Last updated at 4:25 AM on 21st July 2011
Vanessa Hudgens may have an excuse for her questionable hairstyle - she's cut it off for a gritty film role.
But it would be interesting to hear how she'd explain away the frumpy outfit she stepped out in yesterday.
Just hours after admitting her new locks made her feel like a 'soccer mom' the 22-year-old Sucker Punch star averted attention from her head to her fashion sense as she stepped out in a Gothic-style black floor length dress.
From soccer mom to Addams family: Vanessa Hudgens distracted attention from her new do with a skin tight black maxi dress and gladiator sandals
Boho chic: The Sucker Punch actress joined her mother for lunch at Jinky's cafe in Studio City, California
The sheath dress did nothing to flatter her figure, making her look short and dowdy, and she took a walk on the wild side in the footwear department too, wearing a bizarre pair of gladiator sandals.
The Hollywood starlet joined her mother at Jinky's Cafe near her home in Studio City, California for a spot of lunch.
The previous day Vanessa said her drastic new cropped haircut makes her feel like a 'soccer mom' - and revealed that she hacked off her famously shiny locks herself.
The beauty has chopped off her long glossy mane to film new flick Gimme Shelter, in which she plays a pregnant teenager.
The High School Musical star is barely recognisable after undergoing the dramatic haircut.
'Soccer mom': Vanessa Hudgens has told that she is still getting used to her new look after chopping off her famous locks for a film role
On set, she's been a shadow of her usually glamorous self dressed in shapeless dark clothes, with greasy, scruffy hair, no make-up and facial piercings and tattoo - a far cry from her usual glamorous style.
'Oh man, it's really intense, I'm still getting used to it,' she told Access Hollywood.
'Honestly, I kind of feel a bit like a soccer mom, but we're going to let that go.
Sacrifice for film: The former Disney starlet reveals she ;grabbed the scissors' and hacked off her hair (right, in May) herself
'There's nothing wrong with soccer moms, but I'm only 22! I miss my hair believe me, I do. But there's nothing I can do about it.'
But unlike many A-list stars who went to the chopping block before her, Hudgens didn't enlist a celebrity hairstylist.
'I grabbed the scissors and started cutting my actual hair,' she revealed.
Make-under: After years of long, glossy locks the actress debuted her short crop for the first on the red carpet at last night's Captain America: The First Avenger premiere in LA
'Then my director decided that he was going to grab the scissors, and he grabs a chunk of my hair and just chops it.'
Vanessa discussed her new film role on her Facebook page last week. She wrote: 'I have been so stupidly busy working on Gimme Shelter.
'I'm so excited and proud of the work I've been doing and let me tell you, you all are going to be SHOCKED with how I look in this movie.
Gritty: The 22-year-old plays a pregnant teenager in her new film Gimme Shelter
'It's crazy sauce. Lol only one more week of shooting till I'm done! Xx V.'
The new movie, which will be released next year, sees Vanessa take a more gritty direction than her High School Musical fans are used to.
The film, co-starring Brendan Fraser and Rosario Dawson, sees Vanessa play a pregnant teenager who seeks out her biological father after leaving her abusive mother's home.
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