Gwen Stefani Knows How To Wear a Bow and Make It Edgy, Well Armani Helps

I’ll Have What She’s Having: Two Big Bows and NOT look like you escaped from a prom!

Ok, I must confess, bows on grown-up women can really wreck my style nerves. It’s not that I don’t like a good bow here and there, it’s that many women have a tendency to make them look too sweet and juvenile and end up looking ridiculous.

But when worn right, a few well-placed bows on a dress can look positively stunning.

Case in point: The Giorgio Armani white and black gown that Gwen Stefani worn on the red carpet for the premiere of Paolo Sorrentino‘s "This Must Be the Place," at the Cannes Film Festival.

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Granted, it’s an Armani dress so the tailoring will be sublimely perfect and that it’s Gwen Stefani who call pull almost everything off… her platinum hair makes the whole shebang look that much cooler.

Here’s the rest of the fashion formula on how to wear a dress with bows and look chic rather than sissyish:

Counter-balance is key, since the bows on their own are super feminine, be sure the rest of the garment has more tailored than frilly lines… thank Mr. Armani for that.

Follow Gwen’s path and stick to a sophisticated color palette, like the graphic white & black, rather than girly pastels.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with more dramatic makeup to upstage the sweet touches. Here, we have dark smokey eyes and red lips, a combo that usually can be a bit overpowering but absolutely works on Gwen.

The peek-a-boo cut-out is completely unexpected and creates a sexy vibe without being too revealing.

Add a pop of bold color, like the blood red hard clutch.

Put it all together, mix in the right attitude, and you get a sexy and chic way to wear bows like a grown-up woman.

Tie some of these edgy & sophisticated bow ideas on….

Photo: Giorgio Armani

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