‘Who are you wearing?’

ASIDE from the torrent of superlative praises--like "totally amazing," "incredibly stunning," or "breathlessly lovely"--that TV watchers heard on "The Red Carpet," the show preceding yesterday's Golden Globe awards, women celebrities were asked, "Who are you wearing?"

The uninitiated might wonder why "who," why not "what." A dress is an inanimate object, which doesn't become a person even if it's Sam Pinto, 2012 FHM world's sexiest woman, in it.

The "who" trend, we're told, caught on in the 1980s "in a general fashion show context." For the past decade or so, it has become "a touchstone" at Golden Globe or Oscar "Red Carpet" interviews.

One time, Ryan Seacrest kept talking with a celebrity but failed to ask who did her dress. The next day's story carried the headline, "Talk to the dress, Ryan!"

This time, Seacrest kept asking "who," as in one of the five Ws in basic news reporting. The dress is the designer in an odd confusion of identity.

Attitude

A spin on "who are you wearing?" is that it's not about the dress or its designer but the mood or attitude of the person wearing it.

But TV audiences just want to know who made the gown, not the kind of persona the wearer wants to flaunt.

Ah yes, Anne Hathaway (best movie musical actress, "Les Miserables") wore Chanel, Claire Danes (best TV drama actress, "Homeland"), wore Versace; and Jessica Chastain (best movie drama actress, "Zero Dark Thirty"), wore Calvin Klein.

Yikes, Ryan didn't ask Daniel Day-Lewis (best movie drama actor, "Lincoln") who he was wearing.

(paseares@sunstar.com.ph)