30 is the new black

Watching the debut of Project Runway Season 2, I was very impressed by Mark Neighbour (42) who was the winner of the all important first challenge. When asked to explain his vision behind his dress, he echoed my sentiments of late that “You can have clothes that have a sexiness about them without being skin tight. Clothes that skim the body rather than cling to the body can be very beautiful.” Here are some variations of short dresses that still hit the brief of being short and sexy and have the wow factor without looking like Paris Hilton.

T-shirt dress

When they said all that glitters isn’t gold, they weren’t talking about Hayden Panettiere at the Spike TV’s 2009 Guy’s Choice Awards in Culver City. In her short career, everything she touches has turned to gold, managing to juggle a successful career, celebrity boyfriends and social activism. I’m not a fan of the matchy matchy shoes and this dress would probably work better on someone with a darker complexion but the bag works.

Off the shoulder

Can Whitney Port from The City, an offshoot of the The Hills do no wrong? She always manages to look what Alexander Perry would call ‘expensive’ even in a reality tv show setting. Here she is wearing an off the shoulder dress that is both whimsical and romantic.

Caftan

Camilla Franks is the undisputed kaftan queen of Australia and I support her mission to keep the kaftan at the forefront of fashion. The kaftan is always a crowd pleaser. Flirty, sexy but leaves plenty to the imagination. This one is short, it’s sexy and it’s in animal print. What more could you want from a dress?

Singlet dress

Appropriately called the Tiger Lily Lava dress, this is one smoking hot dress, bored look on the model’s face notwithstanding. This is simplicity at its best yet still remaining sultry and sexy. You never want to look like you’ve tried hard to look this good.

Babydoll dress

The babydoll dress is always fresh, fun and has a sexy appeal without needing to being obvious about it. This dress by young Brisbane designer Talulah is one of my favourites.