i'm sorry, but this does not look like a hooker costume at all. if it were, it would end right around her butt and have minimal fabric.
frankly, i think it's rather elegant and I'm glad Tony Daniel is giving the ladies a chance to look so polished outside their costumes. Helena B looks gorgeous here.
As for the awkward moment with Babs. It seems to be just that. It's not like Tony Daniel wrote her as deliberately out to steal him from Babs.