.)

  9. dangster October 5, 2007 at 2:56 pm #

    I’ve always thought of the girls of Sex and the City as “youthful” but the veins on Carrie’s hands have really shocked me into thinking that, well, they’re getting old!

  10. debutaunt October 5, 2007 at 2:58 pm #

    Did the flowers suck the blood out of the veins in her hand? A phlebotimist’s dream. I do love SJP, but that cockatoo on her head – no es bueno!

  11. deja pseu October 5, 2007 at 2:59 pm #

    Oops, Deja needs to learn to “read the rest of the entry” before adding the redundant comment. ;-)

  12. Anne (in Reno) October 5, 2007 at 3:40 pm #

    I didn’t recognize who that was! I feel absolutely sorry for her to be photographed like this and encouraged (by someone?!) and told this looks good.

  13. La Petite Acadienne October 5, 2007 at 3:56 pm #

    Oh dear, that is an unfortunate choice of dress. SJP is a delight, and my admiration for her will never wane, but when one is as thin as she is, the large, poufy dress and the scraped-back hair only serve to emphasize how thin her face and upper body are.

    She would have looked so much lovelier in something simply-cut and elegant (the “Carole” from Badgley Mischka’s Spring 2007 bridal collection would be lovely on her), with soft, pretty makeup and soft, pretty hair.

  14. Q October 5, 2007 at 4:31 pm #

    I’m sure that dress is a joke.

    Surely it’s a comedic moment in the film, or a dream (nightmare?) sequence.

    Surely.

  15. khazar October 5, 2007 at 4:57 pm #

    You’d think they could afford someone to press the dress before the wedding. It looks like a refugee from a toga party.

  16. Klee October 5, 2007 at 5:17 pm #

    I’m thinking this is some nightmare sequence-even more so now that I see ‘Charlotte’ in a black flamenco number with a hoorible necklace. Perhaps its the alternate-universe S&TC?
    Still, Sarah honey, you really shouldn’t have let’em do you that way….dignity becomes ever more important as we age…..

  17. Gigi October 5, 2007 at 5:21 pm #

    Oh dear! SJP seriously needs about 20 pounds on her! You know what they say, after a certain age you must choose between your face and your ass.

    As thin as she is, a charmeuse bias-cut dress would have been much more flattering.

  18. Gracie October 5, 2007 at 5:31 pm #

    That blue thing is a feather? It’s looks more like the pull ring for the talking “Wedding Barbie” doll. (I wondered why they would attach it to the side of the head of this doll. Normally those things go behind the neck, but you never know with these “made in China” toys… She’s probably covered in lead paint too.)

  19. me October 5, 2007 at 5:56 pm #

    Anne (in Reno), I didn’t recognize her, either! I just thought, “Ew, mutton dressed as a lamb.”

  20. cheeky October 5, 2007 at 6:03 pm #

    Horrendous. A total mess. She looks haggard.

  21. Jennie October 5, 2007 at 6:26 pm #

    SJP- A visit to Perla for a padded, push up bra or at least some body tape! What’s with the saggy knee knocker look?

  22. KateriBella October 5, 2007 at 6:47 pm #

    SJP — here, honey…have a seat, relax, and have a friggin’ cookie! I just want to IV her body full of high-calorie, double chocolate malts (mmmmmmm…that sounds good–which would explain why I myself don’t have the body of SJP, thank the gods).
    Matthew Broderick (at least for these pictures) gives proof to the adage “Love is blind….”

  23. Ashe Mischief October 5, 2007 at 8:09 pm #

    Does anyone else notice that the article references two different designers as creating her dress? One minute it’s Vivienne Westwood, another it is Zack Posen (sp?). Is he a designer for Westwood, or did they typo big time?

  24. Dreago October 5, 2007 at 8:29 pm #

    The sad thing is that the camera adds 10 lbs. You can imagine how she looks in person. My husband saw her the other day in exactly this same outfit, out by Times Square. She looked like La Katrina or La Huesada, whom Mexicans also name Death.

  25. Daisy October 5, 2007 at 11:16 pm #

    Is that Miranda standing in the background in that blue dress? Now that’s lovely! Carrie on the other hand…

  26. Daisy October 5, 2007 at 11:37 pm #

    Oh please! These photos were taken with such bad lighting that anyone would look awful. See the movie, and see if she doesn’t look beautiful. –L

  27. Larabelle October 6, 2007 at 8:12 am #

    There’s nothing wrong with getting older, happens to all of us. But dressing wrong is just… wrong! (Happens to all of us, too…)
    Everything on this dress is just wrong – the bustier is too big, the white is the wrong shade of white (some yellow-based creamy white would be much, much better) and it makes her look like some baiser-poof. I disapprove!

  28. Lisa Joy October 6, 2007 at 8:31 am #

    Isn’t she married to the Broadway Show….Ferris Buler’s day off Guy? How come we never see them together for any photo opportunities? Look, maybe it is me but does her skin look transparent? I am all about skin health…but you can apply suntan from a bottle!!!! Sorry that she looked to me that she must have a eating disorder too fraile —too fraile!

  29. Phyllis October 6, 2007 at 10:01 am #

    Madonna has the same problem….every woman makes this decsion once we’re in our 40′s: the face, or the body?

