WHILE the ‘wet look’ once conjured up images of tacky T shirt competitions, for today’s super-soaked starlets it’s anything but.
It has become a form of hot and sultry cosplay used by beautiful women to portray both their power, and inner sexy goddess, through their clothes, says body language expert, Judi James.
Florence’s Oscars dress was adorned with hundreds of diamonds, designed to look like beads of waterCredit: Getty
And she reveals there’s a brand new name for the look too:
“Fake-drenching is the new wet look – it is a very exclusive and presumably expensive look that therefore boasts of wealth and superior status,” she explains.
“With the fabric flowing cleverly around the curves and body this is never a static look.
“Anyone wearing it can stand as still as a shop window mannequin and allow the dress to create all the action for them.”
And it is certainly easy on the eye.
Actress Florence Pugh is the latest star to dabble in the look, stepping out in style at the Oscars in a silver diamond-encrusted Del Core designer dress dotted with cascading ‘water’.
While Dua Lipa, 28, did it more literally posing in a pool wearing a black leather blazer and slicked back hair after being named YSL Beauty’s Global Makeup Ambassador.
Sensuality and sex appeal
It’s a look which is having its hey day but it actually goes way back beyond tacky tees – and it isn’t the first time it has been used as a subtle way to showcase sensuality.
Think Colin Firth as Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice emerging from the lake in a sopping wet shirt – which recently sold for £20k at auction.
Judi adds: “Wet look dates back to the days of Jane Austen.
“Women would attend balls wearing dresses made of muslin that they had wetted to make the fabric cling to their curves and even give the impression of transparency.
Dua Lipa is YSL Beauty’s makeup ambassador, and is the most recent star to make the wet look trend sexyCredit: Instagram/dualipa and yslbeauty
Bella Hadid is one of many celebs who have opted to showcase their figures with a wet look designCredit: Instagram/bellahadid
“This was effective, while still obeying etiquette rules of the day about being covered up and demure.
“This current celebrity craze performs a very similar function of stopping the eye in its tracks.”
Sexy showers & swimming
But Judi reveals there’s three essential secret stages to really nailing the look and it the reason why it’s regarded as sexy and showstopping.
Judi adds: “The sexual messages from wet-dressing come in three seductive ‘S’ stages.
“First there is the ‘Shock’ of the look that an ‘accident’ has occurred – did the wearer get caught in a downpour or thrown
in a swimming pool?
“Then, there is the ‘Sexual attraction signal’ of a soaked body.
“It would trigger thoughts of sexy showers and swimming. It’s a very tactile look.
“The third ‘S’ stage would be emotionally linked – ‘Spontaneity’.
“It gives the impression of a spontaneous and rather wild or abandoned personality, someone who would go out running across a field in the rain for the sensual thrill.”
£2.5k ‘bodily fluids’ designer gown
While some celebs like Hailey Bieber, 27, have used the effect and posted tasteful beach snaps after actually taking a dip, many celebs pull off the look without even getting damp.
Some stars, like Hailey Bieber here, take the look literally, while others opt for more of a clever illusion effectCredit: instagram/haileybieber
Designer Di Petsa’s signature ‘Wetlook Dress’ for example – which costs upwards of £2.5k – has garnered hoards of celebrity fans, and is inspired by “bodily fluids” and “embracing the natural self, the fact that we come from water.”
Gigi Hadid and Nicki Minaj chose the gown for their pregnancy reveal, while Bella Hadid, Shakira, Kylie Jenner, FKA Twigs and Megan Fox have also all worn the design.
Judi says: “No celebrity got drenched or even moist in the wearing
of these dresses – it’s all achieved with very clever and time-consuming draping and stitching and that is an integral part of the appeal.”
Kylie Jenner has cleverly drawn the eye to her amazing curves while wearing the Di Petsa gownCredit: Refer to Caption
Turning the wearer into a ‘goddess’
Another designer famed for the wet look is Thierry Mugler, who designed now 43-year-old Kim Kardashian’s infamous 2019 Met Gala red-carpet look.
The dress, which was made out of latex and adorned with beads to resemble water droplets, took eight months to complete and has gone down in history as one of the most awe-inspiring carpet looks.
The star took it up a level by opting to create a wet, tousled beach wave look with her hair.
In terms of body language and the message it sends, Judi reveals: “What adds to this sense of status superiority is that this is also a form of goddess cosplay.
Kim Kardashian’s wet look Thierry Mugler gown was one of the most talked about dresses of the Met Gala in 2019, and was literally dripping in diamondsCredit: Getty
“Look at any statues or paintings of Greek or Roman goddesses and they will be wearing the same draped and clinging look, often with breasts or curves sensuously revealed.
“It implies rising out of the sea and most celebrities that wear them will even adopt a typical ‘goddess’ pose, like Kim Kardashian in her famous Met look.
“The clever thing about the rippling fabric is that the dress itself supplies the movement.”
The ultimate ‘attention-seeking’ showstopper
Unlike when mere mortals get caught in the rain and end up resembling drowned rats, the celeb ‘wet look’ is also very flattering.
Judi adds: “It’s also a very sensual look.
“The fabric is treated to look as though its clinging to the skin and even transparent in parts, but there is also the draping to give a look that is much classier as the clinging alternated with draping makes it more forgiving for any body shape.
“The eye will feel impelled to travel all over the dress and therefore the body, which will mean it is the ultimate, attention-seeking show-stopper.
“This look would triumph over almost any other style or fashion on the red carpet.
Perhaps it’s time we ditched the umbrella.
The look, as seen here on singer Shakira, is the ultimate ‘attention-seeking showstopper’Credit: Instagram
Adopting the ‘wet look’ on the red carpet is sure to get people talking. Pictured here, ZendayaCredit: Getty
