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The Red Carpet

There’s nothing left to tease imagination
When so-called starlets, vying for attention,
Sashay the carpet practically nude;
And you don’t have to be a total prude
To know when something isn’t right. Here
You have these women wearing “dresses” sheer
Enough to clearly see their breast and butt;
Enough to make the viewer mutter, “What
The… (expletive)”. Remember Blackwell’s list?
(Oh, that nasty “white supremacist”!)
The Ten Worst-Dressed? He had an eye for fashion,
Knew how to drape the female form with passion;
The likes of Russell, Mansfield, and Lamour,
When Hollywood meant glamour and less was more;
When like the view of Betty Grable’s cheek,
You never saw the whole, but just a peek.
Today they strut without a sense of shame—
So sad to see what some will do for fame.

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Richard Blackwell (1922-2008): Noted fashion designer and critic. He dressed movie stars like Jayne Mansfield, Jane Russell, and Dorothy Lamour. His infamous lists of the worst-dressed spared no one.

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Cheryl Corey is a poet who lives in Connecticut. “Three Sisters,” her trio of poems about the sisters of Fate which were first published by the Society of Classical Poets, are featured in “Gods and Monsters,” an anthology of mythological poems (MacMillan Children’s Books, 2023).

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The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.


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17 Responses

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Interesting topic “well-covered” by your fashion-centric poem. Glamour long ago seems to have left the red carpet and stage “bare.”

    Reply
  2. Julian D. Woodruff

    Good one, Cheryl. Maybe back then there was less to be gained from being in bad taste.

    Reply
    • Cheryl Corey

      If you Google Met Gala sheer dresses 2024 or sheer dress trend you’ll get an eyeful of how sluttified the women are made to appear.

      Reply
  3. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Cheryl, you have picked up on the sheer shamelessness of the red-carpet strut with this poem. Well done! However, I fear the red carpet is now embracing hairy areas where downright cockiness in a diaphanous gown is welcome … if you get my drift.

    Reply
    • Cheryl Corey

      Between the slits up to “there” (how can they possibly sit?), cut-outs, the current “under-boob” fad, and sheer gowns exposing their nether regions – you’re right. It is shameless.

      Reply
  4. Joseph S. Salemi

    I’ll never forget Blackwell’s judgment on Martha Stewart: “She dresses like the centerfold for The Farmer’s Almanac.”

    Blackwell only lampooned wealthy women who certainly had the money to dress stylishly, but who for some reason never did so.

    Reply
    • Cheryl Corey

      Their egos were probably so fragile that they were easily talked into believing that they looked fabulous in a trash bag.

      Reply
  5. Sally Cook

    I’ve always loved clothes, but this stuff is beyond the pale !
    Now I give things away because I’m counting the tunes I will find occasions to wear it!

    Reply
    • Cheryl Corey

      I became a clotheshorse during my working years, probably because I grew up with hand-me-downs and next to nothing, but in retirement I’ve done a lot of purging and become more discriminating.

      Reply
  7. Cynthia Erlandson

    This is a clever way to make a great point, Cheryl. It’s kind of ironic that, instead of the clothes being meant to bring out the beauty of the women’s bodies, now the goal seems, instead, to be the kind of extreme “creativity” (must be different than anything that’s ever been done before) that simply uses/abuses women’s bodies to show off a new piece of avant-garde fashion “art”.

    Reply
    • Cheryl Corey

      I don’t know what’s sadder – that these women are gullible enough to wear such outfits, or that a designer would think to dress a woman in such a manner to begin with.

      Reply
  8. Warren Bonham

    The Empresses have no clothes and thanks so much for pointing it out in an entertaining way.

    Reply
    • Cheryl Corey

      You’re welcome, Warren. There’s nothing wrong with being proud of your physique, but these young ladies may someday regret such over-exposure.

      Reply
  9. Margaret Coats

    Good to praise draping “the female form with passion,” especially because “drape” implies flowing fabric that conceals a great deal. I’m interested to see the illustration appears to be a photo of a famed dress with a provocative covering, namely, the metallic shield over the right nipple. If I remember correctly, this was later imitated, in a less imaginative manner, at an important show by American designers in Paris. The sleazier imitation covered one breast with a patch that could be unsnapped and lowered to reveal the naked whole, which the model did center stage. She created a sensation among French viewers (or should I say “voyeurs”) admiring American lewdness superior to their own designs.

    Reply

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