  30. Toby Wollin October 6, 2007 at 12:59 pm #

    Going through TWO weddings (one tomorrow, one next August), I have to say this about strapless wedding gowns: Who has ever thought that strapless is a good look? This is a very good example of why they are not a good choice – for anyone. Big, small, fat, thin, young, old – strapless is just horrible. SJP has great shoulders – there are other choices of gown which will show off those shoulders – a lovely draped number with a draped neck or a boat neck or a slightly scooped neck will show off those shoulders and leave those horrific clavicles to the imagination. Even if you absolutely have to have that huge skirt, you can find a dress with no sleeves and a well-designed bodice – scoop neck, boat neck, etc. That dress and headgear just did no service to SJP at all and made her look haggard. Just a bad choice. The other thing is that SJP is NOT a tall person – so that huge skirt is not doing her service either. It is also my impression that SJP has a pretty big hand in this production – I would have thought that she would have done herself a better service – but you never know. Sean Connery was the Exec. Producer for League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and he got some of the worst lines of the entire script – I would have thought he would have insisted on a better script for himself.

  31. Elvira October 6, 2007 at 1:25 pm #

    Oh, how sad. She does look quite severe and thin, and even if she looks better in the movie, this is still sad.

    As a small-breasted woman, I felt that she was given a dress with an “ambitious” top, almost as if she’d had huge implants removed after the fitting. Or was supposed to get them after the fitting. Or something. Regardless, the top does not fit, and that is a cruel thing to do to a woman with her shape.

    I have thought for a while that SJP was too thin. However, I am glad that she has not had evident plastic surgery. Better to look like she does than to be yet another Sharon Stone.

  32. Meg Q October 7, 2007 at 4:28 am #

    This outfit is obviously a “Patricia Field special”, whichever designer the gown comes from.

    Ladies, ladies, always remember to moisturize your hands, put plenty of sunscreen on them, and mind they don’t get too ropy when you work out or – lose weight. The face may lie, but the hands almost never do. And there’s no plastic surgery – yet – for hands.

  33. Luccianna October 7, 2007 at 8:04 am #

    I would also say not a good idea to wear such dark lipstick on a very lean face, either…

  34. chachaheels October 7, 2007 at 9:27 am #

    Ugh. The worst thing about this dress is that it’s not so far off in shape or style from the monstrosity she “jokingly” tried on in one of the shows in the series…the dress that made her break out in hives. It’s a poor shape for her, a bad fit (especially at the breast–what bizarre detailing) and it dwarfs her. The make-up and hair are also equally unflattering. She would have looked beautiful in just about any lipstick colour besides harsh red; and gorgeous in just about any hairstyle that was not so severe. Surely this was a look meant to belittle Carrie.

    To me, she doesn’t look “too thin” so much as she looks very lean and muscular. Jodie Foster has the same kind of physique, but she’s very careful to choose clothing that highlights her body and accentuates curves…great colour, flattering detail, perfect proportion. I also bet Jodie Foster wouldn’t let Patricia Fields within a 1000km radius of her life. I have to conclude Fields takes her anger and contempt out on the stars she deals with…there’s no other way to explain something as shockingly unflattering as this get up on someone who should easily have appeared to be a gorgeous bride (and yeah, she’s not much nicer to people like Lucy Liu, either).

  35. Long Island October 7, 2007 at 9:29 am #

    Tobey … amen! I am so tired of the strapless wedding gown. It would seem that modern brides are wearing a uniform. You are so right it is not good look. Poor SJP she looks horrible. I would love to see her when she was a real bride to Mr. Buler.

  36. Long Island October 7, 2007 at 9:45 am #

    Well I researched the real SJP wedding … she wear BLACK. I think the Sarah in all her forms should always elope from here on it because she cannot pick a wedding attire.

  37. Long Island October 7, 2007 at 9:57 am #

    Yikes! Sorry I meant she “wore” black. I was just overcome by the shock.

  38. Gracie October 7, 2007 at 11:30 pm #

    I think that head thing is really atrocious. From the side, it looks like “Bride of Frankenstein” hair.

  39. Annalucia October 8, 2007 at 11:16 am #

    If the Annalucia may repeat the comments she left with Never teh Bride:

    This dress is not made for the thin woman, not even if her skin is peach and ivory. If it is leathery, as it is with the SJP, it is most disastrously unfitting.

    Far better for the lady to wear the dress with the bateau top and no sleeves. This will expose the slender arms and cover up the vast acreage of That Which Should Not Be Put On Display.

  40. B.S.A.G. October 8, 2007 at 11:29 am #

    Just a semantic nitpick from someone who may be immersing herself too much in the Big Girls’ links lately: A few more pounds on the SJP would still be far from *extra.*

    I guess she’s just more comfortable with having all these journalists refer to her as an “older woman.”

  41. andyshoes October 8, 2007 at 12:14 pm #

    I followed the photo link…now I must lie down.

    What was La Field thinking? All four of the ladies look like “cougars” trying to regain their youth – although Cynthia Nixon’s dress is the best of the bunch in terms of suitability and her skin looks wonderful. I swear Kim Cattrall’s bosoms are at her waist. As we get older, we should all remember the importance of “foundation garments”.

  42. Ninjarina October 9, 2007 at 3:43 am #

    Oh honey, it’s bad but it’s NOT Miss Havisham. THIS is Miss Havisham:

    http://gawker.com/news/people-who-should-not-procreate/nancy-grace-married-with-childs-272269.php

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