WNBA style: The black-and-white case

The newest WNBA draft class was classy and (only slightly) sassy in New York on Thursday as the first round of picks were announced at a short ceremony. Most of the 10 women who attended the event wore black or white dresses or jumpsuits, simple jewelry, pretty makeup and loosely styled hair that draped elegantly across their shoulders.

Kelsey Plum, the 5-foot-8 guard from the University of Washington who finished her college career with an NCAA-record 3,527 points, was chosen first by the San Antonio Stars, and she set the style stage for a parade of little black shift dresses that seemed to be favored as appropriate for the dressy occasion. Seven of the 10 women present looked like they had reached into their mother’s or aunt’s closet for the simplest, safest frock they could find for their once-in-a-lifetime job placement crowning.

Unlike the young men who enter the NBA draft year after year, the women who are looking to enter the WNBA do not, as a rule, arrive at the draft ceremony dressed in outrageous patterns, bright colors or overly costumey ensembles.

The ladies of the WNBA draft were all about to get paid, but their clothes kind of said, “Yeah, so … I’m just gonna hit up this draft situation real quick before church — I’ll just meet you guys there.” There were no Jalen Rose or Amar’e Stoudemire draft moments in this class (look those up if you ever need a chuckle). This was the fashion equivalent of an SMS text.

After Plum’s announcement and cordial photo op, three lovely ladies who played for the NCAA championship-winning South Carolina Gamecocks team — Alaina Coates, Allisha Gray and Kaela Davis — were drafted in the first round.

There were a few fashionable standouts: Nia Coffey from Northwestern was picked fifth by the San Antonio Stars, and the 6-foot-1 forward’s black dress with cold shoulder cutouts looked cool and modern paired with Coffey’s long gold pendant necklace and a pretty slick of red-orange lipstick.

Best dressed of the night was Shatori Walker-Kimbrough from the University of Maryland, who wore a skintight white pantsuit with an attached cape. The newly minted Washington Mystics guard looked like a cross between a superhero and Solange. Or maybe it was Solange dressed as a superhero. Whichever. It was an excellent, clean look, and Walker-Kimbrough should rock it as many times as she can.

The 2017 WNBA All-Star Game will be held at KeyArena, home of the Seattle Storm, on July 22.