Kerry Washington in a Brandon Maxwell ‘swing dress’: lovely or unfortunate?

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Here are some photos of Kerry Washington at the premiere of HBO’s Confirmation last night in NYC. Confirmation follows the Senate confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas for his appointment to the Supreme Court. Kerry Washington plays Anita Hill, and the story seems to be mostly about Hill rather than Thomas, which is a good thing. Time has been good to Anita Hill – when she entered the political and media fray in the early 1990s, a lot of people weren’t ready to hear her story or have the national conversation on sexual harassment. Hill stuck her ground and the revisionist history of the Thomas confirmation hearings have ended up working in her favor, absolutely. She is now regarded as a feminist icon/pioneer and Thomas is regarded as a minor legal mind and conservative hack, although he did get “the last laugh” because he actually was confirmed. Here’s the trailer:

It looks good. And my God, Greg Kinnear is doing an amazing impression of Joe Biden. Kinnear sounds exactly like Biden! Anyway, Kerry at this premiere… she wore this “swing dress” by Brandon Maxwell, one of Lady Gaga’s favorite designers/friends. My first thought was “Is Kerry pregnant again?” Not because Kerry looks particularly pregnant, but this just looks like a maternity dress to me. That being said, she looks lovely and adorable.

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Meanwhile, Kerry took AdWeek to task this week for her cover profile. Apparently, AdWeek Photoshopped the sh-t out of the cover image and excessively (and pointlessly) lightened Kerry’s skin. Here’s what she had to say about it – she’s so classy.

So…You know me. I'm not one to be quiet about a magazine cover. I always celebrate it when a respected publication invites me to grace their pages. It's an honor. And a privilege. And ADWEEK is no exception. I love ADWEEK. It's a publication I appreciate. And learn from. I've long followed them on Twitter. And when they invited me to do a cover, I was excited and thrilled. And the truth is, I'm still excited. I'm proud of the article. And I like some of the inside images a great deal. But, I have to be honest…I was taken aback by the cover. Look, I'm no stranger to Photoshopping. It happens a lot. In a way, we have become a society of picture adjusters – who doesn't love a filter?!? And I don't always take these adjustments to task but I have had the opportunity to address the impact of my altered image in the past and I think it's a valuable conversation. Yesterday, however, I just felt weary. It felt strange to look at a picture of myself that is so different from what I look like when I look in the mirror. It's an unfortunate feeling. That being said. You all have been very kind and supportive. Also, as I've said, I'm very proud of the article. There are a few things we discussed in the interview that were left out. Things that are important to me (like: the importance of strong professional support and my awesome professional team) and I've been thinking about how to discuss those things with anyone who is interested, in an alternate forum. But until then…Grab this week's ADWEEK. Read it. I hope you enjoy it. And thank you for being patient with me while I figured out how to post this in a way that felt both celebratory and honest. XOXOXOX

A photo posted by Kerry Washington (@kerrywashington) on

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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18 Responses to “Kerry Washington in a Brandon Maxwell ‘swing dress’: lovely or unfortunate?”

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  1. Tiffany :) says:

    I was so young when that happened, it really went over my head. I am excited to see Confirmation and get a different perspective of the events.

  2. TrixC says:

    Adweek made her look Indian!

  3. Kelly says:

    Uh oh.

  4. Josefina says:

    She’s like Cristina Hendricks – gorgeous woman, and the stylist of her show does wonders with her. Her red carpet choices, on the other hand…

  5. Can’t unsee that crazy capedress.

    • JenYfromTheBlok says:

      Sadly this dress hits her limbs in exactly the wrong place making them stumpy and weird; it doesn’t stop! Her torso looks bloated and distorted. The whole look is giving me fever dream flashbacks.

  6. Gistine says:

    She looks really lightened.

    • swak says:

      If you compare the first picture to the second, I think it is the way the lighting is. Seems to be reflecting off her more in the first picture.

  7. teacakes says:

    It’s a shame because the Adweek cover could have been GREAT if they’d just known where to stop with the tweaks.

    I love the styling and the backdrop, all that graphic black and white looks amazing….. but they should have left Kerry looking like herself.

    (also why doesn’t she have a Vogue career yet? Sure Vogue sucks but it’s still got some remaining cachet…… not helped by the fact that Anna will give every flop starlet and reality tv wannabe a cover, but when it comes to the leading lady of a major hit show, no bueno?)

  8. doofus says:

    SHE is lovely, always. her dress, however, falls into the “unfortunate” category. and that cover is all kinds of WTF.

    I said it the other day, I’ll say it again. this is one woman who needs NO photoshopping for her face.

    I will never understand why mags photoshop to the point that the person on the cover slightly resembles the actual person. blemishes, wrinkles…those I get, but changing the person’s face?! ugh.

  9. swak says:

    Way too much material in the dress for the premiere.

  10. Lucy says:

    I feel about Kerry the same way Kaiser (I think it was you) feels about Michael B. Jordan. If she was white, she’d have the same level of fame and acclamation as, say, Amy Adams. Not that she doesn’t any of those, because she obviously does, but not quite as much.

    • Josefina says:

      I agree. The only difference between her, Amy and Jessica Chastain is the skin color. Kerry’s very talented and refreshingly uncontroversial. If she were white, I can ser her having that career, oscar noms and all.

  11. Taxi says:

    The dress is not flattering – too voluminous & hits her thighs in the wrong place. Kerry is gorgeous & I wish her stylists were consistently tops.

  12. Laura says:

    I like the dress! It looks comfortable & im all about that.

  13. Erica says:

    Swing dresses are the worst silhouette. I see so many women who are starting to wear them and they look terrible on everyone. I tried one on once and burst out laughing in the dressing room. Only oregnant women should wear these dresses! Can we just nip this trend in the bud?