So, about forty years after the Rumble, WWE managed to release photoshoot-style snaps of the ladies in their ring gear, under the guise of celebrating International Women’s Day. Ok, Big Dub, whatever. It’s a gear ‘shoot and I’m good with that. No need to try to convince me its anything else. So, now about forty years after they released it, I’m reviewing it…under the guise of rounding up the Royal Rumble :). I like that these snaps give you a close and clear look at each of the ladies’ in-ring looks and it allows me to comment on a few of the gals I couldn’t acquire good pics of the first time around.
Aaaaand Becky isn’t in her gear, but this actually looks like it could have been. Its a taste of her chill-gal-meets-medieval-punk stylings that we saw early in 2017. The hints of metal give this look a nice touch of flash and the rust and black tones work beautifully with her hair. While I would have found this a little lowkey for a major event like the Rumble, I could get behind her wearing this for a tv event.
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I love the clean-lined drama of Lana’s black and silver rendition of her gear! Even with her beauty-contestant skirt, there’s a seriousness to this color combination which, added to the engineering-inspired patterning, signals her intent to no longer be dismissed as eye-candy. The deep chevron at the front highlights her curves, adding a dose of sensuality to the sleek design. I love the look of using knee pads to create the visual proportion of OTK boots and it works especially brilliantly here with her one-piece attire, creating a modern, trend-conscious aesthetic that’s wonderfully appealing. This is a perfect choice and direction for Lana to grow her styling in. In considering Michelle’s gear, I found myself torn between my “meh” feeling about camo and the fact that I’m sitting here with a chance to review brand new ring gear from the eternally flawless Mimi McFabulous (I can’t resist a throwback to the Josie Couture days – yes, some still remember ;)..shoutout to you, Josie C, wherever you are). In the end, the latter feeling triumphed. It’s all here – the faith-based crosses, the bedazzling, the trademark halter-top – with a fun, new twist: the use of the crosses as garter straps to hold her knee covers. It’s sexy in a subtle way and I’m thrilled by the creativity if the touch! Like, yaaaaas, girl! I’m also in for the white paiping: it brightens the often-dark dark camo considerably. If you’re gonna sell me on the fabric this is soooo how you do it! The only thing I miss is a pair of glittering crosses on her boots. …and a few killer poses …actually, would a whole ‘shoot be too much to ask? :D My first impression of Barbie/Kelly’s gear was that it was a minimalist white look – which was 100% fine by me – but, upon closer inspection, the fabric has a super-cool, almost puckered texture, creating visual horizontal lines. The multitude of studs followed those, giving an edgy power to an all-over embellished design. The vibe was fresh and dewy, but with a hint of edge from the studs and I’m so here for it! What a perfect representation of the Kelly aesthetic! Like Michelle, Kelly/Barbie offered an updated version of her look. Her trademark push-up bra was back and beautiful, as we her kabooty shorts. However, we tended to see Barbie wear just-below the knee boots, sometimes with black knee covers, sometimes without. This look included knee covers in coordinating fabric but switched up the boots for of-the-moment sneakers’ sporty vibe. I’m drooling over the shimmering silver material! If the Big Dub wants to do a gear ‘shoot for this blonde bombshell too, I’m all for it. Lita always had a grunge-y, streetwear theme to her gear that set her apart, even during the bada$$ Attitude Era.. She brought it back to life with this look, topping a pieced fishnet bodysuit with a grommet-trimmed marbled top that paid tribute to the Time’s Up movement. Her trademark cargo pants rounded out the look. I wasn’t surprised to see her thong peeking out above her pant-waist; I was surprised by the color though! Hot pink isn’t generally a shade I think of when Lita comes to mind :). I loved the unexpectedness of it, though and the bright pop in the midst of all the dark pieces. I almost wish she had let the bodysuit stand on its own though, as I think the slightly more edited styling would have given it greater impact. Black checkered sneakers brought one more pattern to the look, but were subtle enough to create an appealing texture, rather than looking overdone. I love how she stayed so true to her famous aesthetic, and totally delivered in the ring as well - seeing her pull off that moonsault again was glorious!
On RAW'S 25th Anniversary, we fans had the fortunate experience of seeing some of our favourite women from the past, some we haven't seen for years, grace our screens once again.....and now, we get to review their fashion :), which is a massive thrill!
