I admit to reading W, Harper’s Bazaar, and Vanity Fair. I enjoy seeing how the “rich & famous” spend their money. What I don’t understand is why it’s important for rich & famous women to dress so… um… how can I put this without being unkind… um… unflatteringly.

On page 230, in the December issue of W, Marina Rust is shown, in what apparently is her version of “model slouch,” wearing a little white Marni dress that doesn’t do anything for her. In the same photo, Renee Rockefeller’s breasts are on display courtesy of her transparent outfit by Balenciago and Giambattista Valli. Heaven only knows how much each of them spent to achieve such awful looks. In an adjoining photo, Lisa Cant emulates the same “model slouch” as she chats with Thakoon Panichgul, the designer of the dress she wears.

Since the rich & famous are so set on the latest fashion trends I wonder what will happen if other designers follow Jean Paul Gaultier’s lead. He’s the brave soul who included plus-size (okay, very fat) model Velvet in his spring show. Or was he merely being “amusing” by having her strut the catwalk in corset and garters? His action follows the lifting of weight restrictions for catwalk models after organizers of Madrid’s Fashion Week banned underweight models. Paris, New York, London, and Milan followed.

Catwalk fashion isn’t particularly pretty most of the time. Some of it is absolutely ugly. Like the children’s tale of the emperor’s clothes (or lack thereof) do the rich & famous feel compelled to wear anything high-priced designers create in order to maintain a “certain style”?

How many of today’s sexiest women appear in the type of outfits worn by many of the most monied women? They don’t, at least not when the cameras are pointed on them. They know looking good means flattering their bodies not hiding them under clothing only fit for the catwalk.