I've noticed celebs like Katie Holmes and Kristin Cavallari showing off their black bras under sheer dresses. What's up with that? Is it OK 'cause it's black?
—Megan, via the Ask Style inbox

No, dear, the reason it's OK isn't because the bra is black and so is the dress. It isn't even because the dress is expensive, as in the recent case of Katie Holmes, who appeared on the red carpet in an Azzedine Alaïa so transparent it was well nigh negligee-esque. No, the reason it's OK is because they're stars. And despite US Weekly's insistence otherwise, stars are not just like us.

When stars pose on a red carpet, they're only sort of hanging out wearing clothes. They're also at work, promoting themselves as bankable box office commodities or drumming up interest for their latest projects. Their clothes are usually chosen for them by someone else—a studio-paid wardrobe stylist—and then the star trots out and answers softball questions with safe, dull answers pre-approved by a publicist.

In other words, the celebrities are in costume. They don't go out to dinner a few weeks later in the same see-through Azzedine Alaïa getup—and if they do, again, they're rich and famous. They don't have to worry about a coworker from accounting spotting them and telling the whole office that so-and-so walks around with her bra hanging out.

Unless you work for Alaïa's fashion house—or some other painfully boutiquey outfit, like a private hotel or something—leave this look at home, regardless of whether it's day or night. Most Americans, even savvy fashionistas, get confused when presented with a money shot of someone else's bra. To people outside the fashion and entertainment industry, it's never clear enough whether it's an accident or not.

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