Like most high-school graduates who've spent years studying their tushes off, 17-year-old Ukrainian honor student Anastasia Fomenko decided to use her graduation ceremony as an opportunity to express herself …but the way she did it wasn't quite in line with what the school, or Russia — for that matter — had in mind. Wearing a sheer lace dress, high-waisted knickers, a bra, sheer thigh highs, and red wedges, Anastasia's outfit has drawn the ire of Russian and U.S. media (and also one modeling contract).
Ridiculous graduation outfits aren't really a strange thing in the States, where graduation ceremonies usually require a cap and gown, which means you can basically wear whatever you want to the ceremony (we're pretty sure that a graduation isn't a graduation until one class clown decides to show up completely naked under his/her gown) — but this doesn't seem to be the case in Russia. Is this sheer Dolce-and-Gabbana-esque number more or less appropriate than, say, basketball shorts and Rainbow flip-flops that are so ubiquitous at U.S. high-school ceremonies? Depends on who you ask, we think. On the one hand, the world applauds Carine Roitfeld for going pantsless in public, but a high school isn't quite the forum for this kind of revealing fashion risk either.
What say you? Does Anastasia have the right to wear whatever she wants, or is this just a typical high-school fashion faux pas that she's going to look back on in 20-some years with a mix of glee and embarrassment (like a certain editor does about the denim hotpants she wore to hers)? (Animal NY)