Fashion extremes dept: Male beauty(?)
Nov. 5th, 2003 08:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anotheranonCould it get a bit more schizophrenic? Flipping through my latest i-D I found these two ads one after the other:
Jean-Paul Gaultier has come up with the first makeup line for men, accompanied by advertising featuring a bronzed, buffed (as in polished) guy with just the slightest hint of contouring and gloss. Not bad, I guess. The model they chose doesn't look too effeminate - if anything, it reminds me of old photos of Rudolph Valentino - all patent-leather hair and smouldering eyes. He made it work, so why not make the tools available to modern guys who don't want to dig through their girlfriend's purse?
On the other hand, Yves St. Laurent is pushing a more natural model (emphatically not work safe). The ad is controversial in some quarters, not only for the full frontal nudity, but also because the model isn't waxed to within an inch of his life. According to the article, "[They] really wanted someone who really looked like a guy."
I prefer Fashionable Guy #2 - he looks real and touchable and far more interesting than JPG's Pretty Man. While I admit that there are a few guys who can carry off androgyny and eyeliner extremely well, they are in the minority. However, I don't fancy heavily painted women either, so this may just be a personal preference on my part.
I also gotta say, it's refreshing to see a guy with hair where he's supposed to have it! Completely shaved may be aesthetically pleasing but is almost antiseptically TOO perfect, IMHO. My jury is still out about the full frontal though - there's something to be said for leaving things to the imagination :P
What do you think?
Jean-Paul Gaultier has come up with the first makeup line for men, accompanied by advertising featuring a bronzed, buffed (as in polished) guy with just the slightest hint of contouring and gloss. Not bad, I guess. The model they chose doesn't look too effeminate - if anything, it reminds me of old photos of Rudolph Valentino - all patent-leather hair and smouldering eyes. He made it work, so why not make the tools available to modern guys who don't want to dig through their girlfriend's purse?
On the other hand, Yves St. Laurent is pushing a more natural model (emphatically not work safe). The ad is controversial in some quarters, not only for the full frontal nudity, but also because the model isn't waxed to within an inch of his life. According to the article, "[They] really wanted someone who really looked like a guy."
I prefer Fashionable Guy #2 - he looks real and touchable and far more interesting than JPG's Pretty Man. While I admit that there are a few guys who can carry off androgyny and eyeliner extremely well, they are in the minority. However, I don't fancy heavily painted women either, so this may just be a personal preference on my part.
I also gotta say, it's refreshing to see a guy with hair where he's supposed to have it! Completely shaved may be aesthetically pleasing but is almost antiseptically TOO perfect, IMHO. My jury is still out about the full frontal though - there's something to be said for leaving things to the imagination :P
What do you think?
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Date: 2003-11-06 02:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-06 04:37 am (UTC)