Craig Jacobs' #SONA2017 red carpet delights and horrors

It was the calm before the chaos, the chance for our politicos and their partners to sashay down the red carpet in their finery with the full glare of the media focused upon them.

Those on parade for the state of the nation address included a smattering of style stars, many who played it safe and some in desperate need of radical sartorial transformation.

One of the first to make the walk through the parliament precinct was Mandla Mandela and his wife, Rabia, showing off her baby bump.

Rabia was glowing, Mandla exuberant.

But there was something strangely familiar about it all.

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Did the Mvezo traditional chief and grandson of Nelson Mandela simply recycle the same black and white Xhosa outfit with Nehru collared jacket he wore two years ago, just adding a sprinkling of gold embroidery and swapping the wife?

Mmusi Maimane, who turned up with his fairer half Natalie (wearing a long black off-the-shoulder gown), should also have made more of an effort: Mr Leader of the Official Opposition, please remember to get the hems to the right length next time!

Parly-goers should take pointers from the UDM's Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, who looked all spiffy in his well-cut suit, crisp white shirt and black bow tie.

No wonder Twitterville is touting him as the new People's Bae.

Elder statesmen can also learn a thing or two from Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

The IFP leader looked smart in a trendy longer-length shirt with a brocade collarless jacket over black pants.

Meanwhile, Minister Razzmatazz, Fikile Mbalula, wore the same check suit he donned to the National Boxing Awards last month. His wife, Nozuko, said she'd made her monochrome dress with its awkwardly cut front flap herself. Note to self, Mrs Mbalula: please step away from the sewing machine.

DIY was certainly a big feature of the red carpet this year - how else do you explain the traditional beaded belts slapped onto the green Thai silk cocktail dress worn by Small Business Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu?

But the award for scariest outfit of the evening goes hands down to Dikeledi Mahlangu, the Mpumalanga MEC for public works, roads and transport, for showing up in what looked like green cling wrap over a yellow patterned dress from which her bosom was threatening to escape as if chased by the White Shirts.

Coming a close second has to be Philisiwe Buthelezi, wife of Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa, whose green chiffon and fluff number should please be repatriated to the Great Barrier Reef.

And speaking of the sea, Cape Town's DA mayor Patricia de Lille wore a colourful kaftan which wouldn't have looked out of place in Camps Bay but certainly wasn't fit for the occasion.

I did quite like the long grey bias-cut Thula Sindi gown worn by Baleka Mbete (although she reminded me of an ageing Cinderella in search of a ball) and Helen Zille scrubbed up nicely in a shop-bought black lace overlay from Cape Town label Hip Hop.

But state of the nation best dressed award goes to Bheki Cele's always-so-stylish wife, Thembeka, in an ethereal KLûK-CGDT hand-beaded Duchess satin gown.

DA MP Terri Stander looked worthy of the Oscars red carpet in a floor-length dusty pink sequinned dress and Mrs Gigabyte, Norma Gigaba, the wife of Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba, was close to flawless in a Gert-Johan Coetzee number.

And as for the man of the hour, our giggling prez, who was the last to walk the red carpet with MaKhumalo dutifully following?

No surprises that President Jacob Zuma opted for a dark suit punctuated with a red tie - I can only wonder if he still picks them up from his ex-buddy Schabir Shaik's fav store, Casanova in Durban.