Lilian Garcia: The sultry songstress’ look was trademark Lilian, pairing a glittering printed dress with suede OTK boots. This is a combo Lil has plenty of experience with and it shows, as she smartly plays on texture by combining suede with shine. Her long and loose hairstyle adds her customary sense of ease and un-fussiness (did I just make up a word again?) to what could be a fairly fancy look, making it feel accessible, but also formal enough to be respectful to the occasion. Plus, it makes it feel like a party! Shine will do that ;) Nikki & Brie Bella: It's been so long since we've seen both Bella Twins on screen together in a WWE setting, so RAW 25 was definitely a special moment for the Bella Army. Though we all know Nikki can 100% slay in a designer dress and heels, she brought her ring gear out for this night. Rocking her signature snapback, red jersey top and shorts, knee high socks, and sneakers.. this is THE Nikki Bella look we all know and love. Brie Bella walked onto the ramp in style, wearing black high waisted leggings, ankle boots, and a tied up Brie Mode t-shirt. Her accessory of choice? A red flannel tied around her waist... which of course, is classic Brie Bella. Barbie/Kelly Kelly: As per her usual gift for dressing just right for the occasion, Barbie (aka Kelly Kelly) looked every inch the former diva – in fact, she looked like she could step right back into Diva-hood tomorrow without missing a beat. She paired a zippered sequin crop top with cut-off blue denim shorts. She topped the look with a sleek and thoroughly fierce leather motorcycle jacket, tempering the glam with a dose of punk attitude that’s echoed by the wide belt at her waist. She earn props from me for not going over the top with a sequin or crystal belt; this unembellished one makes just the right statement. Barbie finished the look with my favorite piece in the ensemble: sequin pointy ankle booties. I’m heaven! Right there is where she goes from typically fab to street style Queen. They make this outfit! I can’t help but miss the days when we got a fair number of actual character-enhancing, style-inspiring photoshoots, instead of galleries and recreations. I mean, these things are fun and I appreciate so much how hard the ladies work at telling the stories in these ‘shoots. That said, the role play concept is a little bland on the fashion front. And never more so than here, where we have the ladies dressing up as guys who don’t dress all that well (who thought this was a good idea? Show of hands, please). I loooove when gals borrow from the guys, but I’m hoping for something exciting: double breasted pinstripe suits, fedoras, sharp tailoring, a tie or two, a pocket square. I’ll settle for cuff links if I have to. For this concept, though, the girls are bound by what the men of the Attitude era wore, in order to recreate the look. Lana pushed the boundaries farthest by having to come up with a solution to the Rock’s open-shirted style. Her choice of a lace bodysuit was a smart and suitable choice that both maintained the Rock-like vibe and injected a dose of feminine sensuality, that enlivened the look and threw a new angle into it. That is how your borrow – you don’t just copy, you make it your own. Her selection of a loud, abrasive button-down was perfect and she nailed the massive watch, chains and sunglasses, making herself into quite a creditable Rock. Those bright red lips made for one more parting shot of ladylike attitude, one that would make The Smirk (with raised eyebrow, of course) all that much more attention-getting. Take that, Dwayne. Carmella’s take on Chris Jericho was equally well-chosen – her mirror-like metallic zip-front piece is throwing enough light to tan by, an immediate reminder that I always felt the need to reach for SPF 75 when Jericho walked in. He’d approve of her rocker-esque lace-up leggings as well (which I’m pretty sure are the same ones we saw Becky wearing on her trip to Boca Juniors Stadium. I love her high half-ponytail , which also happens to be an authentic Jericho detail, though one he might perhaps like to forget ;). She channels his attitude to perfection. The most disappointing look in this gallery comes from Natalya and Charlotte, but its lack of appeal has nothing to do with them or their efforts. They’re spot on in their interpretation of Edge and Christian, right down to the skull cap, bright wristbands and sunglasses! It’s entirely authentic and it’s obvious they had fun with it. Their enthusiasm can’t help but make me smile and I salute them for that! The sad corollary, however, is that spandex paired with muscle tanks just really doesn't have much fashion zing. I’m not even sure how you would style that pairing to give it fashion zing. Or even fashion zan. Oh well. Nat and Char did an excellent job with a fashion hand that was the equivalent of being dealt a joker. I guess this is price you pay for getting Balmain for the Total Divas ‘shoot :). Dear WWE: more Balmain for your Superstar ladies, less spandex!
