Nicola Coughlan in Colin Burke at THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD Press Night After Party: IN or OUT?

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Hey, remember when we said yesterday that we weren’t likely to have any more IN or OUT posts for the rest of the year? We lied! Or at least, we were proven wrong when Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan stepped out onto the red carpet for the press night after party for The Playboy of the Western World, in which she’s appearing at the National Theatre. We always say that theater opening nights are not the time to be bitchy about what the stars are wearing, since they literally just got off work, but in typical Nicola fashion, she wore something that practically demands you form an opinion on it.

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Okay, so that’s a lot, but let’s start off with this, from stylist Aimée Croysdill’s Instagram: “Nicola Coughlan straight off the stage wearing custom Colin Burke for the press of The Playboy of the Western World. All of Nicolas costumes are made using traditional Irish techniques and fabrics so we wanted to also honour the play by doing the same for this look. The incredible Colin Burke custom hand-knit and crochet the dress in the west of Ireland using the finest Donegal Aran Tweed yarns and traditional Aran stitchwork.”

So this has meaning to it, as well as a thematic tie to the work itself. All good. The craftsmanship is impressive, as it always is with traditional Irish knitwear. Our problem with it is that we really don’t think you can make a sassy little dress with an expansive silhouette out of a traditional Aran sweater knit. We might be okay with the design if the skirt wasn’t shaped like that. In fact, with those dramatic sleeves, we’d have rather seen a more body-con skirt that went to the floor rather than this sassy little panniered thing, if only because we don’t think those white tights are working at all. But as we said, you get to make the call on this one and perhaps its charm, which is considerable, outweighs any style or design issues. Let’s hear it:

Nicola Coughlan’s Fisherman’s Cocktail Dress:

IN or OUT?

Style Credits:
– Custom Colin Burke Dress
– Jimmy Choo Shoes
Styled by Aimée Croysdill | Hair by Allie Harknett | Makeup by Sara Hill

[Photo Credit: Dave Benett/Getty Images]

• Aimee Croysdill
• Allie Harknett
• Colin Burke
• Jimmy Choo
• Nicola Coughlan
• Sara Hill