Fashion extremes dept: Male beauty(?)

[anotheranon]

Could 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?

Comments

[slfcllednowhere.livejournal.com]

Hi, thought you might be interested in joining bassethounds.

[emerald14.livejournal.com]

Mmmm - definitely number 2 (not that I don't like men with make-up - Bowie, anyone? Just that #1's not that cute). But I don't think the full frontal is strictly necessary - he'd be just as cute in pants. Possibly cuter...

Em, big fan of imagination

[tommdroid.livejournal.com]

guy #1 is too pretty, could do behind glass, only to look on, like a painting or a piece of art. guy #2 is indeed more touchable, could do with a ladyshave battalion though ;) and I'm equipped with a very vivid imagination, please leave him naked as he is and I can extend to imagine him very aroused. the world is suffering from a constant lack of beautiful naked men :))

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Total non-sequitir, but a cute one - thanks for the tip!

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Well, I do admit that some guys can carry makeup, but barely a handful. Back in the '70s and 80's there were a few: Peter Murphy ca. Bauhaus, Adam Ant (well, I guess he wore more war-paint than regular makeup), some of Duran Duran, when they weren't using spatulas (Nick Rhodes never did get the hang of this :P) It's just that the guy has to have a certain slender androgyny already to carry it off well. After around age 30 it gets almost impossible.

Re: pants on the hairy guy - yeah, I think that would be more appealing :) Low slung, white and drapey. Maybe it's those Sheik-Valentino pix getting to me :P

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Said this better than I could - guy #1 is aesthetically pleasing, but like good artwork you're scared to get too close for fear of smudging!