The Divas were on full slayage mode, as usual, for the promo photoshoot for the newest season of Total Divas! This year’s theme was a modern mix of black and white, with touches of silver. Alexa kicked things off in a sporty coord set that paired a zip-front vest with slashed high waist leggings (from Ultracor, id by fashionofthedivas.tumblr.com). The look got kicked into high gear with the addition of peeptoe ankle booties (though I confess I wouldn’t have minded seeing a really hot pair of sneakers here, either [ok, who are you, Writer Person and what have you done with Brie?]).Touches of gold via a wide bangle and hoop earrings serve to further elevate the styling. In addition to the streamlined, sexy athleticism it projects, this look is especially fun because it’s outside the chill, punk-leaning aesthetic we tend to see Blissy reach for. I love seeing experimentation and she totally rocks this look! Don’t you just adore her confident smirk? :)
Aaaaaand, iiiiiiit’s tiiiiiiiiime! We are about to unveil the photoshoots that won our stylish hearts this year. And YOU get to award the one best ‘shoot the honor of the Silver Snap. Are you ready?
First, a few quid pro quo: this year was especially difficult as it suffered from a dearth of photoshoots from both promotions. Also, both companies leaned toward gallery-type snaps where a number of ladies got individual sets all at once. Consequently, I decided to count each lady’s set as an individual ‘shoot. From there, I whittled down and split hairs and compared and contrasted and evaluated and… you get the picture. In the interests of full disclosure, since diva-fierce is a fashion site and we are all about the fashion, there is a slight bias around these parts towards fashion-type ‘shoots, so I tended to weight those a little higher than less style-inclined snaps. Ok…the lawyers can go off retainer now. Let’s get to the good stuff… WWE has recently had two new heel squads debut…and the two crews have some interesting similarities. They are each comprised of a perky blonde and two brunettes. They are each led by a punky chick with an attitude. They each go around decimating whatever face happens to be in their way at the moment. Only one recently received their own photoshoot, however. Of, course, that doesn’t matter because we’re going to break down the looks of both teams anyway :). You’re likely to be most familiar with two thirds of the squad manhandling superstar divas on Raw, Absolution: the recently returned Paige and the Golden Goddess, Mandy Rose. The other brunette in the trio is former MMA artist Sonya Deville. I’m excited to see her translate her martial arts skills to the ring. I’m also excited to see her change up her gear. The red marble print I can handle; I even like it’s smooth, hard connotation. The silver edging is livable, as well, But the styling of her skirt – as appropriately warrior-like as it is – unfortunately brings to mind a loin cloth. And I’m not saying one couldn’t make a loin cloth look totally modern and fierce, but this iteration is not there quite yet. Skirt-type gear is always challenging and it takes a really well-conceived and special design to work. A few ladies have sold me on it – Alicia Fox comes to mind – but my suggestion here would be to re-vamp this look with shorts or pants, either of which I think could work really well. Paige’s look is classic Paige – plenty of leather, plenty of studs, fishnets, and a little camo thrown in for good measure. She’s fully embracing her reputation with this persona and her gear, as we know it, fits right in. I like that her comeback looks have been so familiar. It’s a great way to bring us back to who she is. It feels comfortable, like welcoming an old friend. Paige’s challenge is going to be to keep things interesting as the character and storyline evolve. Leather and studs have always been her trademark. Previously, she branched out with over-sized snake prints and deep colors. She’ll need to have a new twist to showcase fairly soon to prevent ennui from setting in. Interestingly, fashion has embraced punk and grunge during her time away, making her look feel more on trend, but less fresh and somewhat exotic. Hopefully, she’s got some ideas up her sleeve that will continue to set her apart. We’re equally familiar with Mandy’s well-received golden metallic gears. We’ve also seen her explore lace-embellishments and Celtic-knot-like designs. I was blown away with her lingerie-like metallic and lace outfit. And I like this version, with the black piping and crystal accents. I’m 100% on board for her addition of the choker, as well. On the other hand, all gold all the time is going to get old in a hurry, even with variations in silhouette, unless she’s super creative about how she handles her look. I’ll be interested to see what directions Mandy goes in, especially since she’s already proven herself to be a superstar who is aware of fashion and has an interest in it.
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Welcome to the place where wrestling & fashion join hands. Inspiration. Reviews. Musings. Retros. FASHION. Covering and craving gear to gowns since 2011. May the Fierce be with you! ;) Peace & Glitter!
AuthorBrie: shoe-lover :) fashion-lover and generally glamorous semi-dork Archives
July 2019
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Photos used for criticism and comment under US Copyright Act Section 107.
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