Miss SA Dresses Funny
Question: What do you get when you mix an ostrich with the Big Five? Answer: Miss SA’s unspeakable dress!
Miss South Africa Rolene Strauss during her farewell party this week in Johannesburg. Strauss gave a preview of the outfits she will be wearing at the Miss World pageant on December 14 in London.
GREGG Maragelis designed Miss South Africa’s national costume with a bit of Sophiatown and the Big Five in mind.
And he is not one bit bothered by the scathing criticism that his colourful patchwork number is “horrendous” and “an epic fail”.
The costume, to be worn by Rolene Strauss at the Miss World event in London on December 14, sparked harsh criticism among fashionistas and on social media this week.
Recording studio manager Lee Sixnine wrote on Twitter: “The national costume for Miss SA this year is hideous looks like a Grade 3’s arts and crafts class project.”
Fundudzi designer Craig Jacobs said: “The best way of describing this is a motley mishmash of so many different styles.
“I actually feel sorry for Rolene and I won’t blame her for deciding to rescind her citizenship.
“I love the idea of the patchwork skirt, but the moment you move up the waist of the dress, it starts looking like a trussed-up peacock having a five-car pile-up with an ostrich, a bedazzler and the Big Five.”
Maragelis created gowns — with a bit of help from four students — for the Miss South Africa pageant this year. He feels the negative reaction to the national costume is due to people being uninformed as to its purpose.
“This is not a ball gown or a traditional outfit, it is a costume that will be seen from afar on stage. When you see a stage costume close up it can be harsh, but stage costumes must have elements of exaggeration,” Maragelis said.
The multicoloured costume includes a printed skirt detailed with cultural images. It has Ndebele and Zulu beading on the front and is lined with vivid chiffon.
The bodice, he said, was “reminiscent of Sophiatown with its street urban culture”.
The costume is topped with a gold “mining hard hat” featuring the Big Five with cut-outs “representing South African supporters and feathers”.
“The garment is Super Bowl or World Cup opening ceremony dynamic. The vibrancy and styling is impressive and will stand out,” said Maragelis.
“We are confident it will be very well received internationally.”
But designer Gert-Johan Coetzee, who has dressed celebrities Kristin Cavallari, Kourtney Kardashian and Bonang Matheba, said the dress “clearly had too many cooks in one kitchen”.
Stylist Camilla Gildenhuys agreed: “The dress is hundreds of mismatched colours and prints. This doesn’t do our country’s design talent justice.”
Dumi Gwebu, another stylist, added: “I like nothing about it. It is a Joseph and a not-amazing tech- nicolour coat.
“If it doesn’t have superpowers, then I don’t see the point.
“We like colour, but this is in circus territory.”
Two former Miss South Africas, Claudia Henkel and Vanessa Carreira-Coutroulis, liked the garment.
Henkel said: “It’s stunning and Rolene carries the dress really well.”
Carreira-Coutroulis said: “Designing a garment to represent South Africa is no easy undertaking. We have such a complex history and diverse society, it’s almost impossible to incorporate so many elements into an outfit that will represent South Africa aptly and, might I add, to everyone’s liking.”
Designer Leigh Schubert, although impressed with the dress, said the hat was “dreadful”.
“If you removed the hat or did something less carnival, it would make the outfit a lot more chic,” said Schubert.
Strauss is to leave on November 19 for London to represent South Africa against 132 other countries in the pageant, which will be broadcast live to a billion people on December 14. (It will also be live on SABC1.)
The 22-year-old Volksrust-born beauty is armed with suitcases full of gowns and cocktail dresses for the extended visit to London.
Two other main gowns for the Miss World event were designed by Bloemfontein-based Casper Bosman.
He said Strauss’s opening-ceremony creation was a hand-dyed mint-green lace gown embellished with 13 000 Swarovski crystals, with added sequins and pearl embroidery.
The one to be worn at the end of the event is an off-the-shoulder diagonally draped creation with a frilled bottom in 45m of hand-dyed silk organza.